The BIGG Successs Show
Be Dining While Dashing
Suggestions on wooing investors over dinner. Listen to the show & read the summary here.
Welcome to the big success show today. We'll talk about how to be dashing while dining The big success show with George and Mary Lynn Be dashing while dining I'm Mary Lynn You know, I think I've - to dine quite a few times But I don't think I've actually ever dined and dashed because we're too full to be able to do that Well seriously though, we recently received an email from one of our newsletter subscribers Yeah, Brett's a business owner trying to raise some money And he's hosting a couple of investors for dinner And he'd like some tips on how to make sure that his dinner is a big success Let's start with some generalities. You'll be dashing by doing a lot of little things. Well, you'll be yourself Most of all, Brett, but be respectful courteous and sincere also remember that you're the host and they're the guests So you've got to take the lead in this one Absolutely, and now we can get into some specifics. We're going to look at before during and after dinner that pretty much covers it all Don't it does Well before dinner, Brett, obviously you need to choose the restaurant try to find out what their preferences are Their favorite foods if they're local with their favorite restaurants are you didn't balance that against where you like to go You know, I like to entertain in a place that I'm familiar with home field advantage is something we all like, right? You know, it works in sports. It works in business And the thing is I know I'm gonna get great service there. Yes as long as you're a good tipper Which you are George. Well, your reputation will precede you But you know the point is if there's a place that you're well-known That's a great place to take your investors right and make sure you arrive early because obviously this shows respect that your time is not more valuable than theirs and I mean you set the appointment. This is your dinner date So don't be late. Yeah, don't be late for your own dinner And you know, since you're there early arrange for the bill to be paid away from the table Yes, because Brett you are paying this bill I guess I didn't say that specifically did I but that's what I meant and you know You're the one trying to make the sale so you should pay the bill and it reminds me Mary Lynn of this story a Businessman I know was trying to buy a company and he met with a seller the day progressed and they reached an impasse as Evening was kind of starting to come. They were a hundred thousand dollars apart in price And so they agreed to just get away from it all go out to dinner and come back with kind of a fresh start And so the businessman decided during dinner that if the seller would just buy dinner That he would pay the extra hundred thousand dollars And the reason he wanted the seller to pay for dinner was because he'd already paid for breakfast and lunch seems fair Well, yeah, and so the server came presented the bill. It sat on the table. It sat on the table And finally the businessman just pulled out his credit card and paid for the bill So the seller didn't pay for dinner or did he? Does that dinner cost him a hundred thousand dollars? Wow the moral of the story don't be cheap But do consider paying for dinner a small investment that could have some big returns now during the dinner You're the host so you're gonna take the leads set the agenda and set the pace of what happens Yeah, start off with some small talk while everybody's looking at the menu place your orders and then get down to business right away Get through your presentation so that you'll have time at the end for some questions Yeah, or just to build your relationship more Absolutely, and then after dessert skews yourself and then make sure you take care of the bill Yeah, we do that George when we host business centers And it's really nice because it takes away that awkward moment when the bill arrives I'm sure the investors are generous people and they might want to pay offered to pay the bill None of that has to happen now and the guests are pleasantly surprised whenever they find out that we've already taken care of the bill And that there was no issue and they appreciate it absolutely and I usually just say I need to go powder my nose And you always look so refreshed when you come back coming up what to do after dinner is over Today we're helping out Brett one of our big success weekly subscribers And he's got an upcoming business dinner with some potential investors and he's asked our advice to make a good impression We've talked about what to do before and during the dinner now. We're gonna get into after dinner. Yeah, so dinner's over They're ready to leave don't just hang around the restaurant walk them out You know some great conversation often happens once you leave the table I don't know Mary Lynn if it's because you know the evening's drawing to an end There's maybe a little pressure on time to get in what you're gonna say And so a lot of times you'll find that a lot of progress can be made in these few minutes. Yeah, you can talk about what's next That's really the whole point to be able to continue the conversation So make sure you do follow up after this dinner. Thank them for meeting with you for giving you their time Yeah, let them know that you look forward to working with them and Brett good luck Yeah, thanks for sending us your big challenge and we hope you have a wonderful dinner Do you have a big challenge for us? We'd love to help send us an email through our website at big success calm That's also where you'll find a written summary of today's show and George before we go Let's get our big quote for the day. Well, who else could our big quote today be by except for Emily Post? All right, who wrote it manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others if you have that awareness You have good manners. No matter which fork you use So mind your manners and the world can be your oyster. Yes as long as you don't use the shrimp for Next time we're gonna talk about tips to cope with information overload and until then here's to your big success The big success show at B I G G success calm You you you you [BLANK_AUDIO]