Google's probably where you began. You typed in "water cooler", "water delivery", and "office water delivery" and got a huge pile of options. All of them have different high points.
Because you're busy doing your day to day, you're almost forced to choose one and hope for the best. Perhaps you have time to compare a few companies. How do you process what you're viewing? How do you maximize your time?
To begin, prepare yourself with the appropriate questions. These are a few things you should be thinking about.
Step 1 - What are your options when it comes to office water coolers.
There are only a couple styles of water coolers available on the market.
Bottled water coolers delivers your water from 5-gallon bottles delivered via truck.
Bottleless water coolers - Your water is purified from the water line in your office. Also referred to as POU (Point of Use) or filtered water coolers.
Step 2 - Which water cooler style works best for your business?
If you're considering a bottled water cooler, you will need:
Storage room.
Strong backs available to install fresh bottles.
Time to spend balancing variable rate water invoices for accuracy.
A dedicated resource monitor inventory and reordering as needed.
Someone to clean the water cooler every 90 days.
If you're thinking about a bottleless water cooler, you'll require:
A water source somewhere in your building space.
A wall jack within a few feet of the desired placement.
Step 3 - Determine the needed size of the cooler. Water cooler size is determined by the ability of the cooler to chill an appropriate volume of water. You'll need to have an estimate of the demand in your workplace, which can be a very seasonal thing. The easiest approach is to use the count of people in your workplace, with the assumption that most of them will use the cooler during the afternoon. Also, if you've been routinely using bottled water, pulling invoices to see how many bottles you've consumed each month will help. For a non-bottle cooler, knowing the volume of users will be everything you need - that helps size the cooler. For a bottled water selection, you'll need to think about the size of the cooler, plus figure out the inventory of jugs to maintain to make sure you don't run out.
Step 4 - Determine the contract option that works best for you. Choosing a contract type could involve a bit of consideration. In some cases, you may have enough confidence to commit to an agreement of many years in length, which will usually get you the best rate. Although, if you're unsure about how well-received your water choice will be, or have doubts about work conditions, you may need to choose a month-to-month term. You may even want to choose a trial so you can test your choice with no commitment at all. When considering a vendor, understanding whether they have options will help you to determine how customer focused they are, and how easy (or difficult) it will be to do business with them.
Step 5 - Make sure you clearly understand the amount you'll be paying. Any company cost deserves some budgetary consideration. Are you able to estimate what your yearly price will be? That's more challenging with bottled water, since demand varies throughout the year. If you have several years of history and a stable workforce, you can usually average out what demands will be, including the seasonal factor. Bottleless water usually mandates a monthly rate, which does make budgeting considerably friendlier. Considering the lack of cost for delivery vehicles and drivers, in most cases you will find filtered water cooler prices to be lower than bottled water. When comparing one POU service to another, you should check for end-of-year maintenance or filter change fees. Some bottleless water vendors break their costs up, which can make a monthly rate seem lower than it really is. In these cases, maintenance fees usually run to one hundred dollars, which ultimately boosts your monthly rate by up to $10 per month.
Step 6 - Consider the type of business you want to work with. The water service industry has quite a few players. Many firms are local-only businesses. Sometimes you may get a softer rate from those firms. However, the opportunity cost may be reliability of support and integrity of product. You may need to prepare yourself for less-than-satisfactory water taste or unanswered support calls. Since there is no federal requirement for the testing of bottled water quality (purified water draws from municipal sources which have EPA-mandated testing standards), you're taking an extra risk with a bottled water provider, particularly a smaller local business. You may pay a premium with a larger company, but as with most things you typically get what you pay for: better gear,higher water standards, more professional and trustworthy customer service groups. It bears asking - some big name brand firms are toughted as "national", but are actually just franchisees. The big brand local company is really a mom-and-pop service spending to use the national brands' name. No matter what size, water services are dependent on the professionalism of local teams. Check to make sure the company employs highly trained service technicians. And check for an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau - Almost always a very good sign of overall quality service.
Step 7 - Ask for a Professional Proposal, and Make Your Decision! Look for a clear, professional proposal and contract that openly explains what you're getting. Evaluate. Make a choice, and enjoy your water.
Because you're busy doing your day to day, you're almost forced to choose one and hope for the best. Perhaps you have time to compare a few companies. How do you process what you're viewing? How do you maximize your time?
To begin, prepare yourself with the appropriate questions. These are a few things you should be thinking about.
Step 1 - What are your options when it comes to office water coolers.
There are only a couple styles of water coolers available on the market.
Bottled water coolers delivers your water from 5-gallon bottles delivered via truck.
Bottleless water coolers - Your water is purified from the water line in your office. Also referred to as POU (Point of Use) or filtered water coolers.
Step 2 - Which water cooler style works best for your business?
If you're considering a bottled water cooler, you will need:
Storage room.
Strong backs available to install fresh bottles.
Time to spend balancing variable rate water invoices for accuracy.
A dedicated resource monitor inventory and reordering as needed.
Someone to clean the water cooler every 90 days.
If you're thinking about a bottleless water cooler, you'll require:
A water source somewhere in your building space.
A wall jack within a few feet of the desired placement.
Step 3 - Determine the needed size of the cooler. Water cooler size is determined by the ability of the cooler to chill an appropriate volume of water. You'll need to have an estimate of the demand in your workplace, which can be a very seasonal thing. The easiest approach is to use the count of people in your workplace, with the assumption that most of them will use the cooler during the afternoon. Also, if you've been routinely using bottled water, pulling invoices to see how many bottles you've consumed each month will help. For a non-bottle cooler, knowing the volume of users will be everything you need - that helps size the cooler. For a bottled water selection, you'll need to think about the size of the cooler, plus figure out the inventory of jugs to maintain to make sure you don't run out.
Step 4 - Determine the contract option that works best for you. Choosing a contract type could involve a bit of consideration. In some cases, you may have enough confidence to commit to an agreement of many years in length, which will usually get you the best rate. Although, if you're unsure about how well-received your water choice will be, or have doubts about work conditions, you may need to choose a month-to-month term. You may even want to choose a trial so you can test your choice with no commitment at all. When considering a vendor, understanding whether they have options will help you to determine how customer focused they are, and how easy (or difficult) it will be to do business with them.
Step 5 - Make sure you clearly understand the amount you'll be paying. Any company cost deserves some budgetary consideration. Are you able to estimate what your yearly price will be? That's more challenging with bottled water, since demand varies throughout the year. If you have several years of history and a stable workforce, you can usually average out what demands will be, including the seasonal factor. Bottleless water usually mandates a monthly rate, which does make budgeting considerably friendlier. Considering the lack of cost for delivery vehicles and drivers, in most cases you will find filtered water cooler prices to be lower than bottled water. When comparing one POU service to another, you should check for end-of-year maintenance or filter change fees. Some bottleless water vendors break their costs up, which can make a monthly rate seem lower than it really is. In these cases, maintenance fees usually run to one hundred dollars, which ultimately boosts your monthly rate by up to $10 per month.
Step 6 - Consider the type of business you want to work with. The water service industry has quite a few players. Many firms are local-only businesses. Sometimes you may get a softer rate from those firms. However, the opportunity cost may be reliability of support and integrity of product. You may need to prepare yourself for less-than-satisfactory water taste or unanswered support calls. Since there is no federal requirement for the testing of bottled water quality (purified water draws from municipal sources which have EPA-mandated testing standards), you're taking an extra risk with a bottled water provider, particularly a smaller local business. You may pay a premium with a larger company, but as with most things you typically get what you pay for: better gear,higher water standards, more professional and trustworthy customer service groups. It bears asking - some big name brand firms are toughted as "national", but are actually just franchisees. The big brand local company is really a mom-and-pop service spending to use the national brands' name. No matter what size, water services are dependent on the professionalism of local teams. Check to make sure the company employs highly trained service technicians. And check for an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau - Almost always a very good sign of overall quality service.
Step 7 - Ask for a Professional Proposal, and Make Your Decision! Look for a clear, professional proposal and contract that openly explains what you're getting. Evaluate. Make a choice, and enjoy your water.
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