Your British counterpart did his homework. He knew Latin Americans build trust over the table, not just across it, so instead of squeezing in a second meeting before your flight home, he cleared two hours for lunch. No slides, no agenda, just food and conversation.

You talked about your kids, his weekend rugby, the flight in. He laughed at your jokes and asked good follow-up questions. Two hours later, you both stood up like old friends.

You flew home certain the deal was basically done.

Then his email arrived. Warm, friendly, three lines. And one question: could you send over some case studies and a couple of client references?

The situation

From where you sat, the lunch was the deal. You'd built real rapport, he'd clearly enjoyed your company, and in your experience that's the signal that gets things moving. Personal connection is the currency the deal gets made in.

From where he sat, the lunch was step one. He'd made time to get to know you because he understood, correctly, that relationships matter to you. What he hadn't done, because there was no meeting left to do it in, was see a single number.

Two hours told him you'd be good to work with. It didn't tell him anything about your delivery record, your client list, or your pricing.

The friction