Groupon, Buywithme, The local Deal, etc....

[JLWmassage]

I have been hearing a lot of buzz about http://www.groupon.com. I sent them my infomation only to find out they were interested in doing business with me for many reasons. After doing some digging around I found 2 similar co's in my aera that offer than same type of blast emailing

http://www.thelocaldeal.com
http://www.buywithme.com

When you decide to sign up a merchante you agree to give a 50% off deal, and the co. keeps 50% of what you make and you get a check in the mail for the other half

My first deal of the day went out yesterday. And from just one email it filled my book for the next month

[pueppi]

That's really interesting. I have a friend who was considering this for an acupuncture clinic, and she's been trying to talk me into doing this, just to get my name out there to other clients who may not know about us. I am not sure I like it, due to the half-off concept.

So, I am curious.... if it went out the one day and filled the book for a month:

• What kind of hours and days you work? What is a full months booking for you? How many clients per week? How many people did your "groupon" target?
  
  
• What happens if someone wants to book tomorrow on the "groupon" that came out today? Do you still accept it, or is it truly a one day fling?
  
  
• Can you limit how many people can take advantage of the "groupon"?
  
  
• Do you still have room in your book for your regulars, since you filled up for a month? If not, how will you handle that?

These are all concerns of mine, as I don't want to get into a situation where I don't have room for my regular clients.

Thanks in advance for answering. And, I am happy to recieve a PM, if you don't want to post the answers on open forum.

[JLWmassage]

A full week for me is 15 - 18 hours a week. The coupon just sells for one day but the custumer has 3 months to use it.

All of my regulars where already book for the month, so the coupon people just filled in the blank space and I always leave a few places open who need a massage ASAP because they are in pain and can't wait to book

[pueppi]

Thanks for that. I definitely appreciate the feedback from someone who has used it.

One new question: Does "groupon" limit it to the "three months to use", or did you pick an amount of time?

I know I asked a lot of questions, so you may not have seen these two. Do you, by any chance, have answers to them?

• How many people did your "groupon" target?
  
• Can you limit how many people can take advantage of the "groupon"?

[squash_blsm]

okay - You give HALF off your regular session price.
Then the company keeps HALF of THAT.

So you are left with doing a month (or three months) of $20 massages???

I think that you should see what kind of re-booking you get before recommending this to others.
Doesn't sound like it would be the type of client that would necessarily be loyal and consistent.

[pueppi]

okay - You give HALF off your regular session price.
Then the company keeps HALF of THAT.

So you are left with doing a month (or three months) of $20 massages???

I think that you should see what kind of re-booking you get before recommending this to others.
Doesn't sound like it would be the type of client that would necessarily be loyal and consistent.

All good points. This is why I have asked the questions above.

But, since JLWmassage has already "tried" it, how about we allow her to give the follow up info, to see how it pans out?

Although I am still not sold, I am thinking that it could be something useful for the new therapist starting out and needing some income while working other avenues to build their return clientele, and it may also be useful for someone who only works sporadically and doesn't have a consistent client base.

[JLWmassage]

The way I looked at it is this. I could pay $500 on ads and not even make my money back. Or do the deal of the day where people are paying up front. And if a client does a no call no show they lose their coupon.

I picked the 3 month max w/ a max of 150 coupons to be sold. I am only one person and can handle so much.

The email went out to 1000 people so that is 1000 potential people who saw my name

This extra money that I will make is going to pay for me to take some classes I have been want to take for a long time and never seem to have the extra cash

[Dragonflies]

I know one case where this didn't work well for the massage business - they ended up paying more in IC wages than they received from the hugely discounted coupons. It also wasn't a "repeat business" type of clientele as everyone was just looking for a discounted massage.

[squash_blsm]

The way I looked at it is this. I could pay $500 on ads and not even make my money back. Or do the deal of the day where people are paying up front. And if a client does a no call no show they lose their coupon.

I picked the 3 month max w/ a max of 150 coupons to be sold. I am only one person and can handle so much.

The email went out to 1000 people so that is 1000 potential people who saw my name

This extra money that I will make is going to pay for me to take some classes I have been want to take for a long time and never seem to have the extra cash

That's a good way to look at it.
I would love for you to keep a log to track results.
As you noted you will have some "no-shows" and "no-redeemers" which will bump up your $$.
And - you are doing the work yourself - not paying someone else.
Personally I would rather be doing massage than doing laundry or paperwork anyway...
I am excited for you! Good Luck!

[Jenn@AttunedMotion]

I work for a salon & spa and they have decided to try the groupon thing out this next week or two. They are selling a $50 gift card for $25 which they can use for any salon or spa service. Since we charge $50 for a 30 min massage, our goal is to add on or upgrade the service (ie. add a paraffin, hot stone upgrade, upgrade to an hour which is $69, etc). I'm not 100% sure how successful it will be, in my experience offering discounts only brings clients in once.. But I'm open to the idea so I am staying positive and I will update more after the groupon goes out!

[JasonE]

I work for a salon & spa and they have decided to try the groupon thing out this next week or two. They are selling a $50 gift card for $25 which they can use for any salon or spa service. Since we charge $50 for a 30 min massage, our goal is to add on or upgrade the service (ie. add a paraffin, hot stone upgrade, upgrade to an hour which is $69, etc). I'm not 100% sure how successful it will be, in my experience offering discounts only brings clients in once.. But I'm open to the idea so I am staying positive and I will update more after the groupon goes out!

Will accepting the discounted gift card affect what you (the therapists) are paid for doing the work? I know some ICs that dread coupons or discounts because it affects their % pay.

Our business has looked into a variety of similar programs, but the excessively high discounting usually makes it unworkable for our business model. Some local radio stations also have seasonal deals that include online and limited radio exposure. They sell your product/service at 50% of the regular price and keep 100% of the proceeds. You do the work for free and hope to upsell/rebook them. It's effective for bringing new clients in, but the jury is still out on the client retention part.

One key to effective marketing: track your results. Keep records of what you spent, how many people received the message, and how many people came in for services because of that message. Calculate the gross and net revenues from services provided as a result of that marketing, and see how it compares to your initial investment. It's easier to track print/online ads that require people to physically bring in a coupon or somesuch.

Text marketing concepts get people to sign up to receive text messages, and they have to show the text on their phone at the time of service in order to get the discount. This is easy to track, but the technologies aren't worked out yet. We tried one service that worked great for Verizon and AT&T cell phones, but T-Mobile, Sprint, and some others did not. Even when the Sprint thing was fixed, resellers of Sprint weren't always able to receive the texts.

[JLWmassage]

If I had other MT's to pay. This would not be for me. BC I am getting $15 for very coupon that is sold

[JLWmassage]

I thought I would let you all know. I sold 18 coupons w/ http://www.localdeal.com

By the end of this week coming up. 9 people would have come in and so far 4 have rebooked

[ukgal99]

Well down. I'm seeing more of these type of offers in the UK. When I look at the company details they are American companies.

[JLWmassage]

Here's an update. The Local Deal has worked well for me. It has been a month and I have a few clients been repeats and one bought a package and the ones that have seen me have also sent me referals and posted nice things about me on their facebook pages

[tranquilspirit2006]

Glad it's working out for you. I was thinking about it reading through these posts but if the session is half off, then they keep half of that, then I give the shop its 40%, I'd get $9.75 per massage. Probably works much better for a solo person.

[Pete]

Glad it's working out for you. I was thinking about it reading through these posts but if the session is half off, then they keep half of that, then I give the shop its 40%, I'd get $9.75 per massage. Probably works much better for a solo person.

In your circumstances, I would negotiate with the shop to waive or reduce their 40% for this promotion as they will see an increase in revenue once these clients rebook, buy GCs, etc.

[JLWmassage]

Glad it's working out for you. I was thinking about it reading through these posts but if the session is half off, then they keep half of that, then I give the shop its 40%, I'd get $9.75 per massage. Probably works much better for a solo person.

In your circumstances, I would negotiate with the shop to waive or reduce their 40% for this promotion as they will see an increase in revenue once these clients rebook, buy GCs, etc.

I was also thinking the same thing. If this is something that interests you

[Pete]

Glad it's working out for you. I was thinking about it reading through these posts but if the session is half off, then they keep half of that, then I give the shop its 40%, I'd get $9.75 per massage. Probably works much better for a solo person.

In your circumstances, I would negotiate with the shop to waive or reduce their 40% for this promotion as they will see an increase in revenue once these clients rebook, buy GCs, etc.

Also, not sure what kind of "shop" you're in - if it's just massage or a full-service spa/salon or something in between - but this is something the shop owner can do for the entire shop and then EVERYONE gets promoted. Not sure if that would work in your environment specifically, but it's a thought.

[JasonE]

I know the owner of a massage business who used Groupon recently - shortly before Mother's Day. They sold over 1300 massage coupons at 1/2 off their regular rate. That's a TON of massages and a lot of potential new business... and their phone has been swamped with people wanting to redeem those coupons. They will make very little for the next few weeks, and are hoping to convert a decent percentage of the newbies into regular clients.

I look forward to learning more about how this Groupon promotion worked for that massage business. The concept is simple, but making it work financially seems to be a challenge. If this business had a higher profit margin, it would be a more attractive form of promotion.

[cosmictouch]

I am planning on doing a promo for my little day spa in TX. Right now I think the trick is getting them to get back to you and accept you as an advertiser. Seems to me that if you promoted your higher end/cost services that really don't have a high implementation cost you can still show it as a deal, but come out on the higher side of compensation... not sure I explained that right, but hopefully y'all will get what I am trying to say.

I contacted Groupon a week or so ago and they still haven't gotten back to me. I tried to talk to a rep in person, but they just send you to the online form they have to sign up. sigh.. will keep waiting as I can see that if nothing else it would be a great way to get the word out about yourself without having to pay $$$ on ads since they say it costs nothing to run an offer. We will see.

Angela

[JLWmassage]

I am planning on doing a promo for my little day spa in TX. Right now I think the trick is getting them to get back to you and accept you as an advertiser. Seems to me that if you promoted your higher end/cost services that really don't have a high implementation cost you can still show it as a deal, but come out on the higher side of compensation... not sure I explained that right, but hopefully y'all will get what I am trying to say.

I contacted Groupon a week or so ago and they still haven't gotten back to me. I tried to talk to a rep in person, but they just send you to the online form they have to sign up. sigh.. will keep waiting as I can see that if nothing else it would be a great way to get the word out about yourself without having to pay $$$ on ads since they say it costs nothing to run an offer. We will see.

Angela

Try
http://www.buywithme.com

I too also had no luck with Groupon

[IntuitiveHealers]

I am signing up with a chiropractor who has a Groupon that goes public this weekend for a wellness package that includes massage; he's meeting me tomorrow. I'll end up getting $30 per massage done in my space, my supplies, my sheets, etc. but the bonus is that I don't have to do any of the business end work (booking etc.) I just do the massages and send in an invoice for them weekly and am paid weekly. I can take as many or as few as I like, my hours, my time etc. I'm hopeful! The Chiro also said he encourages his clients to tip the massage therapists so we'll see how that goes (a tip is never expected but is appreciated at this point).

If this goes well, I'll do Groupon myself; I know others who have had success doing it here in my area.

[tranquilspirit2006]

Glad it's working out for you. I was thinking about it reading through these posts but if the session is half off, then they keep half of that, then I give the shop its 40%, I'd get $9.75 per massage. Probably works much better for a solo person.

In your circumstances, I would negotiate with the shop to waive or reduce their 40% for this promotion as they will see an increase in revenue once these clients rebook, buy GCs, etc.

I doubt she will, she -as the business owner - has a lot of expenses I don't. She's also a single mom struggling. We sometimes butt heads (lovingly) because she sometimes fails to look at the big picture, focusing only on the here-and-now. She can't afford waive the shop's percentage and not make any money off my room, and I understand that. There are 2 part timers there, if we all did it, she'd have the same overhead but much less money coming in from the ICs. She's in a tough spot with offering too much of a discount.

[cosmictouch]

My Groupon update:

Well they finally got back to me via email. It seems that if you are not a larger spa in a large city with lots of web press and awards they don't want to have anything to do with you. Um, if I was a bigger place with lots of online press I don't think I'd even want or need them in the first place... ugh... I am really disappointed since they don't tell you this at the onset. I am a single practitioner office in a very small town so looks like us 'little guys' aren't good enough for Groupon. None of the other companies that do the same thing have bothered to get back with me at this point.

This was really disappointing to me. Good luck to all who try to get in with them.

Angela
TX