When it comes to business, everybody knows that it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. Building great relationships with clients is absolutely critical to your success, and it is important that you spend a lot of time and effort nurturing these relationships. As the old saying goes, ‘people buy from people’ – so if you expect your clients to remain loyal to you then you are going to have to put some effort in to keeping them. Corporate hospitality is big business, and there should definitely be a healthy budget put aside for hospitality in your business. In this article we are going to give you some great ideas for entertaining your clients. Read on for more information:
A Trip to a Sports Match
When it comes to corporate hospitality, one of the most popular things to do is to take your clients to a sports match. Whether this is football, rugby, tennis or another sport – you are bound to prick the interests of your client if you offer them free tickets. Most sports grounds have hospitality boxes where you can host your clients in private. These boxes are serviced by staff that will provide food and drink on request, and make sure that you are all comfortable. It is important not to speak about business too much during the match, and instead concentrate on enjoying yourselves and making sure your guests are having a good time.
An Away Day
Away days are very popular with companies who want to promote team spirit amongst their staff. However, away days are also brilliant for entertaining clients. Offering them experiences such as kayaking, rock climbing or sailing is a great way of showing them a good time. The day will be talked about for many years to come, and your clients will be very grateful for the opportunities that you gave them.
A Dinner
Show your clients how much they mean to you by taking them out for a slap up meal at a posh restaurant. Your corporate catering budget should allow for the odd splurge – and these are the sort of things that really mean something to your clients. Use the meal to get to know your clients a little better – again, stay away from business topics and look to find out a little more about them personally. For example, do they have a family, and where did they grow up? By getting to know them a little better, you will begin to understand their motives more – and this will lead to a far more lucrative business relationship.
Corporate hospitality is not about creating more time to talk business with your customers. It is simply a way of entertaining them and getting to know them on a deeper level. Nurturing your personal relationships with your clients is bound to have positive effects on your business relationships – because you will get to know each other better. Above all, corporate hospitality is about having fun and letting your hair down a little – there will be plenty of time for business talk when Monday morning arrives!
