Engage C-level with a business brunch

It is indeed a very effective way to get a C-level decision maker to hear about your product and services. These people do not have time to spend 2 or 3 hours in a business lunch or dinner like they used to. They rather attend a 1 hour brunch, which fits better in their busy agendas. European c-levels can attend one or two business brunches every week. In Italy and Spain, it is trendy to organize it in fancy hotels or restaurants, and even wineries that serve delicious tapas. In North Europe, there is a tendency to invite your customer for a sandwich&coffee brunch at their offices. However, big international companies do this everywhere, like Microsoft, that regularly organizes business breakfasts and brunches both for potential clients and partners, where you also have the chance to do some networking.

One of the most important things that will take that business brunch to success is the food and drinks served. Take into account the age and potential taste of the attendees. In many countries C-level people are at this moment mostly over 40 years old, and in many cases over 60 years old. It cannot be anything heavy and there must be choices for everybody, even vegetarians. You cannot serve a peanut butter and cheese sandwich with a glass of full milk to a Spanish CEO of 58 years old visiting the Netherlands, because he will be starving in less than an hour, because he probably does not like peanut butter, and less with cheese combination. And he does not usually drink milk or orange juice. So he will come back to Madrid with a bad memory of that business brunch, even if the content of your presentation was amazing, their stomachs complained all along. If you want to win this guy, order a ciabatta bread catering with different filling combinations so he can choose what to eat, instead of that peanut butter that for Ducth people cannot be missing on a brunch table. For example, in Mexico city a tipical good biz brunch menu targetting US C-level would be:

Fresh Fruit Starter, Baked Strata with bacon, mushroom and cheese Roasted Rosemary Potatoes Refried Beans with cojita cheese (this being México, they do expect this almost every time!) Basket of sweet breads Butter, salas, and pickled jalapenos Juice & Coffee

If your audience is mainly US C-level executives meeting in Mexico, they want to have a normal brunch with a Mexican touch, so the menu above is perfect. However, in Italy, it is far better to go for a posh brunch that includes focaccia bread and first quality organic food at a winery or even a Spa center. The Brits, though, have a long tradition of practical biz brunches, so there are lots of hotels that provide different menu options.

Biz Brunch at an NH London hotel in 2008

In Spain, for example, the jabugo ham is a must, and the more important your guests are, the better ham you must serve. Fashionable montatidos and pinchos are usually present. You can eat them in only one or two bites, they are elaborated with high quality ingredients and some chefs are producing very stylish shapes or even cook with liquid nitrogen, like Ferran Adrià.

In Asia, noodles are a basic in professional brunches, while in NorthAmerica bacon and eggs must be always available, along with orange juice and doughnuts.

In general, offering good quality food and drinks in a business brunch is essential so your C-level guests eat and feel well during and after the brunch. Even if they do not become a customer just after the first brunch, if the food impressed them positively, for sure they will come back next time, thus you are increasing your chances to win new clients if you take good care your catering, hotel or restaurant menu is excellent and matches your guests taste of food.