Are you “eating” your money when you dine out to entertain a client, or, is your money well spent giving your company a great return on their investment?

With today’s tight budgets, dining or entertaining clients while staying within your budget is more critical than ever.   I have 3 simple rules to help ensure that you can justify the expense to your company.

Rule 1

Have a purpose and a strategy.
Know why you are having the meeting, and yes, whether you are eating out or entertaining, remember  it is a meeting.  Having a purpose and a strategy will ensure that your goals and objectives are met.  Ignoring these two elements is sure to eat your money up fast without achieving the desired result.

Have a briefing with your team to establish the technique of your approach.  But more importantly, have    a debriefing following the event.  This ensures that   you stay on target and help others understand their responsibility in the process.

Rule 2

It is not social.
The second reason why people do not get a great return on their investment is that they end up socializing instead of doing business.  The next time you are spending your company’s money ask yourself if you actually do more socializing than business.  A way to ensure that this does not happen to your meeting is    to repeat Rule 1.

Rule 3

Create your own menu.
To make the most out of your money, put your menu  on a budget.  In other words, scale down the menu     at a restaurant.  Design your own menu from the establishment’s offerings and this goes for wines as well.  Select low to medium range cost items.

Here are some tips to help you keep in alignment with your purpose and objectives of the meal (meeting).

1.  Prepare.  Ensure you take care of all the details as they are what define distinction.  For example, give your business card to the maitre d’ to ensure you get the check.  When the server presents you with the check, you will come off as being in control.  Remember, if you invite,    you pay!

2.  Control the meal without being aggressive.  If your client gets off track, get them back on.  Take responses to the questions back to help you resolve what you came to accomplish.

3.  Know the etiquettes and protocols of dining.  If you do     not know who orders the wine, who tastes it, when to begin eating or drinking, or how to place your utensils when resting during the meal, then I suggest brushing up on these skills.  This is particularly true for the X, Y, and    Z generations, where most do not know the importance   of these skills.

Whether you are trying to create new relationships, maintain existing ones or close a deal, off-site events are an excellent way to get the job done.  And implementing these suggestions will give you confidence that you are doing the best you can do.  And that confidence trans-  lates into success.