Find Your Fruit Water

Today’s guest post comes from my dear friend Gabriela Gonzalez Bux. Gabriela is the co-founder of Tango, a journey-based travel commerce platform that helps travelers easily design, book and experience inspired trips. She’s spent her career designing and managing human-centered experiences, bridging operations, data and digital technologies while working collaboratively with cross-functional, multi-national and diverse teams.

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“What’s our Fruit Water?”  I’m often asked about the sign above my desk at Tango’s office.

When I joined WeWork to lead Member Experience there was a C-suite level debate about removing Beer from the offering. Not only was it costly, but regulatory management was complex.

The key question was: How much would the decision upset our members? 

Meanwhile, rather quietly, the Ops team was planning to remove Fruit Water [a cooler of water lined with sliced fruit, often in patterns] given consumable and labor costs. On the surface, it made sense. The money added up. 

After a round of member interviews & surveys, the message was clear. Unprompted, members cited Fruit Water as THE top feature they loved at WeWork. Not Beer (that barely registered). Not the cool events or even the beautiful spaces themselves. Fruit Water. 

A quick search revealed a flurry of Fruit Water photos shared on social. Meanwhile, we learned that the frontline Community teams, for whom retention was important, considered cutting & arranging fruit a fun creative outlet. 

All in, Fruit Water’s ROI was downright impressive. We kept the Fruit Water and gave the green light to remove Beer, at least from a member satisfaction POV (there were other factors at play). . 

There are straightforward lessons here:

• Don’t assume what customers love; listen first. I don’t doubt WeWork’s initial customer base gravitated to Beer, but that demo changed dramatically in a short period of time. 

• Shiny touchpoints that initially attract customers, aren’t the same ones that keep them happy. While Beer still had the “how cool” effect when members joined, its value disappeared on a day to day basis (much like those empty condo gyms). 

• Consider the full impact of one touchpoint - tangible & intangible. Cross-functional collaboration helps with maintaining holistic perspectives in a world where we’re zero-ed in on our own KPIs.

The Fruit Water sign, however, is not there because of these takeaways. It’s there to remind me to look for Magic. The Magic a simple, delightful and differentiated touchpoint can generate. 

FWIW, I don’t believe that the person who implemented Fruit Water fully understood its impact. The larger task was to create an inspired vibe that felt decidedly not corporate. Of the many details that went into generating that unique vibe, this simple one punched far above its weight.

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