Renee always enjoyed it when her sales representative, Nick, came ...

[tth]

Renee always enjoyed it when her sales representative, Nick, came to town. Not only did he offer her a quality product at a great price, but he was also very good-looking and fun to work with. Renee had always felt she could sense the attraction between them. She would welcome the opportunity to get know him better, as it was difficult to meet men when working full-time. However, she also knew that her firm had a formal policy against accepting gifts, which included lunch and dinner invitations.
 
  This afternoon, Nick and Renee met to discuss business. After their meeting, Nick asked, Do you have any plans for tonight? How about drinks and dinner?
 
  Renee took a deep breath and said . . .
 
  What should Renee do?

Question 2

Renee always enjoyed it when her sales representative, Nick, came to town. Not only did he offer her a quality product at a great price, but he was also very good-looking and fun to work with. Renee had always felt she could sense the attraction between them. She would welcome the opportunity to get know him better, as it was difficult to meet men when working full-time. However, she also knew that her firm had a formal policy against accepting gifts, which included lunch and dinner invitations.
 
  This afternoon, Nick and Renee met to discuss business. After their meeting, Nick asked, Do you have any plans for tonight? How about drinks and dinner?
 
  Renee took a deep breath and said . . .
 
  Is this a bribe? How would Renee know?

[Sweetkitty24130]

Answer to Question 1

Once again, it's tough to tell based on the information given. While the easy classroom answer is to decline the invitation, that advice may be unrealistic in actuality. However, because both individuals may be in violation of company policy if partaking of drinks and dinner is job related, probably the best thing to do prior to dinner is to clarify the roles. Renee could ask if she's invited to dinner as a customer or as a friend; the important issue is that she should probably not be both simultaneously.

Answer to Question 2

It's tough to tell based on just the information given. Perhaps Renee's best bet is to lay her cards on the table so to speak and find out a little more about Nick's intentions. She might want to start the conversation by making it clear she abides by her company's gift policy and then determine if dinner is allowed.

[tth]

Excellent

[bulacsom]

TYSM