Rules of a Successful Business Lunch

There is nothing that important in business relations as being able to plan and organize successful business lunches. They are very important as they can be real deal breakers. People have reported that they have chosen whether to do or not to do business with somebody based on their impression from the business lunch. It is all about finding the perfect balance between making it a social event and a real business meeting. People who can pull that off show that they have good people skills, social skills and organizational skills. You can tell a lot about a person by checking their way of conducting the business lunch. Therefore, if you are in the position to organize the lunch, here is what you need to think about.

People Invited

You need to know how many people will attend the meeting you are about to organize. It all changes everything. If the person you are inviting plans to bring somebody with them, you may consider bringing the reinforcement with you. Perhaps, some of your business partners plan on bringing their spouse to the meeting and this would make it more of a social occasion, so you should do the same. Either way, number of people and the type of people who are attending are essential for you to know how to plan your way.

Reason and Goal

Good food and lovely ambiance are always a good way reason to go for lunch, but you need to make sure why you are organizing this lunch and what do you expect from it. If strengthening your business connection is the reason for it than it can be a more relaxed place and mood, but if it is about closing a big deal, then the situation changes drastically. Also, once you finish your big and important business meeting, you need to make sure that you do a follow up and check if everything agreed there still stands, cementing it with the needed paperwork.

Being Flexible

When inviting somebody to a business lunch you need to be flexible with the time and the place where it should happen because other people have plans as well. However, it is not a good idea to just offer them to pick a place, but you should give them several options. Three options regarding time and three options regarding place are quite enough. In that way, you are showing respect, initiative and flexibility at the same time.

Food and Drinks

Food and drinks are always important. For a business lunch, you should opt for places that you know have wide variety of food and high quality as well. They should have vegetarian options, options for people allergic to certain foods like nuts, seafood or other common allergies. You should check that with the restaurant for sure. As for drinks, white wine can be very good option for business lunch. It goes with vide variety of meals, it agrees with a lot of people, and it rarely has the strength and the hard taste that red wine sometimes can have. At the same time it is elegant and shows good style and taste.

There are different types of business lunches. You can use them to touch base with old partners and deepen the connections. You can use them to make new business partners and you can also use them to discuss new terms with old clients. All these things are far more pleasant being done in an ambiance of a nice and good restaurant than in the office. The talk goes more smoothly and interpersonal connections are more prone to change.