Companies that can keep their employees healthy and happy are more likely to build productive teams who stay in it for the long haul. Corporations know this, and many are looking to invest in the health of their employees. This makes corporate wellness an amazing revenue stream for nutrition professionals.
Today we are super pumped to introduce you to That Clean Life member, Sarah Goldstein. Sarah is a Nutritionist with a thriving practice in Toronto and a resume that includes corporate wellness events all over the city.
We know that many of you are interested in getting started with corporate wellness, so we sat down with Sarah to learn all about it. She explains how she got her foot in the door, the topics she covers, what to charge and so much more. Sarah's advice is pure gold, so let's dive right into the world of corporate wellness!
How to Get Your Foot in the Corporate Wellness Door
If you’re ready to start offering corporate wellness as a service, your personal network is the best place to look. Sarah’s very first corporate wellness event was given to her on referral from the Nutritionist she worked with during her internship.
To this day, Sarah has never pitched a new company to bring her in for an event. Most of her corporate clients find her through her website, she also gets referred to employers by her social network and client base.
"Having a website and good SEO/being searchable in invaluable to me and my business. I also have friends or clients who pass along my information to the HR (human resources) team at their company or I have clients/friends who work as part of an HR team and bring me on for an event.”
When it comes to negotiating rates and the content of the actual service, you should plan to communicate with HR primarily.
"I usually speak to HR, or sometimes companies have a designated wellness team. I have a conversation, see what they are looking for, provide them with my price sheet and then eventually a specific outline and quote for the service and event.”
What Topics to Cover During Your Corporate Events
Corporate wellness talks are the one time we will encourage you to stay general with the topics you speak about. During these types of events, you might not be speaking to a specific health issue and that’s okay. Focus on topics that will be valuable to all employees and relevant to the employer as well.
Sarah has three main talks/topics that she covers:
- Nutrition for the Workplace and Beyond (general nutrition advice tailored to those in the workplace)
- Healthy Lunches (often include food demos)
- Nutrition for Stress Management and Energy
Some corporate wellness events include food and others don’t. It’s up to you whether or not you feel comfortable providing food as a part of your services.
Sarah uses That Clean Life to send all attendees home with a recipe book or meal plan related to the topics discussed that day. Each page is automatically branded with her business information, so attendees can go to her website to learn more about her services, or get in touch if they have additional questions.
What to Charge for Workplace Wellness Events
When Sarah started out in corporate wellness, pricing her services was a process of trial and error. Before she realized the work, cost, and preparation needed for corporate services she was charging $350 per one-hour talk. At this rate, she was barely breaking even and realized she needed to charge more.
"I also had an experience early on where I provided my prices to a company and the head of HR responded and said 'This is at least 1/2 the price of what we are typically quoted. I encourage you to rethink your prices before I send this to management.' That was very eye-opening for me, and I ended up revising the quote, charging double my original quote and it got approved without question.”
Sarah sends companies a base price sheet with services and topics. Prices are rarely the exact same for two events since companies have different requests and she customizes the prices based on what they need.
On average, Sarah charges $500 to $650 for a one-hour talk and $700 to $1,000 for an hour food demo.
Sarah also offers "On-Site Nutrition Consultation Days" where she spends around six hours at the office providing individual consultations for employees and charges $1,600 per day for this.
"When it comes to pricing, you have to make a decision that feels good to you, stand behind it and move on. I think it is easy to get caught up when companies or individuals ask for a discount or say it is out of budget (which does happen!), and it may make you rethink your prices but, in my opinion, you need to feel good about your prices and be firm in them."
Best Practices For Promoting Your Services During a Corporate Talk
In Sarah’s business, workplace wellness events are a revenue stream. Their purpose is to increase her income and she does not view them as a marketing strategy.
"Talks can lead to private clients, but this is never the purpose of my talks.”
It’s important to remember that you’re not necessarily talking to your "ideal clients" during a corporate event. Corporate wellness isn’t a strategy to gain new clients, but it can naturally grow your brand awareness by letting the attendees know who you are and how to get in touch if they’d like to.
"I always provide a background to who I am at the beginning of the talk, and talk about the fact I am a working Nutritionist with a private practice. I end the talk with a Q&A and always provide my contact information/business cards for anyone to contact me with questions. But I don’t actively promote it."
Ready to start offering corporate wellness in your nutrition business? Here's what to do next:
- Identify who you know who works in HR or who might be able to recommend you to HR for an event at their workplace.
- Create a pricing sheet with the talks/services you will offer and your base prices.
- Start reaching out and book your first corporate wellness event!