Lunch For Success

Obama’s Power Lunch Goals: “Advice, Good Council, and Fellowship…”

Posted on 09. Jan, 2009 by Craig Peters.

An important part of a successful business lunch is knowing why you’re there. What are your goals? Be specific. Even for the over-arching goals - be specific. According to this AP clip, President-elect Obama says he hoped to gain “advice, good council, and fellowship…”.

While you’re not likely to have a ‘photo op’ at your lunch, you still need to know your goals. Did you have specific goals at your last power lunch? What about your your next one; do you have specific goals for that?

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Obama’s Power Lunch with the Presidents

Posted on 07. Jan, 2009 by Craig Peters.

Now this would be a fun lunch to sit in on. Foxnews.com’s article Obama Hails ‘Extrodinary Gathering’ of All the Presidents covers this rare lunch. I wonder what they talked about:

“It’s going to be an interesting lunch,” Bush told an interviewer recently. When asked what the five men would talk about, Bush said: “I don’t know. I’m sure (Obama’s) going to ask us all questions, I would guess. If not, we’ll just share war stories.”

Interesting comment about “the power curve”:

Obama has sought to strike a balance as the power curve bends his way. Before taking office, he is publicly rallying Congress behind a massive economic stimulus plan. But he remains deferential to Bush on foreign affairs and will not comment on Israel’s deadly conflict with Hamas on grounds that doing so would be dangerous for the United States.

In much, much smaller ways, bending the power curve is what you’re trying to do when you conduct your power lunches. It’s not just for Presidents.

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Don’t Hibernate - Keep Moving Forward with Business Lunches

Posted on 06. Jan, 2009 by Craig Peters.

I just came across a post by Lee Goldberg called The Business Lunch, R.I.P? Lee’s not proposing that he wants business lunches to end; he’s just going to have to react to cutbacks in the publishing industry.

I guess that next time I see my editor, I’m the one who is going to have to buy us lunch.

Just a couple hours earlier, Mark showed me an article clipping that his father had sent him. The article was pointing out that people are doing less business lunches now that the economy is so hard hit.

While I entirely understand the desire to spend less during tough times, there’s something fundamentally flawed about this approach. We’re in tough economic times… yes. It’s good to reduce your burn rate if you can… OK. Your spending should be carefully considered… sure.

You should cut back on business lunches…

Not so fast.

If business lunches were a luxury, I would agree. If you’re engaged in excessively lavish business lunches—and maybe the publishing industry has had its fair share—then it makes sense to evaluate. But for those of us who use business lunches as a vehicle to make business happen, cutting back is a bad idea.

Remember, as others cut back, you will stand out even more when you treat your client to a business meal. It shows you’re forward moving, optimistic, and dedicated to doing well.

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Successful Business Lunching Means Being a Good Host

Posted on 05. Jan, 2009 by Craig Peters.

Occasionally, we come across people who have a hard time with the idea of learning about and preparing for a business lunch. It feels manipulative or false somehow. Many people can’t really put a finger on it, but I think I understand where it’s coming from.

Meals are personal. Think about how many meals we have in our lives. Now think about how many business meals we have. Unless you’re in a very unusual situation, that second number is much smaller. So, most experience that people have with sharing a meal is a personal, non-business experience.

Even during the business day, lunch is often the time when you go out with co-workers and you don’t talk about work; you’re social with each other. At home, meal time is often the only time that everyone is together. You go to dinner on a first date. Some people propose marriage over a meal. I could go on - the point is that meals are personal and special.

Structuring and preparing for meals makes some people uncomfortable. It’s understandable that some people feel uncomfortable when we take something personal and apply a concrete approach to it. There’s an emotional sense that it’s manipulative to plan out an interaction like that.

Here’s a new way of seeing it. I’m calling it out this explicitly because I want you to be clear that you don’t have view it in this light. Instead, conducting a positive and successful business lunch is very similar to treating house guests well. It’s just like being a good host.

Check out some of the guidelines that Brett lays down in his post at The Art of Manliness called How to Be a Gracious Host.

How to Be a Gracious Host (from Brett’s post)

1. Be on time to pick up your guest.
2. Stock up on tasty treats.
3. Make your abode as clean and pleasant as possible.
4. Cook for your guests
5. etc.

Brett’s list is useful because it’s simple and direct. The end result if you’ve been a good host is that your guests will feel comfortable and leave with a sense that it was a good way to spend their time.

Business Lunches are the same. It’s the same with a business lunch: you want your guests to feel comfortable and leave with a sense that it was a good way to spend their time. You also need them to want more – more lunches with you, more business with your company, etc.

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Getting VIP Treatment From the Valet: Part 2 of 2

Posted on 02. Jan, 2009 by Mark Cornish.

In my previous post Getting VIP Treatment From the Valet: Part 1 of 2, I outlined how valets can benefit you. Now, I want to give you some concrete ways to take advantage of these opportunities. Follow these simple tips, and you are on your way to VIP treatment.

Tip well and tip early
Seems like a no-brainer, but a lot of people mess this part up. The fastest way to get great treatment is to tip well on your arrival instead of your departure. Let the valets know that you know how to take care of them, and they’ll want to please you and keep that relationship growing. It is not like you have to throw tons of money at them at every visit, but always tip well. What’s another ten or twenty bucks when trying to look good in front of an important client?

Treat them like people
Instead of ordering them around like most people do, take an interest in them as a person. Remember, you are trying to build a relationship that you can both benefit from. Ask how their day is going. Call them by their first names.

Compliment them
Compliment them genuinely (just don’t overdo it). It’s best if you do it in front of others; in front of the whole line of people waiting to get their cars, for example. Let the manager know how much you appreciate the valets. It will most certainly get back to them, bring you into a more positive light, and strengthen your relationship with them.

Buy them a meal
Like the old saying about a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, the same can be true for valets. On your arrival, ask them what their favorites are on the menu. Order up a meal to go, and give it to the valets on the way out (no need to buy each valet a meal; they can share). You could also bring them food from elsewhere: cookies, snacks, or drinks. A little show of gratitude goes a long way.

Ask for what you want
What you are trying to develop is a partnership. Let the valets know that if you do well, so will they. Don’t be afraid to ask for VIP treatment. For example, maybe the establishment doesn’t allow for cars to be parked right up front. That doesn’t mean you can’t ask the valet to have your car waiting for you when you’re done. Motivated with a good tip, the valet will have the host clue him in to when you’re done with your meal and are ready to leave and have both your cars waiting.

Solicit ideas from them
You shouldn’t take everything that I say as gospel, because every valet is different. Get to know the ones at your favorite restaurants. Find out what works for them. Ask them what really bothers them. If you’re creating a relationship and you’re not pushy, they’ll tell you a lot.

Approach this relationship like a partnership, follow these simple tips, and you will be treated like a VIP in no time. Happy parking!

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A Power Lunch Blueprint Is Better Than Tons Of Tips

Posted on 31. Dec, 2008 by Craig Peters.

There are lots of sources of tips and suggestions for how to conduct a successful business lunch. For example, in our training video, The Power Lunch: A Modern Approach to the Business Lunch, the guest interview section contains lots of tips. We’re going to be giving lots of tips here on this blog and on other web sites that we’re building. And we’re not the only ones providing tips, of course. Robin Jay’s book The Art of the Business Lunch gives tons of great tips. The point is, there are lots of sources of tips out there, and in general that’s good.

But it’s important that you don’t focus solely on tips. We don’t want you to get bogged down trying to memorize 150 tips. Instead, you need a higher-level system to frame these tips. We’re here to help you build your Social Capital so think of this framework as a blueprint. Here’s why it’s important.

Every level of power lunch follows the same blueprint
It doesn’t matter if you’re just out of college having an informational interview or if you’re closing a multi-million dollar deal. The framework of the meal will be roughly the same.

Too many unorganized tips will overwhelm you
I know that it’s tempting to seek out every piece of power-lunch advice that you’ve ever heard and add that to your brain’s memory storage. That’s natural. But that will backfire if you don’t have a way to organize all that information. Remember, there are lots of non-lunch things that you must think about when you’re conducting business over lunch: your pitch, your proposal, your client’s objections, etc. The last thing you want is for your brain to be taxed and distracted with excessive amounts of detail that may or may not be relevant to your situation.

A framework allows you to free-form
No lunch will go exactly the way you plan it. It just won’t. Ever. Something will be different. By understanding this as a framework, you’ll have the flexibility to adjust.

You have your own style
Let me give you an example of what I mean here. Robin Jay suggests that for a special occasion, you might pick up your client in a limousine. She’s right to point out that it won’t work for everyone, and that’s the same for all tips that you come across. When someone suggests a way of handling a business lunch, ask yourself, “Is that something that I could comfortably do? Is that tip going to work with my style?” You don’t want to come across as uncomfortable or forced. Our blueprint allows you to apply your own style.

If you’ve developed your own framework or blueprint for your business lunches, let us know. If you’ve ever tried a tip that simply didn’t work for you, let us know that, too. We’d love to hear about it.

Happy Lunching!

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Getting VIP Treatment From the Valet: Part 1 of 2

Posted on 23. Dec, 2008 by Mark Cornish.

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Three Types of Power Lunch

Posted on 22. Dec, 2008 by Mark Cornish.

In order to have a successful lunch, you have to be clear about what you’re trying to accomplish. This will be different depending on which type of lunch you are having. Each lunch you have will fall into one of these three categories.

Initial Contact
This is the first lunch, where making a great impression is paramount. Commonly the main thing you’re trying to accomplish at this lunch is to make a personal connection with your guest. You want to be on their radar; you’re creating the groundwork for further interactions. A typical measure of success for the initial contact lunch is getting additional time with your target. Maybe it’s a follow-up meeting at their office. Maybe it’s a second lunch. Your specific goal will be dependent on your situation, of course. What’s important is that you think ahead of time what you want to accomplish.

Relationship Maintenance
It’s easy to overlook this type of lunch because it’s not tied to a concrete outcome as much as the a initial contact lunch or the deal closing lunch, but don’t underestimate the importance of managing your existing relationships. You have these lunches to stay fresh in other people’s mind. You want them to be thinking of you when business opportunities come up. You don’t know what opportunities are available unless you stay in contact. The measure of success for these lunches is simply to make sure you’re doing them.

Deal Closing
This one speaks for itself. In some respects, if you’ve gotten this far, just keep up the good work and don’t change much. You’ll typically focus on business details more directly in this lunch than the other two. A ‘closing’ lunch is successful if, well… you close a deal.

Our training video, The Power Lunch - A Modern Approach to the Business Lunch, provides a framework for conducting a business lunch. This framework—with modifications as needed—applies to all three types of lunches you’re dealing with.

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A Modern Interpretation On Power Lunch (Where You Both Win)

Posted on 17. Dec, 2008 by Mark Cornish.

Does the term “Power Lunch” give you an image of rich, old white-haired men in expensive suits drinking 3 martinis and patting each other loudly on the back as they spend hundreds of dollars over one meal? If so, let me help you get current to a new and better image.

A power lunch is any lunch where each player has an agenda and a contribution to the relationship. Each person comes to the lunch to get something: to find a new hire, build a partnership, negotiate a raise, sell a product, ask for a favor, gather information, etc.

In a fantasy world, everyone is equal and power is not an issue. In the real world, that just isn’t the case. Both parties need to understand the power dynamics going in to a lunch. If I’m going to a job interview, the hiring party has something that I want – a job. In that respect, they have power over me. That isn’t a negative thing, it’s just how the world works. My job is to help them realize that I have something that they want – valuable skills, connections, reputation, etc.

When I get them to realize that I have something they want, I am showing my usefulness to the relationship. This elevates my position, as well as increases the strength of the relationship as a whole. This point is worth repeating; a successful power lunch increases the strength of the relationship as a whole. It’s not a zero-sum game; both parties at the table can, and should, help each other out. When both parties help each other out, you’ve created a win-win scenario.

Embrace the power dynamic. See it for what it is. Then, figure out how you can contribute to help increase the strength of the relationship for both of you.

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“Avoid Anything ‘Grande’ or ‘Supersized’”

Posted on 12. Dec, 2008 by Craig Peters.

I just read a post by Matt Coddington that cracked me up (How to Look Like Less of a Jackass: Lunch Meetings). I agree with Matt that it’s best to eat light, or as Matt puts it, avoid:

Anything “Grande” or “Supersized” (have some shame)

Maybe that’s cracking me up because it’s Friday, I’ve been at my desk too long, and I really should head to Mule Design’s holiday party, but a good chuckle is still a good chuckle.

More seriously, I agree with Matt when he recommends not ordering pasta. Those noodles sometimes have a mind of their own on their way from your plate to your mouth. Not a mess every time, of course, but there are usually lots of other options on the menu.

I’m OK with soup, however. It’s not that hard to eat soup quietly. The main thing to remember for soup is: don’t overflow your spoon. Also, not all cultures and restaurants call for the silent soup treatment. In some, it’s expected to slurp your soup. But, you should be very confident that your client is fully on board with this custom before you start slurping away.

The last point Matt makes is so simple that it’s often overlooked. He reminds you to keep water and crumbs off your hands when you shake hands at the end of the meal; very important when trying to leave a lasting positive impression.

Matt’s tips will fit nicely into the framework that we present in the training video. It’s almost done; ready for sale January 1.

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