The Art of Wining and Dining Clients

Business dinners are key growth tools in the executive arsenal. Here are the 10 most important tips to make sure you get the best return on your investment.

1. Ensure schedules coincide seamlessly. Cancellations convey disorganization and poor planning abilities.

2. Consider beginning the experience even before your invitees arrive at the restaurant. Booking San Francisco limousine service is guaranteed to impress, and -- if there’s alcohol involved in the meal -- it will be a consideration that remains with your guests long after other aspects of the event have been forgotten.

3. Use a restaurant where you’re known (and have a good reputation). Good, personal attention from the staff and management will leave your guests more impressed than any trendy venue where poor service may be a risk. Tailor the venue to your guests’ needs if special dietary requirements must be met.

4. Prearrange payment. It’s uncomfortable when a bill is delivered to the table, no matter how discretely, so get your credit card information to your server before festivities commence (pre-assigning a generous tip percentage will also go a long way to encouraging stellar service). There’s one exception, though. Government employees may be ethically prevented from allowing you to pay.

5. Be on-scene before your guests. Greeting them makes a great impression, while leaving them hanging will do the absolute opposite.

6. Respect your wait staff. Don’t be condescending, and don’t be rude. Your guests will judge your behavior, and use that judgment to determine whether they want to establish an ongoing relationship with you and your business.

7. Avoid the hard sell.Even if the point of the meal is purely business, install non-obvious small-talk into the occasion, it’s pleasant and buffers any feeling of artificiality.

8. Be an entrepreneur, not a barbarian.Practice good table manners, mirror your guests’ dining pace, and never -- ever -- over-indulge in alcohol.

9. Follow up. As with all networking, it’s the next day that counts, so make contact (this is particularly important if a client -- or potential client -- has made clear that a particular solution would be very valuable to them).

10. Remember, shared experiences create bonds, and well-organized events impress everyone, but distractions detract. You’re there to concentrate on your guests, so turn off that cell phone!

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