Can I Offer You a Coffee?

If you are thinking about offering your clients and/or customers coffee as a value added service, you may want to consider this...
We think of having coffee for our clients or customers as just a nice add on to the business.  It seems so hospitable to be able to offer a cup of coffee while our customers are listening to us extol the virtues of our business or to have them enjoy a nice beverage while they wait for a service to be completed, but did you know that having something warm in their hands actually influences their perception of those around them?


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Indeed, in the October 2008 issue of Science Magazine, a study was published that proved just that.  Researchers Lawrence Williams (University of Colorado) and John Bragh (Yale University) had volunteers carry either a hot or iced coffee while they were escorted to the laboratory.  Once in the lab, the volunteers were asked to rate a stranger on 10 different personality traits after reading a description of the stranger.

The recruits that held the hot coffee rated the stranger as having a warmer personality than those who held the iced coffee.  The difference was statistically significant and other personality traits that were rated that did not have to do with warmth, remained unchanged.

A second part of the study had volunteers hold either a cold or hot cold pack under the premise of evaluating it.  At the end of the evaluation, volunteers were offered a small reward.  Those that held the hot pack were more likely to give the reward to a friend than those who held the cold pack.  Seventy-five percent of those who held the hot pack, compared to fifty four percent who held the cold pack chose to give the reward away!

Apparently, this association of a physical experience with a psychological concept is deep rooted. Some psychologists claim this association results from early infancy when our parents provided us with physcial warmth by holding us, but also psychological feelings of trust and comfort, linking the two together. 

So it seems that it is scientifically proven that offering a warm beverage may help your customers "warm" to you and feel more charitable!