There’s nothing quite like a glass of wine or a cold beer to seal a deal over lunch, according to a poll of business people conducted by Corporate Traveller, Flight Centre’s business travel arm.
Respondents were asked what style of lunch meeting they thought was best for winning new business – the $12 express business lunch, a standard three-course meal followed by a cappuccino or the extended liquid lunch.
Thirty of 114 respondents, or 27 per cent of the business travellers that took part in the poll, said the extended liquid lunch was the best style of luncheon date to woo new business.
Following closely behind this group was the poll’s most frugal contingent, the 26 per cent of respondents that believed new business was more likely to be won over a $12 express lunch.
Corporate Traveller marketing manager Chris Preston said the fact that more than two thirds of respondents thought a standard three-course menu or a liquid lunch provided the best opportunity to wheel and deal over a meal was an encouraging sign for the economy.
“A more positive attitude towards the state of the economy and a loosening of the purse strings for small to medium sized companies and mid to large clients, is seeing corporate expenditure on business travel and entertainment, start to rise again,†he said.
