Business Meetings

The expression "business meeting" is a very general term. It can mean two men meeting over a beer and a sandwich in the back of local car repair shop. One has just sold the other 24 dozen assorted sized spark plugs. Thy have now moved on to discussing sports. It can also mean 12 hard headed, thick-skinned company executives facing each other over a boardroom table in Manhattan churning out a billion dollar takeover bid. Whatever the scenario, a business meeting can be very large or very small; the rules are just about always the same.

People who are sitting together to discuss business don't have to be friends; they don't even have to like each other. However for a business meeting and a business relationship to go well, there is a certain set of rules, business etiquette to be observed. More and more in recent times, people who attend business meeting exchange gifts. It can be something small and personal. Not to expensive A gadget of some sort, bearing the company logo and contact details. This is all part of the desire to create a friendly impression and an excellent tool for breaking the ice.

After as much small-talk time as is deemed appropriate, matters of business will commence. In order to avoid total anarchy at the meeting, a person should be appointed to "chair: it. This will usually be the person who called for the meeting to take place, or the person who has something to sell. It is very rare that a potential buyer will invent a potential seller to a business meeting. It puts the buyer in a very weak bargaining position.

The seller will set the dialogue in motion by presenting his credentials. He will then go on to explain something about the company, their products, service infrastructure and all the positive aspects that dealing with his company will bring.

The next stage is that the seller will probe a little into how serious the buyer is and if he is interested in taking up his offer to sell something. This could be 24 dozen spark plugs or controlling interest in a merchant bank in downtown New York. It comes down to the same thing. The buyer wants it, but for a lot less than the seller wants him to buy it for. Usually price is a key factor at any business meeting and the principal stumbling block.

If the parties manage to reach an agreement, then the next issue to be handled is supply or transfer time. In the case of the spark plugs, the salesman goes out to his truck and brings them to garage owner. In the case of the bank, the issue can be a bit more complicated.

The last important issue to be handled is how the transaction will be financed. The spark plug salesman agrees to accept a deferred check, although he has his misgivings since the garage took a long time to pay the last account, and would prefer cash. The chairman of the merchant bank feels roughly the same.

That is the layout of a typical business meeting. How it is conducted and what is their goal. Millions of business meetings take place every day. Some times a deal is struck, and in many occasions it is not, The salesman might find himself at his next business meeting wearing a buyers hat, negotiating to buy some of these little gifts that he hands out at business meetings. This is how the world of business drives it self on, the eternal motion of wheeling and dealing.