Top 5 way to Successfully “Do Lunch”
At some point, you will have a lunch business meeting. Whether this is sitting with a superior to discuss your career or a potentially ally that you need to convince, a lot can be accomplished. However, there is an art to the business lunch.
Here are my top 5 tips:
1) Location – You need to find a place you can talk and is not too crowded. This can be a rookie mistake if you go to some place and you can’t talk. Best bet – a nice sit-down restaurant that takes reservations.
2) Reminder – Often it can take 10 emails to set up a lunch meeting. And by the time, it is put on one’s schedule, people often forget. It is super key to do a quick email reminder the morning of the lunch. I have been accidentally stood up a few times because of my lack of reminding.
3) Ordering – Ideally always order second, so you can copy what the other person does. Generally go for something easy to eat (not a BBQ sandwich), not too messy. And always order an “Arnold Palmer” – its classy
4) Discussion – So the whole point of the lunch is to have a talk. Don’t just hop right into business. You need some warm-up to get people going – family, friends, sports, etc. But at the same time, you want to make sure you get to the topic you came to. I’ve had too many lunches that ended without the real topic ever getting discussed.
5) Follow-up – Yep…a theme in my posts lately. But it is key to follow-up on what was discussed at the lunch. It doesn’t have to be that afternoon and honestly I’d recommend the next day. Thank the person for lunch and go into the next steps you’ve discussed.
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Also here are some other top 5’s of mine:
Top 5: Ways to Get Your Next Gov’t Job
Top 5: Best Places to Have a Government Job
Top 5: Worst Places to Have a Government Job
Top 5: Places to Network at Work
Top 5: Gov’t Shows That Should Exist
Top 5: Things I Wish the Boss Did
Top 5: Ways to Tell a Contractor Apart From a Govie
Top 5: Signs You Need A New Job
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