“The trend to take clients out for wine and dine is only growing stronger with the move towards more relaxed work habits and the birth of the foodie nation. If you are working in a corporate environment, it is almost expected to occur regularly.” According to general manager Levi Aron, good food and good business go hand-in-hand. Many a lucrative deal has been done over a hearty meal and a few alcoholic beverages. Nailing the etiquette to entertaining clients can make all the difference when it comes to sealing the deal on new business. And it’s a skill likely to come in handy in the long run.

Technology is the weapon for a business as it helps businesses reach clients in new ways, but wine and dine can be considered as the best ways to make connections. “Dining out with your client enables them to see you and the company in a different light.” “It helps build the essential foundation needed when building trust and friendship in this tough business climate we live in.” Clients may be think that you just want to get around them for business purpose only, but the trick is to use good old-fashioned way of communication. Using face-to-face meeting over a meal not only providing good opportunities to involve in negotiations, but growing your business too. Here are the tips from the experts that you can follow to wine and dine while growing up your business.

Choose the right restaurant

Wine and dine involves getting the right venue to have some good time and good business entertaining. Make sure that you always ring ahead to reserve and seek for their help in getting the best table available in the restaurant for you and your guests. This shows your guests that you care.

Respect your guests

Your guests are the guests and you are the host. Expert says the common error in wine and dine list is people tend to attach to their phone. So, make sure you keep off your phone all the time and tell them nicely if there is an emergency call. Avoid ruining a promising business meeting by getting into awkward personal discussion, like talking one’s private life or funny habit. It is important to always care their feelings despite you have built up a close relationship with your guests. While you have reached deeper conversation regarding your business, do not give away confidential information about your business – in terms of finances or strategy. Unless it is essential, but make sure it not happens by declining politely their interest into that matter.

Welcome your guests

Make your guests feel welcome and comfortable by letting them choose from the menu. They will enjoy themselves. To growing up a business, the first impression is important. It requires you to be an enthusiastic master of wine and dine. Most of your guests want to be relax and to be feed as they going through an unsettle day being intensely or slightly famished. So, it is highly recommendable to kick the evening off with champagne or sparkling wine. It delights, dazzles and makes them feel special in instant. Serve them exotic sampler portions of foods like Scottish smoked salmon, foie gras, or, perhaps exotic appetizer like jamón ibérico de bellota, a kind of Spanish ham that looks like prosciutto, instead of offering junk food, mixed raisins and nuts, pretzels, salads and potato chips.

You invite, you pay

It is the golden rule of wine and dine, according to Rebecca Wiles, the director and lead trainer of The Training Establishment. For one who wants to develop a business, it is a big deal to give your special treat to guests. It indicates that you are serious about your business and they will respect you more.

Wine and dine is so related to power entertaining on how you can attract your client to boost your business. Why is it so important? Well, if you are bad in entertaining people, do not expect to take your business to a new level.

Let’s think power entertaining as your strategy to develop your business. You can brand yourself and your company by creating memorable and enjoyable social events that people will long remember and always associate with you. Creating a memorable experience does not need to crunch your budget. Power entertaining is about offering people delectable samples of food and tastings of wine, especially of things they haven’t had before or don’t know much about. It so much enough you have created a valuable experience for guests, surrounding with great wine, great food, great company and great ambience. It is about giving them the enjoyable moments that will cause them to hardly to forget you. Probably, they would come back to do business with you in the future.

Power entertaining is about making others feel special at business events you host. It is important to dive into your hosting role with enthusiasm, extending the welcome mat to people as they arrive, exuding warmth and hospitality. Do not forget the souvenirs. Give your guests a nice take-home souvenir as special wine and dine moment with you. It will cause them to remember you even after the ceremony had passed. Guests will acknowledge and prospect the best “brand experience” of you, your firm, and your commitment to building and sustaining a strong business relationship with them. You don’t need a magic stick and pixie dust, but trust from people around you to make it happen.

 

ThunderQuote is the most comprehensive business services portal in Singapore, Australia and ASEAN , where hundreds of thousands of dollars of procurement contracts are sourced every month by major companies like Singapore Press Holdings, National Trade Union Congress and more.