What's the ROI on that Cookie Tray?

One of the things I miss most about working in the office is all the snacks and treats in the breakroom, especially during busy season.  And although as a forensic accountant I don’t have a standard busy season, I do get to mooch off of the audit and tax teams’ benefits.

There’s a wide spectrum of office snacks and treats: 

• The communal bucket of Goldfish (or Cheez-Its if you’re lucky).

• We hate ourselves after eating them, rationalize our gluttony by just taking half of a donut, but yet we keep coming back to them time and time again (especially for the second half of that donut we left behind).

• Cookie trays. It better not be from a grocery store.  My biggest pet peeve aside from unfrozen panes in Excel is grocery store cookies.  What a waste of calories.  Cookies from your local bakeries, Tiff’s Treats, or where you order your fancy box lunches from are acceptable.

• Breakfast Tacos or breakfast sandwiches. If you already ate breakfast, you’re taking one anyways for second-breakfast/early-lunch.

• Ice cream sundae bar. Damn straight I want one scoop of each flavor plus all the toppings.

• Catered lunch. This is a reward towards the end of busy season.  Weeknight dinners don’t count – eating dinner at the office is NOT a treat.

• Pretzel Day – I’ve only seen this in The Office, but it sounds magical.

All of these treats are typically firm-sponsored (thanks Partners and Shareholders!), and for the firm your ROI is hopefully at least one more busy season out of your staff before they start updating their resume.

You may also get the occasional treat from a vendor or referral source such as bankers, payroll processors, and specialists/consultants.  What’s their ROI?  They may send the cookie tray to the partner or decision-maker, but that person will probably take one or two cookies and turn the rest over to the breakroom.  So the decision-maker that you’re trying to influence only really takes about $1 from the $20 cookie tray and turns the rest over to the scavenging wolves (myself included) in the breakroom.

But what about this year?

Unless your firm is giving out COVID vaccines, y’all better not be congregating in the breakroom for a free donut. 

Empower your managers to keep in touch with your staff throughout busy season with accounting-themed greeting cards.  They’re guaranteed to bring a smile to any accountant’s face, and they’re Instagram-able so your employees can brag about how cool their coworkers are, which will come in handy when you’re trying to poach Senior Accountants from other firms during the summer. 

For vendors who are trying to solicit some business, even if we weren’t in a pandemic, skip the cookie tray!!  Send something that the decision-maker can fully enjoy themselves and you’re much more likely to get a meaningful “thank you” call.  Think back – how often did you end up getting more business after sending a cookie tray to an accounting firm contact?

Instead try one of our Accounting Gift Box options.  They cost about the same as a cookie tray, but they come with sensible-sized snacks that the decision-maker won’t feel guilty keeping for themselves, as well as an accounting-themed greeting card that’s guaranteed to get a laugh.  Most importantly, you’re going to be thanked, and that means you’re going to be top of mind when there’s business to be referred.

So at the end of the day, cookie trays are out, and more customized and individualized gifts are in.  Lucky for you, RuBook Creative has many of these accounting gift options available for you and your accounting friends, coworkers, and contacts