How you make your customer feel during their visit can heavily affect whether or not they want to continue doing business with you. Although humans can go for many weeks without food, they can only go for a few days without water. Since beverages are vital to survival, they can significantly impact the human psyche, even apart from actual survival situations. Although certain businesses thrive primarily by charging their customers for various liquids, yours is a business that doesn’t necessarily need beverages at all. To understand if adding complimentary beverages to your business can make an impact on your bottom line, here are a few things to think bout.
Customer Loyalty
In today’s world, customers are always looking for something extra from the companies they choose to do business with. That’s why even small gestures from a business can go a long way toward creating customer loyalty. Allowing your customer to feel as though they’re getting something for free will put them in a good mood and can even lead to higher sales. That being said, a beverage will not make up for poor customer service. If you have poor customer service, it is likely that a beverage would have little to no benefit. so it is important that a beverage is considered a “cherry on top” and not solely responsible for customer satisfaction.
Employee Satisfaction
There have been studies to suggest that people continue working for small businesses because they like the culture and atmosphere of the company. An atmosphere that provides basic needs such as beverages can help improve that. Throughout the day, employees can grow to depend on your company to fulfill the need for beverages such as coffee for a cafein boost. That way they don’t have to make grocery runs or bring an extra cup with them each morning. Additionally, if the employees have a say with the type of beverage that you provide them, this can increase the satisfaction even more.
Conversation Starters
If you’re working with a new or potential customer, breaking the ice can sometimes be challenging. Fortunately, complimentary beverages provide excellent conversation starters that can help put you ahead of the competition. You never know where a conversation might lead when you ask the simple question, “can I offer you a free beverage?” For example, it can give you insight into what your customer likes and dislikes. If anything, it provides an opportunity talk about what they prefer to drink. In addition to helping customers open up, it can also be used as a means for your employees to break out of their shells as they get to know customers coming into your business as well.
Relaxing Atmosphere
As a company, it’s crucial to create a welcoming and relaxing atmosphere for your customers from the moment they walk in the door. If you offer free beverages for customers, this can go a long way toward creating that atmosphere. By combining free drinks with free snacks, you can ensure that customers are totally taken care of by the time they meet with your employees, resulting in a more focused and enjoyable meeting. Additionally, you can help adjust their expectations by the type of beverage you provide. For example, for focus and increased awareness, coffee can be a great option. Tea can have a similar effect with a more sophisticated feel.
Productivity
There are a few ways that providing beverages can increase productivity. For example, by providing beverages, people are less likely to leave the office for a coffee run. Additionally, by providing coffee and other sources of caffeine you can help keep your employee’s focus at its best.
Low Cost
One simple reason to offer free beverages to your customers is that it doesn’t add that much cost to your day-to-day expenditures. Unlike other customer-care gestures that you can employ, a free beverage creates a lot of goodwill for a minimal cost. Even if you opt for premium beverages, the overall cost in a given year is likely to be one of your smallest expense categories. For example, you can purchase the beverages wholesale to cut back on price. Wholesale iced tea, for example, can further decrease the price of the tea while still providing a premium feeling for the customer. Iced tea is a great way to provide a unique beverage that can help increase the customer’s mood and satisfaction while also being low-cost. Depending on the type of iced tea, it can also be a decent source of caffein.
Keep It Clean
Anytime you introduce food or beverages into a workplace, it’s important to think about cleanliness. After all, drinks will eventually get spilled, leaving you with a clean-up job to help maintain the appearance of your facility. That’s why it’s best to avoid drinks with dyes in them that could stain your carpet or other interior finishes. Once you get this minor challenge figured out, you’ll be well on your way to delighting customers with complimentary beverages.
Additionally, for any drink dispenser such as a soda machine or coffee maker, you will need to clean it frequently. A dirty soda machine can prevent it from working properly and can be costly if you end up needing repairs. If your coffee machine becomes dirty, it is likely that your customers and employees will stop using it. One way to ensure that it stays clean is to create a weekly maintenance plan to ensure that it doesn’t get too dirty.