What is the ROI on a bottle of Harmless Harvest Coconut Water in an office?
Sound like a ridiculous question? Maybe so; but let me take just a few minutes to explain why this might not be as ridiculous as you think.
In the office refreshment business (and just about every other business as well), it is very en vogue right now to focus on break room design as part of a solid foundation for a positive company culture.
Just a few weeks ago, I sat in a room full of office refreshment operators as a lead designer from the American architecture and design firm Gensler gave a presentation on ways they look to design break rooms in offices in order to improve employee engagement and create more of what Zappos.com’s Tony Hsieh has termed “meaningful collisions” – creating areas where employees from different departments regularly bump into each other.
Employee happiness and company culture are an extremely hot topics right now, with the break room right in the middle of things (most times literally). Yet, even though companies are quick to put their personal stamp on all areas of their break room, giving it a high-end feel that screams “we care,” many of the products being offered say just the opposite.
The good news is, this is easily fixable. But first, let me give you an example of how beneficial offering premium break room products can be for any company.
About three years ago, I was giving a tour of one of our client locations to a representative from a coffee roaster. Our client is a company in a sector that competes heavily for the top talent in their industry, and at this sales office, attracting and retaining the top talent is seen as a priority.
After passing by their indoor swing and ping pong tables, and dodging IT team members on scooters on our way around, we stopped to debrief for a few moments in one of the break rooms with their head of facilities. During the conversation, a new hire orientation took a break and floods of millennials filled the space in which we were speaking.
While looking at the pantry my team had stocked that morning, two young women, deep in conversation, walked up to the company-branded cooler. The conversation shifted mid-thought; “Oh my god! Is that Harmless Harvest Coconut Water for us?” said one of the young women.
Her friend replied ‘Yes!’ The first young woman reached into the cooler with her arm, took at least five bottles and distributed them among other members of the orientation group – each one delivered with a huge smile, and each one met with a very positive response from the recipient.
My initial response was one of shock. I turned to my account contact and said, “Are you going to let her just take $25 worth of product and walk away like that?”. What happened next caused a shift in mindset that changed my view on office refreshments ever since.
“What did I get for that $25?” said my contact. “Let’s see. First off, there was the reaction when she first saw the coconut water, and the feeling that automatically gave her about what the company thinks of her and her new teammates.
Then she went and had those brief interactions with each of the people she gave a bottle to, which probably went something like, ‘Can you believe the company gives us Harmless Harvest Coconut Water for free? This stuff costs like five bucks a bottle at Whole Foods!’.
Chances are that she also snapped a picture and shared it on her Instagram feed and made a comment similar to what she said to each teammate she engaged with in the office; this time sent out to anyone who follows her on social media. So, for that $25 from my budget spent on coconut water, we did more for the internal brand of the company than spending thousands of dollars traditionally.”
So at that point, I started wondering what was the true return on investment (ROI) on a bottle of Harmless Harvest Coconut Water; and furthermore, is the true value in the products and services we provide in the need they fulfill or the way they make someone feel?
The conclusion I came to is that the true value in the products we offer is much more the latter; the way they make our clients feel. When someone feels good about, or is even impressed with the refreshments offered by their company in the break room, the perception starts to change.
It’s really the easiest way to remind your team members how much you care about them, and also the one which has the opportunity to be reinforced most often. For example, let’s say your company offers top-of-the-line coverage when it comes to dental benefits.
How often do they really remember that? Maybe twice a year for cleanings, and in the lucky situation a root canal is needed and it’s covered. Now don’t get me wrong, that is an awesome benefit, but from the perspective of perceived value it is just not something that is thought about too often.
The fact that a company stocks their kitchen with premium snacks and beverages can be something that employees are reminded of multiple times a day, and reminded in a good way too. There aren’t many people who would associate having their favorite items on hand at all times for consumption with something negative.
So what is the true ROI on a bottle of Harmless Harvest Coconut Water? I haven’t yet created the precise formula to give you an answer on that, but I can say without a doubt that it far surpasses the $5 it costs to give it away.
