How Table Manners Can Affect Your Sales | Sales & Marketing Skills Training

People form an impression of your professionalism based on your table manners.

Recently, I enjoyed a lunch with several younger professionals. One of them told me he had recently dined with a partner and a prospective client. He reported that, “After the dinner, my partner suggested that, before entertaining clients again, I improve my table manners.”

If you define marketing as communication, and intend to build relationships with prospects and clients, then good entertaining skills are essential to a good marketing program. Let’s cover a few of the basics for a successful power lunch.

Treat Your Guests with Respect

Open doors for your guests and encourage them to precede you to the table. Allow your guest to be seated first, in the most preferred seats. If there is a good view, encourage the guest to face that direction. Give your undivided attention to your guests. Always allow your guest to go first: ordering drinks or the meal, taking the first sip or bite, and ordering coffee or desert. The host’s responsibility is to carry a friendly conversation.

You may be intimidated, but if you sit through your meal with- out joining in the conversation, you are communicating to your guest that you are not interested.

Order Foods that Are Easy to Eat

Avoid any foods that cannot be controlled easily. If you aren’t skilled at twirling pasta, don’t order it; it will be too messy. Shell- fish that requires squeezing and digging, ribs, corn on the cob, and fried chicken are all difficult to eat daintily. Tear your roll gently; don’t saw it with a knife.

Never talk with food in your mouth (so take small bites so you can easily enter conversations). When you feel that bit of food between your teeth, swish it out silently and unobtrusively. Only cut and take one bite of food at a time.

Blot lipstick so it does not appear on glasses. And never place your napkin in the middle of a dirty plate. Sit up straight in your chair. Don’t hover or slump over your plate or lean your chair back on two legs. Keep elbows off the table.

What About Drinks, Appetizers, and Dessert?

Always offer these to your guests, and if they order one, order something yourself. Never let them eat a course alone. Appetizers or dessert should not be shared, unless your guest asks to. Then, ask the server to split it for you.

Conclusion

Table manners may seem too basic to cover. But many people form impressions of you from simple things. So brush up on your etiquette and table manners for better results. If you feel your staff would benefit, arrange a catered lunch and hire an etiquette trainer to teach the basics. When people are confident of their manners, they can focus their attention on the client rather than worrying about what they might be doing wrong.