Last week someone bid $2.6 million for charity to have lunch with Warren Buffett – now that really does place value on someone's personal brand and expertise!
My Dad always said there was no such thing as a fr^e lunch and when you are meeting someone for lunch for business you need to make sure that you treat it like any other business meeting.
- Define the objectives and goals for the meeting. (Think about that from both sides).
- Establish some form of agenda (Consider sharing that with the people you are meeting).
- Choose a location that is professional and makes the right impression. (Get recommendations from others).
- Ask for a table where it is not going to be too noisy or have interuptions. (Scope out beforehand if you can).
- Write notes on the meeting afterwards. (Follow up and thank those who came).
- Measure the success against your goals. (Confirm what next actions are and who is taking them).
In this case I am not sure that the return on investment will quite payoff. But of course the real beneficiary is the charity – who's annual budget was around $18 million, this is going to make a huge impact.
So if someone was paying to have you to lunch, what advice would you give?