Requesting a "Doggie Bag" in business lunch

I have a question about business luncheons and dinners. Is it right or wrong to request a "doggie bag" if I was unable to finish my meal?

-SJ

The short answer is that we wouldn't recommend it. The long answer is that it depends on how you define "business lunch" or "business dinner."

If you are casually going out with co-workers and everyone is paying for his or her own meal, then by all means, request a box to take home your meal.

Of course, I'm sure you do your best to ensure you're not being disruptive of the conversational flow or making everyone late getting back to work or getting home! I'm sure you make the request discreetly and early in the meal so that the waitstaff can accommodate your request without causing a stir among your fellow diners.

What we generally call a "business lunch" or a "business dinner" is actually more of a meeting than a meal, in spite of appearances.

If you're dining with a client, or if your boss is footing the bill, then eating is the second (or third) purpose of the meal. You are there to do business. The meal is merely a pleasant distraction. In these cases, it's poor etiquette (and bad business strategy) to do anything that detracts from the business at hand. That would include poring over the menu while ignoring your guests, quizzing the waitstaff about ingredients of a dish, ordering anything complicated or disruptive (no flaming entrees!) ordering dessert if the timeframe doesn't allow for it, ordering alcohol unless that's part the business culture you're in, and, unfortunately, requesting a doggie bag.

The Social Contract & Business

This piece was originally published in the ShopTooele Newsletter in Tooele, UT, but would be helpful to any small business owner in any community.

The marketplace obliges men, whether they will or not, in pursuing their own selfish interests, to connect the general good with their own individual success”

~ Edmund Burke (British Statesman and Philosopher, 1729-1797)

The hardest part of business is finding a way to match what you love to do with what other people will pay money for. Most of us have had times in our lives when economic reality has caused us to take jobs we didn’t like and exchange a portion of our time for a paycheck.

Being self-employed is a different kind of exchange. It’s harder to figure out, but its ultimately a more honest way of figuring out if you’re adding something of value to the community.

Sometimes a business doesn’t work because you’re not adding value that the community wants. We helped a friend open a store at the Gateway in Salt Lake City a few years ago importing handmade rugs from Iran and Pakistan. Many of the people who came in the store exclaimed over how beautiful the rugs were, but they didn’t see why they should pay $6000 for a rug, when they could go buy one at Wal-Mart for $100 or less. This is not a question of which rugs were more beautiful or which would be handed down to grandchildren, it was a question of perceived value in the mind of the customer. We were selling the wrong thing, or at least trying to sell it to the wrong people. Whatever the reason, we’d not done the market research to connect with the “general good” of the community we were doing business in. Our friend has since become much more successful with a shop in New York. The “general good” there is apparently measured by a different standard.

In any case, finding ways to serve the “general good” in Tooele is easier than it used to be. You can find demographic information online to find out the numbers, incomes, genders and ages of people here. The Chamber of Commerce does surveys of market needs. And you can always open your business to a larger audience by using an online channel in addition to selling locally.

Some resources:

U.S. Census Data

http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/49/49045.html

Municipal Research

http://www.muninetguide.com/states/utah/
municipality/Tooele.php

Community Profile

http://www.hometownlocator.com/City/Tooele-Utah.cfm

Amazing efficiency from such a small thing!

One big difference I've noticed this year-

I'm working in an office again (last year I spent a lot more time working at home) and I noticed that I had gotten in the habit of leaving projects in stacks around the office. I could do that at home, because no one would disturb my work.

Being in an office, however, I've been more conscious of cleaning up. I've found that the discipline of cleaning up each evening, rather than taking more time (as I had thought) actually helps me be more efficient.

There are several reasons for this:

• I come in each morning to a clean desk and tend to prioritize my work better (rather than working on the project that is the most prominently in my way.)
• I leave each night with a clearer mind - having finalized, made a few notes, and put each folder away in my desk - this essentially moves the project from the foreground to the background of my mind.
• As I pull out each folder and refamiliarize myself with its contents, I bring a slightly different perspective to the work as I would have if I'd left it lying as it had been when I worked on it last. In some cases, this presents new ideas and solutions I hadn't thought of before.
  
• I feel better about having a clean office!

So, I've started to clean up the office at home as well. Amazing difference from such a small thing.

Trade Show Etiquette

Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2007 3:35 PM
Subject: trade show etiquette

Could you settle a dispute between a client and I? He wants to send a letter saying “Thank you for visiting our booth. It was nice to meet you.” to attendees at a show on 10/16. I say it’s too late for thank you so we should send a different message. We look inefficient since we couldn’t get a form letter out in 6 weeks!!! What do you think?

Great web site, I enjoy reading your blog.


Pamela Bir
Your Computer Lady
Email: Pamela@YourComputerLady.com
“Your Bridge to Productivity”

Dear Pamela-

Thanks very much for your interest and your question. I love your signature image!

I agree that it’s too late to send a simple “Thank you.” If that was the intention it should have been sent immediately. But you could send a “We enjoyed meeting you at our booth and thought you might be interested to know that ______________” (fill in the blank with something timely, connected with a news story or press release, and relevant to your industry and likely to be of interest to your group.)

Your client probably spent a lot of time and money collecting contacts at the trade show and I agree that it would be unfortunate to let it go much longer without sending something to these contacts.

-Paula Williams
www.Ravenwerks.com
Committed to Your Success

Keeping One's Word - Out of Style?

Am I the only one to encounter this more commonly in the last few years?

I've had many conversations with people from upper management to software engineers to facilities. I ask for something fairly simple and we negotiate and agree- whether it's to approve a purchase, complete a network diagram or fix a light switch. They enthusastically agree to do what I ask by a specific time. The specified time comes and goes and the task remains undone and I hear nothing from them.

Granted, everyone is busy, but they knew that at the time they agreed to the task. And granted, things come up. But what's wrong with picking up the phone and letting me know that they'll be delayed or some conflict came up?

Weren't these people raised by parents who taught them to keep their word? Doesn't everyone still say that it's best to underpromise and overdeliver? Did I miss a memo?

Shouldn't Meetings be Held During Worktime?

Hello paula,

im on my way to CA, so thank you for your guide.

Efficient companies often schedule meetings before 9:00 a.m. and after 5:00 so as not to interfere with "work time."

but meetings are work, so shouldnt they be held within work time ?

best regards
Christian

My thought is - yes, meetings should definitely be held during work time. . they certainly are work, and we all have "lives" outside of work. But on the other hand, when was the last time anyone actually had a 9:00 to 5:00 workweek? :-)

Let us know what YOU think!

What NOT to Wear to Work - Too Much (or the Wrong) Perfume

I was discussing fragrances with some friends recently, and someone mentioned being "trapped" in an office cubicle next to someone wearing noxious perfume. This lit off a spate of complaints from everyone about their least favorite scent, and in almost every case it involved a scenario where they were in an enclosed space (usually at work) with someone wearing it.

When you work in an office with other people, you're essentially cooped up for about 8 hours with a limited air supply. Under these circumstances, you want to smell like nothing at all, or like something very subtle and universally pleasant. Even things that may smell nice at the first whiff or two can get really annoying by the 4th, 6th or 8th hour.

Perfumes that you love to wear socially, drifting in and out of parties, on a date, shopping with friends, running errands with family, or even to the theater can be too much for the office. (In a theater you're only next to someone for an hour or two at a time, and the ventilation is usually better!)

Some people have reactions to fragrances that you wouldn't expect. Strong, distinctive odors like patchouli or carnation can be offensive in the wrong circumstances, but there are some subtler fragrance ingredients that give people problems. A few days ago, was wearing a subtle, high-quality floral scent that I don't normally wear, and my husband got a splitting headache. He usually loves the perfumes I wear (with rare exceptions) and I was really surprised that this one caused a reaction. It was days before I could get him to smell anything without having a headache. I can imagine him stuck in a cubicle next to someone wearing this scent. Egad.

So, here's my list of tips for cubicle dwellers. Your fellows will thank you!

• Practice impeccable personal hygiene if you work in an office.
  
• Use unscented or subtly scented shampoo, hair products and other toiletries.
  
• Go to www.westofparisboutique.com, and enter the word "office" in the search window on the upper left for fragrances that are subtle and nearly universally pleasant and therefore recommended for office use.
  
• Even with these, be very careful to use a light touch.
  
• DO NOT REAPPLY at your desk! (Especially with sprays.) Even if there's no one around at the moment and you think no one will notice, your office mates will notice a cloud of scent when they return.
  
• This is one circumstance when EDTs (the lightest form of scent) are much preferable to EDPs or perfumes.