Lunch For Success

Prepping Helps You Relax at Your Business Lunch

Posted on 18. Mar, 2009 by Craig Peters in Uncategorized

Knowing what to do and how to handle yourself at a business lunch makes you more comfortable and relaxed, not less.

(If that’s the only thing you read in this post, I’m happy.) I was talking to my brother Charles on the phone last night. A friend of his said something that I hear a lot:

I don’t really want to prepare for business lunches. If I prep too much, I’m not going to be myself. I want it to be natural.

That’s totally understandable, because we collectively think of lunch as a social experience.  Mark said it well in a post last month.

…a business lunch is not a social engagement. It sounds simple enough, but it’s a fact that’s often overlooked or forgotten… We’re trained over years of practice to sit down for meals with friends and family as a way to connect and be together socially.

If you’re sitting down with friends and family, you want to chill and be yourself. Of course. When we say you need to prep for lunch, we’re not talking about those personal settings.

A business lunch is part of doing business, and more importantly for my brother’s friend, knowing what to do and how to handle yourself at a business lunch makes you more comfortable and relaxed, not less. I need to reiterate this.

Knowing what to do and how to handle yourself at a business lunch makes you more comfortable and relaxed, not less.

Let’s say you’re going to take a prospective client out to lunch. Everyone knows how to actually eat lunch. That’s easy. Then you wonder, When should I bring up business? You might wonder who should pay? How long should you be there? Which restaurant? Who drives? What kind of lunch is this? Is this an initial meeting, closing a deal, managing a relationship? etc.

You can go into it one of two ways.

1. You don’t prepare and you wing it. It might go fine. But you never know. Would you take that chance with other business meetings that you’re leading? I hope not. The problem is that you might run into a moment at lunch where you’re wondering “What should I do now? Is this going well? Should I have done that?” Those questions are more difficult to answer if you’re going into it cold. That’s wasted energy and it’s harder to relax. If you’re not relaxed, you’re not as effective.
2. You do your homework, prepare, and practice. You’ve anticipated a number of things that might come up, practiced your approach, considered topics to cover and avoid. You’ve done extra research on the restaurant, your guest’s professional background, and the details of the business you’re going to discuss. With these things covered, you’re more prepared for the unexpected. It’s much easier to relax. If you’re relaxed, you’re more effective.

This doesn’t mean that you become a robot during the meal - it just means that you’re ready for things that might come up.

How do you learn? Keep reading our blog. Also, we’ve collected a bunch of great first-hand interviews from seasoned experts in our Power Lunch DVD. The DVD also has a section at the beginning that outlines the framework of the lunch. After that, it’s practice. As you practice, tell us how it goes. Ask us questions - we’d like to help.

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Tags: business lunch, How To