How do you usually book restaurants? (Image/Internet)

When your boss asks you to find a restaurant where both parties can have a place with "good atmosphere, quiet, suitable for meetings," what would you do?

A regular person would do it like this:

  1. Google randomly online

  2. Make a list of restaurants you find (smarter ones would provide photos)

  3. Wait for your boss to confirm the restaurant

  4. Call to make a reservation

But what I did when I was a specialist at Taiwan's top PR firm completely defied expectations — we would first book positions at all the restaurants, then call one by one to cancel them.

You might think, is this approach really that unreasonable? For a meal or gathering, is it necessary? At first, I was also doing this "passive restaurant booking," but through exploration, I discovered that even something as simple as booking a restaurant requires professional commitment from a 4A PR firm.

The reason is that both parties are industry leaders, which means high-level executives' schedules are hard to pin down. Once confirmed, the restaurant's time must be absolutely guaranteed, and you need to confirm in advance whether the space is spacious enough, quiet enough, and whether the conversation content might be leaked.

Initially, my boss requested a private room, but considering the desire for a more relaxed atmosphere, when choosing the restaurant, we also hoped both parties could take a walk after the meal.

So what did I do?

First, I found six restaurants — three Chinese, three Western. I took screenshots of each one, compared their afternoon tea time slots, menu items, seating environment, and geographical location. Some were even outdoor restaurants on Yangming Mountain. I compiled everything into a single table.

Next, I made reservations at each one, confirmed the time slots, and listed the dining costs. I placed the top three recommended restaurants in the front of the table, then had my boss choose from them. Since both parties' time slots were already confirmed and the restaurants had confirmed availability, after my boss made a choice, I called one by one to cancel all the others, and notified both parties to confirm the meeting time.

You might think this kind of pathological demand is something you couldn't do, or you'd feel embarrassed — asking about details when booking, then canceling, would that look bad? It wasn't until recently that I realized this is the most efficient method that also prevents risks.

First, from the restaurant's perspective, they actually take in many customers daily, and they encounter people with emergencies or no-shows all the time. When you make a reservation two weeks in advance, they still have plenty of time to handle the cancellation.

Second, from a corporate perspective, have you considered what happens when your boss takes time to decide which restaurant to go to, then you call to make a reservation and find there are no available spots or the time needs to be pushed back an hour? Neither the client nor your own company has that much time and energy to discuss the time and location again just for something trivial like a restaurant choice.

A 4A PR company shows meticulous care in these small details — let alone when organizing large-scale events with even more stringent requirements.

TAGS#公關#行銷