When you are in business networking situations, it’s common for people to say, “Let’s do coffee,” or “Let’s meet for lunch.” It’s one of those casual offerings that people extend often before they really know what the other person is all about.

I’m all for coffee and lunch dates, especially for home-based business owners who necessarily need to get out of the house once in a while. Meeting with people is important for relationship building as well as for pure socialization. There’s a unique exchange of energy and ideas that happens in person.

However, it’s important to be selective. From both a time and financial standpoint, it doesn’t make sense to do this with every person you meet.

A 1-hour lunch date typically costs me 3 hours of business time, when I include preparation and driving time. And financially, I’m definitely spending more than if I ate at home. While coffee is cheaper, the time investment can dramatically increase as an hour can stretch to 90 minutes or more.

Unless you have a really strong gut feeling that coffee or lunch would be a good idea, my recommendation is to ask for a phone meeting first. Most people can fit in a 30-minute call more easily than a lunch or coffee date, so you can typically meet sooner than you would if you waited for a larger opening of time.

For an effective first call, focus on each others’:

• core products and services
• clients and target markets
• synergies - who and what you have in common
• complements - ways you can fill in the gaps for each other
• one thing you can do to help each other grow your businesses: client referrals, systems, employees, project collaboration, sales and marketing, etc.

You can use the list above as an agenda for your call to keep both parties on target. And if, at the end of the call, you feel that there are some worthwhile business opportunities, then by all means, set up a lunch or coffee date to build on what you started! By doing so, your in-person meeting will be much more purposeful and productive. You will be one step ahead by the time you meet, and you can use your meeting to actually begin a new project or venture.