Juancallclose

Director

What is reasonable amount for dinner with a client?

On a per person amount? I think most answers will be it depends on factors such as:

*how large is your company

*How have you been performing?

*company culture

My team has been doing very well. But, we're a start up. Deal size would be in the 70k range.

Asking because I just had dinner with a COO and it came out to be over 400.00.

What's your experience been like? Any crazy stories?

How much is too much

Attached poll

50 per person 100 per person 150 per person No limits What have you done? Applebee's got that all you can eat "rib meat" for 19.99 per pers

*Voting in this poll no longer yields commission.

🧠 Advice

33 comments

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CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

I had to pick the last one bc it made me cackle 😆

jefe

Arsonist

🍁

Me too. The true answer is dependent on so many variables. Many of them surrounding who the prospect company is, their position, size of opportunity, at what point in the sales cycle etc.
But also a lot depends on your company. What's the policy?! Do you have a company card? Are you worried about not being reimbursed when using your own money.
And now I want rib(meat)s

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

It’s been completely dependent on the size of the deal as well as potential. We pick a restaurant that will fit in the budget defined

oldcloser

Arsonist

💀

Yeah- I go with this logic. Should check precedent, too. Taco Bell is always a safe play though.

jefe

Arsonist

🍁

Unless you're going to be in a small room with them the next morning, that is.

oldcloser

Arsonist

💀

always choose safety, yes.

Juancallclose

Catalyst

Director

Taco Bell is not safe if you need to deliver a presentation the next day

jefe

Arsonist

🍁

Basically what I said, Juan!

HVACexpert

Politicker

sales engineer

Depends on the occasion , situation, customer, etc

I have grabbed a quick cheap burger with the customer, I have gone to nice steak places. Read your customer as well, sometimes a beer at a dive bar might go farther than a fancy Italian place.

SteveD

Member

Sales Director

Back in the Dot.Com days - me our team and a bunch of the clients lawyers and we found a dive strip club in Luxembourg. It got really out of hand and I was on the hook for about 8 Grand of "Expenses" I handed over my personal Amex-X and was sweating submitting the this expense for months. When the PO for $19M came in, I just submitted the expense claim along with a signed PO and CEO signed it off with a :-) "Good job"

HVACexpert

Politicker

sales engineer

Damn that’s how you do it right there.

oldcloser

Arsonist

💀

Solid!

majestic

Good Citizen

SE Leader

Ah, the good ol’ days!

FinanceEngineer

Politicker

Sr Director, sales and partnerships

Is this an opportunity for a multi-year/order customer? Think through how much the company will make over time. Also, people leave and go to new spots a lot, so you are setting up future sales too. Don’t skimp, make the investment.

Juancallclose

Catalyst

Director

This aligns with my thinking. Yes be prudent, but you don't want to give the impression you're a small time outfit "hey lets split the steak and shrimp, portions are huge here."

FinanceEngineer

Politicker

Sr Director, sales and partnerships

Exactly. Not exactly overspend, but a couple hundred dollars is nothing in the long term.

Juancallclose

Catalyst

Director

Deal size is smallish for us 70k acv, 310 tcv, but what's the difference between 200 and 400 on those numbers?

FinanceEngineer

Politicker

Sr Director, sales and partnerships

There is none. Just enjoy the dinner and keep resigning the customer.

ThatNewAE

Big Shot

Account Executive - Mid enterprise

It would depend on a lot of factors, including the personality type of the customer. If the customer is a chill person, take them to a good food joint that comes cheap.
If that's a fussy client, make sure you take them to a good food joint instead. So stuff like that.

FoodForSales

Politicker

Depends. I have spent an obscene amounts before but sometimes only $20-30. It just depends on the occaision.

SteveD

Member

Sales Director

Most of my current clients are happy to have a night of beers and bar snacks. Im looking at recent expense reports and they avg about 25$ per person.

Pachacuti

Politicker

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

It looks like the “it depends” answer has been exhausted here. I’ve seen $2-300/person when you factor in alcohol and a really Good steak.

I have also gone to Applebees with clients.

LambyCorn

Arsonist

A mfkn E

It really depends (from what I have seen with my ex VP) he would sometimes go for a drink, or sometimes to reservation only restaurants in California.

SaaSyBee

Politicker

Founder

I typically try to keep things around $100-$150, but like you said, depends on a lot of factors.
I pick a restaurant that's nice but not luxurious, then assume around $30-$50 per person for the main, $40 for drinks, maybe a little extra for an appetizer or two.
Basically, I go places where I know we won't rack up a crazy bill even if we get a little excessive with our ordering.

GDO

Politicker

BDM

As always it depends. But 100 per head seems defendable when there is a reason or topic to discuss

pirate

Big Shot

🦜☠️ Account Executive

I think it's C-Level and 3 courses plus some drinks so 400 does not sound too bad. I have seen dinner expenses for 5 people go up to 4K. Leadership was not happy.

Justatitle

Big Shot

Account Executive

Depends on the potential deal/customer spend, who you are meeting with and where you are in the engagement.

Beans

Big Shot

Enterprise Account Executive

Title and opportunity dependent, but I rarely place a cap.

SoccerandSales

Big Shot

Account Executive

No limit when the deals are closing

Juancallclose

Catalyst

Director

That's the other thing, the team overall is doing great. We're ahead of where we are before I took over.

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

Sales Rep

Depends on the deal size, for some its no limits. Others a chipotle burrito

Juancallclose

Catalyst

Director

Our minimum deal sizes start at 75K

SalesPharaoh

Big Shot

Senior Account Executive

Go nuts

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Juancallclose

What is reasonable amount for dinner with a client?

How much is too much

33 comments

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