In certain business environments, it is quite common to have to hold business lunches or meetings with important clients. Hence, choosing a good restaurant for these tasks is essential to make a good impression on our guests when we have to act as hosts.
Since the Coronavirus pandemic hit the world population a year ago, IT companies have been doing conferences and meeting through remote video conferences. Although this is a good idea for social distancing, no one can deny that talking to a client, a business partner, or an employee personally would lead to better and more productive results.
The vaccine is rolling and the Covid restriction is becoming lesser and lesser strict. People now have the chance to go to restaurants so IT companies are grabbing opportunities to build more rapport with both clients and employees.
The following are some of the most obvious reasons why restaurants are becoming conference rooms of IT companies.
- The new and fresh environment outside the office
Working 7 to 8 hours a day inside your office is stressful even if you are an executive. To unload some stress, going to a restaurant and meeting someone is a good choice. Less stress, delicious food, and more time to chat.
- Food as an icing on the cake
Sometimes, a slight issue with the plan or design can be compensated easily when you are offering good food to your client. Having a meeting in a restaurant that offers a number of dishes could be a big help.
- Meet new people even outside your contacts
Being in a restaurant means more chances of meeting other people who might get interested in what you and your business are doing. You can’t have the same opportunity if you hold your conference in your own office meeting room.
How to choose a restaurant for meetings and business lunches?
Today there are multiple options when it comes to choosing and there are restaurants for all tastes. However, we should have some things clear when choosing one or the other option.
- Choose an area that is easy to find and with good communications
Especially recommended when we meet with contacts from other cities. It is not good to make you dizzy looking for the chosen restaurant, comfort in many cases must be our winning option. You also have to look at the parking possibilities that exist in the area. Nobody would like to have to drive two hundred laps before they can park the vehicle.
- Variety in the menus
I know people who like to take their contacts to exotic food places, without knowing the tastes of the other party. Needless to say, this ruins any good image you want to portray. Just because you are fascinated by Thai food (for example) does not mean that everyone will like this option.
As a general rule, it is usually a good idea to choose places with a wide variety of menus within ranges that we could qualify as typical of our cuisine. Of course, this rule can be skipped if you know for a fact that the other person is fascinated by more exotic common options.
- Elegance, but without ostentation
Ostentation is usually bad both in excess and by default. Virtue is usually found in the middle. Of course, this depends on who you are dealing with. If you are hosting the CEO of a large company you are interested in closing a major first deal with, you probably need a higher-class restaurant than usual.
- Added services
There are very important added values for these occasions. A good example would be to make sure that the chosen place has a WIFI network (in case you have to consult any important information) or that it is a suitable place to have a pleasant conversation over the table (perhaps the most important point of all).
A trend that is beginning to be seen in some restaurants that are beginning to target the business niche is to open loyalty programs. In addition to being an excellent tool to control this type of expense, the client can enjoy some other advantages such as sending invoices at home (the eternal problem that tickets do not allow VAT to be charged). Not to mention the business intelligence benefits that the restaurant acquires from some of its most profitable customers.
- Be generous
Although this is not directly related to the choice of the restaurant, I cannot help saying that I have seen too many times in work meetings that of “that each one pays his own.” It may be a bit of a purist, but personally, I find it somewhat in bad taste. If we are the hosts, paying the bill of our visitor is a show of respect and good wishes towards him and helps to cordiality in relationships. After all, in the future, the roles may turn and we will be the visitors on another occasion.
Business lunches are quite common in many negotiations. Follow some of these recommendations when choosing a place to do them and it will probably increase the good impression of your company.
Obviously, there are undeniably great reasons why doing an IT conference in a restaurant is far better and effective than doing it remotely from home, or inside your office conference room. Here are some of the additional reasons.
1. New place, new environment, a breath of fresh air. You can’t find this inside your office – only in restaurants.
2. Meet new friends
3. Have more time talking with other people.
4. Showcase your new bike. Yes, they may sound odd but are still working 24/7 from home or office. What’s the purpose of buying your favorite bike fromZeCycles.com if you just leave it inside your home or office garage? By going to restaurant conferences, you can show it to other people and it adds confidence and motivation when someone likes it.
5. New food, a new taste, fresh energy
IT and business people like you are always preoccupied with so many things in mind and sometimes, going outside helps a lot!