Page 6 - Los Angeles Vol 5 No 4

Let’s Grab Coffee:
The New Everyone talks about social media networking, but old- fashioned face-to-face time is necessary to develop meaningful, deep personal and professional relationships. But who has the time and the money to regularly meet potential referral sources for lunch? A business lunch with a potential referral source can take two hours and cost $60. A busi- ness co ee meeting can take 20-30 minutes and $8. If you’re trying to develop business on a budget with a tight schedule, invite oth- ers to your local co ee shop before the business day starts. For the cost of one lunch, you can have sev- en co ee meet and greets and do them in the same amount of time it would
take to go to two lunches.
I regularly meet with potential
referral sources at a breakfast spot across the street from my o ce. I meet them between 7:30 and 9 am, for about a half hour. e res- taurant is generally empty until about 9:30 a.m, allowing me and my contacts to have our co ee in peace and free from waiters try- ing to rush us out the door.
is one-on-one time, before the work day starts, over a cup of co ee, with neither of us wasting time deciding what to order and spending most of the meeting eat- ing, is a great alternative to lunch.
Your contact is less likely to check her phone during an early co ee meeting, you’ll be less inclined to check yours and there is less chance for a last-minute cancel- lation. Who of us hasn’t received a last-minute email or voicemail from a contact saying they have to cancel lunch because of a work- related emergency? ese emer- gencies are less likely to occur before the work day starts.
In addition to your local café or restaurant, your local Star- bucks, Dunkin Donuts or Panera workstoo.Keepinmind,though, that these places get crowded in the morning, so if you’re going to choose these spots, the earlier your meet, the better.
And whom do I reach out to? Well, getting back to my initial comment about social media, I am active on LinkedIn, and trans- fer those online relationships to personal ones, by inviting some of those contacts to co ee. When I’m in town, I try to schedule at least two co ee meetings each week. With Bistro Bakery across the street, and with purchasing only two cups of co ee during these meetings, 8-10 co ee meet- ings a month is less time consum- ing and expensive than you think.
Take the time to start reaching out to potential referral sources and ask them for a cup of co ee. It’s the best use of your time and has the highest ROI for your mar- keting dollars.
FRANCISCO “FRANK” RAMOS JR. IS THE MANAGING PARTNER OF CLARKE SILVERGATE P.A., WHERE HE PRAC- TICES IN THE AREAS OF COMMERCIAL LITIGATION, DRUG & MEDICAL DE- VICE, PRODUCTS AND CATASTROPH- IC PERSONAL INJURY.
Business
Lunch
BY FRANCISCO RAMOS JR.
ATTORNEY AT LAW MAGAZINE · LOS ANGELES · VOL. 5 NO. 4 6