How to ‘do lunch’ right- Business meal success harder than it sounds

The recipe for a successful business meal seems deceptively easy. "Let’s meet for lunch," you tell a client or associate. You get together. You talk business.

Christopher Elliott
Special for The Republic

Sounds simple enough. But you know better.

FYI

Avoid spoiled lunch

• Rely on multiple sources for a restaurant recommendation. If out of town, consult a restaurant survey such as Zagat’s and ask someone familiar with the area to vouch for your selection.

• Check with your business contact. It’s embarrassing to ask a vegetarian to meet you at a steak restaurant.

• Follow up verbal lunch invitation with an e-mail confirming the guest list. A simple "Hey, just a note to let you know I’ve made reservations for two at Chez Pierre’s at noon next Tuesday" would be enough to get this message across: No interlopers, please.

• Call ahead to an establishment and mention that you would like a little privacy for your business lunch. Some places might be able to offer a separate room if it isn’t being used by another party.

• Check out Getcustoms.com, which is published by the authors of the book Kiss, Bow or Shake Hands: How to Do Business in Sixty Countries. It offers timely tips on taking customs into consideration when you’re traveling on business.

• Go easy on the alcoholic beverages. Many business meals end tragically at the bottom of a bottle of wine.

– Christopher Elliott
A business lunch is part meal, part meeting. It’s informal, but at the same time there’s a long list of unwritten rules that can’t be broken. According to a poll conducted by the Creative Group, an advertising and marketing firm in Menlo Park, Calif., being rude to a restaurant employee is the No. 1 reason a business lunch goes bad. What are other reasons?

• Arriving late.

• Bad table manners.

• Dressing too casually.

If you’ve been in business for more than a few weeks, you probably already know that you attract more metaphorical bees with honey than with vinegar. You also know the importance of punctuality, and you know how to use a napkin. And you show respect by wearing business attire.

But what else can doom the fabled business meal, and how do you keep it from happening? Here’s a look at five other common business-lunch faux pas that are easily preventable:

• Choosing the wrong restaurant. Picking the right place for a business lunch is hardly a no-brainer, especially if you’re in an unfamiliar city. And even if you’re on your own home turf, there’s still the possibility that something could go wrong. For example: inviting a prospective client who is allergic to shellfish to a seafood restaurant.

• Inviting the wrong guests. There are places where children clearly don’t belong, and a business lunch is one of them. But how about the tag-along spouse who wasn’t invited? The intern? Or, heaven forbid, the company lawyer (when no legal matters are on the table)?

• Sitting at the wrong table. The service may be spectacular, and you might be meeting with the right people. But what if you can’t discuss the deal because of all the noise? On the flip side, how about the quiet restaurant where you had to whisper for fear of being overheard by the folks sitting at the next table? The ideal establishment comes with several booths where your conversations can neither be shouted down nor heard.

• Saying the wrong thing. Remember the part about the unwritten rules? Here’s one of them: At an American business lunch, it’s considered inappropriate to get down to business before the waiter has handed you the menu. In other countries, you don’t talk business until the first glass of wine has been poured and the host offers a toast. Elsewhere, ordering wine is considered inappropriate.

• Ending it the wrong way. A verbal "thank you" is always appropriate (even if it didn’t go as you planned). It should be followed with an invitation to reciprocate at a future date. If possible, send a thank-you note (which is also another opportunity to send your business card), noting what you specifically liked about the meal and, possibly, recapping the conversation.

Sometimes, of course, a business lunch is a bad idea to begin with. Knowing when to call off a mealtime meeting is perhaps the most important business instinct to develop. But if you decide to do lunch, take a little time to pick the right restaurant, invite the right guests and find the right table. And mind your manners.

Christopher Elliott is the editor of Elliott’s E-mail, and publisher of Triprights.com. Contact him at http://www.elliott.org. See more of his business-travel columns at Microsoft bCentral: http://www.bcentral.com under "News & Resources."

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/0531bizlunches31.html