An unwritten maxim of business is how much of it gets done outside the office. For decades, that has meant treating clients to rounds of golf, suites at sporting events, and, in Arkansas, even a trip to the duck club to help shed the formality of the board room and put a little loft into the sales pitch.
Such gestures are not thinly veiled bribes nor the schmaltzy schmooze that suggests a multimillion-dollar client can be bought with a $200 green fee. There is real science behind doing business in alternate settings, from disarming the natural defenses put up during more staid formal negotiations to allowing each side to gauge the other’s true colors in nonwork settings.
One of the most hallowed techniques for this specific brand of networking and sales is the business dinner, and it is not hard to see why. Humans breaking bread together has been a sign of collegiality and friendship for millennia, and doing so with hoped-for clients or business associates suggests a level of trust and intimacy a board room continental spread just cannot match.
“Some people may still think that the most economical and efficient way to close a deal is to lock a counterpart in a conference room with a few sandwiches then ‘cook’ this counterpart for a few hours until he/she signs at the bottom of the page,” logged Ludovic Tendron, an attorney, author and negotiation strategist on LinkedIn. “This may be the case when a commercial agreement needs to be formalized with a team of advisors, but it may not be efficient enough for obtaining a good commercial agreement.
“A memorable dining experience not only creates a favorable context for negotiations but should also be seen as a way to seduce a counterpart and a business accelerator, improving the productivity of discussions.”
Of course, important business dinners are not the same as going out with pals; experts point out there are right and wrong ways to host such meals, and violating those rules of etiquette can have disastrous consequences. One of the first and most important laws of the business dinner (and “dinner” because research shows an evening meal is more effective than lunch) is to choose a place that provides both good food and a memorable dining experience.
“It is easier to create a memorable dining experience for your guests if it is a unique experience,” Tendron wrote. “The more unique the dinner experience is, the better chance it has to remain memorable. I would say that food, wine and service have to be excellent, but it is not enough. The venue must create a positive or unique atmosphere. Your guest must get the impression that he/she has experienced something new, e.g., a new wine, a new flavor, a new combination or pairing, or even a new place. In essence, your guest must feel special.”
Arkansas has its share of such establishments. In fact, some are so often frequented for such dinners they have become known as prime closing spots. The following are a few proven locations for closing the big deal as selected by the editors of Arkansas Money & Politics.
