Christmas is coming the goose is getting fat...
Published December 2007
Christmas is a busy and sociable time of year with family and friends. The atmosphere of sociability usually spills over into our working lives, too. December is a peak time for entertaining clients, intermediaries and prospects – from a swift drink after a meeting, through lunches, parties and nights out on the town, to evenings of high culture at the ballet or the opera.
But let's be honest; it's not just general bonhomie that drives this seasonal plundering of expense accounts and marketing budgets, is it? To use a rather blunt and mixed metaphor, we're fattening the goose in the hope that it will lay us a golden egg in due course.
We are saying 'thanks' to existing contacts to secure their loyalty and encourage further repeat business from them. And we're wooing prospects in the hope that they award whatever contract or business they have in the offing, in our direction. Corporate entertainment is an integral part of the business development cycle throughout the year. It's just a bit more obvious at Christmas.
Too often though, the opportunity of extended time in the client's company in a social setting is wasted and with it the investment involved. It's so much of a waste that we have even researched the subject.
As a result, we know how skilled professionals avoid the common traps to ensure successful and focused events. We also know how they strike an appropriate balance between social and business chat so that they use the opportunity to move sales forward. The HuthwaiteFleming name for it is 'Strategic Networking', but you could call it 'partying with a purpose'.
If you would like to know more, why not read our article 'Trust in God and pass the Canapés' and our programme overview 'Strategic Networking'. You never know, you may end up with a golden egg for Christmas! In the meantime… All of us here at HuthwaiteFleming wish you and your family a Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year. We look forward to working with you in 2008.
