It sounds like an exciting proposition on paper: A client needs to be shown a good time and it's your job to make it happen. You spit-shine the corporate card, claim the company's courtside seats, and reserve a table at the new restaurant you haven't had a chance to try because you've been hunched over your desk. It'll be a big night on the town.
Or will it? There's usually a little business to conduct, after all. And that restaurant had better be good. Do you know exactly where the seats are at the game, or will you miss the first half circling the arena? There are a thousand obstacles standing in the way of a fruitful and fun evening of entertainment. Here's how to overcome them.
Warm Welcome
The guiding principle is that you are, in every sense of the word, the host. If your client is arriving from out of town, act as though he or she is a guest coming to a wedding. The first order of business is a place to stay. "Make their hotel reservations at a place that's convenient for your company," says Chetan Panwala, a project director at a high-tech firm in Boston. Be sure to have a car -- preferably a nice car -- waiting at the airport to pick them up, and a gift basket waiting in the hotel room. You should also leave a hand-written note about the day's or evening's plans: "We've made reservations at a great Italian restaurant. A car will be waiting just outside the lobby at 7 pm to take you there." Although you want to make your client feel completely at ease, resist the urge to be a buddy from the get-go by showing up at the hotel with a six-pack and your golf clubs. Start off being formal and polite, then loosen up as the night (or week) goes on.
Hitting the Town
Give some thought to what you hope to accomplish before the festivities begin. "You're usually attempting to do one of three things," says a managing director at a major investment bank. "Build relationships, build preference for your company subconsciously, or get insight into what the client wants." In building a relationship, which is key to acheiving any of your goals, it helps if you offer your client a few entertainment choices ahead of time rather than dictate the agenda. And try to stray from the norm. In Boston, rent a sailboat for the day. In San Francisco, head to wine country. It also doesn't hurt to research what your guest likes to do. "If you plan to play golf with someone who's a serious golfer, make sure to call his secretary or someone at his golf club to find out what brand of balls he uses," says Bill Storer, founder of Business Golf Strategies, a New Jersey-based company that teaches business-golf etiquette. Then have a few boxes of balls on hand.
Speaking of golf: Some activities are better suited to men than women. Many women love nothing better than to hit the links, and plenty of men wouldn't know a 3-wood if it hit them in the head, but use common sense. "Women are often more comfortable in groups and daytime settings," says Amy McLaughlin, a consultant focusing on client relationship management. "Breakfast and lunch meetings -- any daytime activities -- are preferable, especially since we can end them when we want." Dave Dixon, a former bond trader at Goldman Sachs who's now a hotel developer, agrees. "I know women who get tired of the evening cocktail-and-steakhouse thing," he says. "So I used to take clients to day spas for massages and treatments, and we'd meet up at the juice bar afterwards to talk."
Don't Forget the Business
No matter how inventive you are, make sure your activity allows for talking. "One company took us to play paintball," says a former associate at T. Rowe Price. "It was a fun idea and we had a blast, but it was pretty useless as far as anyone getting to know anyone." Still, concerts and sporting events can be great opportunities to impress, even though you're not going to close any deals at the Springsteen show. With a foursome of choice seats, you can communicate your importance without saying a word. "The point of getting good seats is always to show your client you have access, connections, that you can get things done," says the investment-bank managing director. And, of course, it's fun to be near the action -- just remember to ask someone at your firm exactly how to find your seats. If you do talk business, pick your moments -- the last 30 seconds of overtime is the wrong time to ask about their budgets.
A Quiet Evening
When you're sitting at a sports arena surrounded by 18,000 people, be loose and keep the specifics about business to a minimum. An intimate table in the back of a swank restaurant, however -- that's where to close the deal. The less familiar you are with clients and the more you need from them (a signature? a go-ahead?), the more privacy you should seek. Make reservations for off nights (Mondays and Wednesdays), when you'll have a better shot at an undisturbed corner table. (The American Express Platinum Card's concierge service can help you get into exclusive restaurants, even at the last minute.) Your firm probably has relationships with local places, so confer with executive assistants when choosing a spot ("What's that great place where Ms. Hackenfoot is always asking you to make a reservation?"). Skipping the well-worn steakhouse and impressing the client with your insider's knowledge of a little-known gem is fine. But you may regret experimenting with the new Sino-Slavic fusion place you can't vouch for. And even if it's your favorite restaurant in town, underplay your enthusiasm -- you never know when the place will have an off night.
When Clients Get Ugly
Wherever you end up, beware the client-meeting-as-mating-ritual and other such boorishness. "I've had married guys hit on me, offer to fly me out to meet them, all kinds of things," says one female investment banker from New York. And rambunctious behavior isn't a problem known only by women. "I was out for lunch with a client," says one male project director. "He kept going up to the bar to watch some seedy bathing suit pageant on, like, ESPN 6, then he's back at the table, making loud, crude anatomical references. I needed this guy to sign, I needed his cash, so I knew I couldn't be vocally judgmental. I just quietly said, 'Uh, that's funny.' Even as I went along with him, he picked up my vocal cue and eventually quieted down." Oh, and the guy signed.
Hey, It's on Me
By the way, you're paying. This sounds easy, but a technical glitch with your card or a pushy client can foil your plan. So plan ahead. "Have the restaurant pre-authorize your credit card," says Yann de Rochefort, co-owner of Suba, a hip, see-and-be-seen pan-Latin eatery on Manhattan's Lower East Side. "This eliminates any wrangling over the bill, and it will allow you to inform the staff how you want your table to be treated. Do you want to be left alone? Do you want to be addressed as the head of the table?"
Okay, It's on You
Let your client pick up the check later in the evening or weekend (if they insist) at the brew-pub or dessert spot in a more casual, less expensive setting. "It's a subtle way of sealing a relationship," says Panwala. "It's a way of allowing them to reciprocate honorably."
Nudity is Overrated
Restaurants, golf courses -- these are typical client entertainment targets. But that other time-honored setting, the strip club, isn't for everyone. "When I was on the buy side, one bank took us to a strip club," says theT. Rowe Price associate. "It's one thing if you're in Vegas, at your friend's bachelor party, but I didn't know these people and it seemed tacky." If an important client insists, and you do go out on that limb, don't even think about expensing it. "Whether you're in New York or Bangkok, financial and consulting firms know every strip club in the world," says Dixon. "Pay for it yourself."
