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You’re not understanding my point. I see value in clients not just what they pay for. But I am very passionate in my career and work hard to retain clients.
]]>Just because you’re not ‘spending’ $$ to get a Groupon client doesn’t mean you’re not ‘paying’ for them via that 75% discount.
]]>You can’t expect them to work at half to get a potential new client, but you can as an owner?
]]>I firmly believe that deals like these will lead to even more establishments closing!! It teaches the guest to decrease the VALUE of a service. Our worth as a spa is only pennies on the dollar according to this marketing. So, as our costs to run business increase, our service price should decrease?
More and more advertising firms are focusing on “giving away” services through half off gift cards or through selling coupon books where they keep the money and we provide the service to increase “new clientele.” Well, as you stated, most clientele purchasing the gift certificates and coupon books are existing or not the clientele you want.
We had a coupon book promo that went EXTREMELY sour!! The marketing team (Cause Marketing) sold our coupon books in bars and in establishments just down the street from us. We had 2 resluts: 1. Our regular guests got over $250 worth of free services and 2. We had guests that were not spa-goes show up, refuse to tip(although that was a requirement) and cause problems while they were here.
Sorry to be on such a soap box, but I get a little passionate about my business that I worked so hard to build and companies like these actually hurt it!
Great job Chris!!
]]>Rule #1 You will never gain a client after you have given them an enormous discount. That type of shopper will look for the next best deal.
Rule #2 Value your service and honor your market. You hurt us all when you discount a service. Price is not what matters to most consumers. If you are wondering what does matter, than you need lessons in customer service.
Rule 3# Know your cost of providing your service to each client…your overhead, expenses, understand your numbers. Most small businesses do not take the time to know and understand what it costs them to provide each service, I am not just talking about cost of product!
If the majority of business owners would educate themselves about how to operate a successful business we would see a stronger economy. Desperate businesses use desperate measures. There are other ways to get your name out there!
Good Luck to all of you, I wish you the best in your endeavors whatever you choose, choose wisely not blindly. Most owners will not understand what they have done until clients are not returning.
]]>That’s a great promo. Daily Deals are very “pushy” on what you offer, they know what sells best. You just need to either (simply put) offer a mini-service you can upgrade, or a maxi-service that has a lot of “low cost, high value” built in… this is a twist to what Peggy Wynn suggests that these daily deals will increase inflation as owners raise their prices to compensate for giving away things at half off all the time. I’m writing a report on how to do a daily deal successfully, but still don’t recommend doing them because: 1. They devalue our industry 2. They hurt the small business owner 3. They teach the nation NOT to spend = bad for economy (good for them).
]]>Pros: I use an online booking service that prompts guests to write a review after receiving their services. Because of this feature, my reviews have increased significantly, resulting in an increase of clients who have paid full price for their services. Fortunately, the deal I ran was through a much smaller company than Groupon or LS. I only sold about 75 units (some 2 per person), which was a much more manageable number than what I would have sold had I used Groupon.
Cons: A friend of mine, who is also a single operator, ran a LS deal that sold over 1K units. It took her a year to redeem all those vouchers! The last time I saw her, I asked how her retention rate was and she said that a lot of the clients were coupon chasers and the return rate was less than 20%.
Lucky for me, I ran a waxing deal, which is a low-cost service. If my promotion was for facials I would have been in big trouble. I’ve been contacted by LS and Groupon since I ran my deal and have declined their offers. I consider myself to be one of the “lucky ones”. If you are considering participating in one of these deals, please consider the risks and negative impact it could have on your business.
Thanks for the post, Chris! Good food for thought.
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