02/13/2020
Seven Secrets to a Successful Business Meal
Conducting business over a meal can be tricky. There are many opportunities to feel awkward, such as finding out that during the meal, your front tooth has been completely obscured by a giant piece of spinach! Following are some Business Growth Secrets that will help you have a comfortable, confident business meal.
1) Turn off your phone! Your guests will NOT be impressed if you interrupt their conversation to speak to someone else. That says, “I have someone more important I’d rather talk with.”
2) An exception to the above rule might be if you know someone may call you with an emergent situation. In that case, as you are sitting down, you could say something like, “I’m sorry, I need to keep an eye on my phone because my mother is being released from the hospital today, and I asked her to call me.”
3) Don’t Double Dip! If you are sharing a condiment or dip, only dip your chip or food once before you bite it. This may seem obvious, but I have eaten with people that slurped and sucked on a chicken wing 3 or 4 times, dunking it in the community blue cheese every time. Yuck!
4) Who pays? General protocol directs that the person who did the inviting should pay. If you invited your guest to the meal, confidently and discreetly take the ticket from the server as soon as they set it down. If in doubt, shell it out! You don’t ever want to look like you are waiting around, hoping the other party will pick up the tab. You are a confident, generous business leader, so be quick to pick up the check.
5) Now, about that spinach in your teeth…here’s what I do. As soon as I have finished the main part of my meal, I excuse myself and go to the washroom. After updating all biological functions necessary, I wash my hands, rinse out my mouth, and wipe off my face. This way, I am ready to have an extended conversation where I am comfortable and can smile confidently. It also ensures that I won't leave my dinner guest with a sticky handshake!
6) Offer to tip the server if your meal partner picks up the tab. I always like to have an assortment of bills so that I can tip the server in cash. This requires planning ahead, but it eliminates awkward dialogue with the server about how to charge two different credit cards two different amounts. Oh, and speaking of tipping…
7) Tip generously! Your meal mates will probably see how much you tip and the last thing you want to appear as is cheap. 20% is a minimum for a business meal. Always round up and consider this; a few extra bucks are inconsequential to you but very significant to the server. Look generous and be generous!
