Van Gooi: fewer line items, less admin, an easier yes
2
min read
Van Gooi has run Aquablu machines at its Hilversum head office for years. When the Utrecht team asked for one of their own, office manager Melissa Hendrikse moved the company onto Pay-Per-Drink, bringing the lease, the flavors, the cleaning and the CO₂ onto a single invoice at a set price per drink.
At a glance
Company
Van Gooi: an electrical automation specialist in Hilversum, with a fast-growing Energy Systems office in Utrecht
Why a REFILL+ Series 2
The Utrecht team had already asked for a machine after trying it out at their head office, and the new Pay-Per-Drink model brings the lease, the flavors, the cleaning and the CO₂ together on one invoice
The result
One supplier, one invoice, one person responsible for the whole category, and a predictable line for finance
Melissa did not need convincing. As Van Gooi's office manager she has been running the company's Aquablu machines for years, so when the Utrecht team asked for a machine of their own for their new office, the decision itself was quick. What made the decision even easier though, was the new financing model.
Aquablu came back with Pay-Per-Drink, which puts the lease, the flavors, the cleaning and the CO₂ together at an agreed price per drink.
"They told me the new program means one invoice. You can order the way you're used to, but it all comes in on one invoice. And for our current lease plan, the pricing was more convenient on the new one too."
Melissa read that as two wins rather than one, and said so immediately.
"So I thought it worked both ways: easier for me with finance, and more efficient."
One system, one owner
The efficiency is not only in the billing. The whole category now has a single owner, which was a different story when ordering cans, bottles and the likes from the supermarket.
"With one system, you don't have a colleague who has to go and buy it every week. Now we have it, I arrange everything, from the installation to making sure there are enough flavors and that everything is properly cleaned," she says. "So you have one person responsible for that, and if I'm on holiday I can say, 'you're temporarily the one who does this.'"
That clarity is what keeps the system streamlined. "If something's wrong, we call Melissa and she'll fix it. Otherwise it's, 'should I do it?', and it gets messy."
Melissa says the all-in-one cost comes with efficient maintenance, service and repairs, if needed, too.
"If something breaks the company comes and fixes it. So it’s one cost, but eventually it pays off. I can always call and someone comes and fixes it for us. If you buy it instead, you have to fix it yourself, or you have costs later on."
How she sold it
Melissa's route to a yes is a written proposal, with pros and cons included, pitched to finance.
"First I make a proposal, with information and also why this is a good office. I write down the highlights, the good things it can give us, and also the things we were missing," she says. "And I'm just honest: this is good, this is bad about it, this is what we need to do about it."
She checks in to scope budget availability, giving her autonomy to determine what makes the most sense for her people and what’s worth pitching for final sign off.
"I asked them, 'do you have a budget, something I can keep in mind when I order things?' And they said, 'just go and talk to Aquablu, see what it is and how much it costs.'"
What makes it particularly convenient for Melissa, is a clean line-item to be owned by the new Utrecht office alone.
"They made a budget explicitly for that office and booked it separately, so we know exactly what the new office cost." On the budget itself, hydration sits with the other things people drink. "It's food and beverage, like the coffee machine."
For the part that will not show a return on a spreadsheet, she made the argument in the currency finance recognizes, which is her own time.
"If you do it yourself, buying bottles at the supermarket, I have to go and buy it, so it costs me my working time, and I could be focusing on other things. If you arrange everything through one supplier, they arrange everything for us. So they said yes, we're willing to invest in that."
The team had already asked
Financing aside, the initial trigger for installing a REFILL+ Series 2, was that Melissa’s colleagues in Utrecht simply asked for it.
"They'd always said, 'I'm jealous, we don't have it in Utrecht,'" says Melissa. "Colleagues would come over and say, 'I want to work here, we want it too.' So I said, 'okay, when there's a new office I'll arrange it for you.'"
When asked how to get finance to say yes on something that doesn’t deliver immediate visible return, Melissa said it was clear that investing in employee wellbeing was a worthwhile investment.
"They want to motivate colleagues to drink more water, and it's also a social gathering," she says. "Someone says, 'I'm going to get water,' and another colleague says, 'I'll come with you,' and then you have a bit of small talk.
They know it's something you want in the workplace, and they say, 'we value that too.' And I think when colleagues are happy, they're willing to stay longer and work harder."
"So I thought it worked both ways: easier for me with finance, and more efficient." — Melissa [surname?], Office Manager, Van Gooi
"It costs me my working time, and I could be focusing on other things."
"If something's wrong, we call Melissa and she'll fix it."
Melissa's advice for anyone making the case
Get your ideas out of your head and onto paper or a board before you present it.
"Make a mind map or a big vision board. Put in all the high priorities, and use categories, because 'we need this' and 'we want this' are two different things," she says. "Then you add some extras: a water machine, some plants, some decoration."
The board helps transcend typical communication roadblocks. "When you only say things, different people interpret them differently. You can bring it to the CFO or the management board and present it, and maybe they get more motivated and they understand you better."
One less thing to run
Melissa's colleagues asked for the machine. Pay-Per-Drink is what made saying yes to them uncomplicated: one supplier, one invoice, one predictable line for finance, and one number to call if anything needs attention.
The Utrecht team gets the machine they asked for, and Melissa gets a simpler way to manage.
