Get your Groupon on!

Mass couponing seems to be more prevalent during slower economic times as businesses try promotional methods hoping for a spike in business. Couponing seems like an innocent little marketing tool with the theory being to throw out an offer in hopes that it will bring in customers (or sales) that you wouldn’t have otherwise. Marketer beware—knowledge is key to any campaign's success.

A popular couponing effort being used today is to run an online promotion such as a ‘Groupon’ (www.grouponworks.com). Similar services like’ Living Social’ (www.livingsocial.com) and ‘The Local Deal’ (www.thelocaldeal.com) are also popular. These online services operate by featuring a local deal of the day and that deal is only active when a set number of customers have purchased that package. Because the offer isn’t valid until a set number have been purchased, customers looking to purchase the offer are encouraged to share with others thus increasing word-of-mouth exposure.

While these types of website marketing tools can prove extremely effective in helping you sell your services, they can also be to your detriment. One thing we hear time again from testimonials of businesses that have used an online coupon service is “My phone rang off the hook!” You might think that getting flooded with phone calls is a good thing. It can be if you are prepared. If you are not, however, a service like this can severely damage your business operation along with its reputation.

Here are some best practices for you to consider before signing up:

1. When running a Groupon you want to take into consideration your ability to respond to all ‘callers’ requesting to schedule an appointment in an effort to redeem their Groupon. Be sure that you have someone prepared to take the call volume as well as prepared to answer any questions that might arise. This person will need to be well-integrated within your business and have top-notch customer service skills.
2. Understand that you will be filling your schedule with discounted services, essentially reducing your hourly pay. I recently spoke with a massage therapist who sold 1400 Groupons in one day. Her cut was $18 each. She now has her calendar filled with $18 dollar an hour massages and has very little room in her calendar for those who pay full price. Therefore, create a solid plan for scheduling only a pre-determined number of discounted appointments each day. Consider limiting the days and times when offers can be redeemed. Limiting their use to the days and times that are the least popular with your regular clients helps you fill the gaps and allows your regular clients the ability to schedule during your premium hours.
3. Don’t be lured by the case studies that show thousands of offers sold. You need to run the numbers to determine how many you actually can sell and still make a profit. Yes, the more you sell the more exposure your business has. However, imagine what would happen to your reputation if you sold more than you could fulfill? Remember that bad news spreads faster than good. To help you determine your maximum number of offers, use this formula. Number of Groupon appointments you are willing to redeem each day x number of days you and your associates work in a given six-month period. Take that number and add 20% (the average number of offers that never get redeemed). Using this formula will help you guarantee everyone who purchased a Groupon can redeem it within 6 months after purchase.
4. Set a reasonable expiration date (your Groupon contact can advise you on a timeline that works best for your promotion). You want to consider a timeline that helps you track the campaign’s success. Simply selling the offers doesn’t necessarily equate to the success of the campaign. Ultimately, you want repeat business from the offer. Therefore, give customers a short enough redemption date so the offer doesn’t drag on forever, but give yourself some breathing room. We have found six months to be a desirable timeline. Keep in mind that the first few weeks after the offer goes live as well as the week before it expires will most likely be the busiest time for appointment scheduling.
5. To manage the potentially overwhelming number of inquires consider creating a special landing page just for your promotion. This could look something like: www.yourwebsite.com/groupon. You can add this link to your Groupon promo page. Post your online scheduling link on the landing page and the number you want them to use if calling (our clients have a unique toll-free number that they forward to us). By posting information about the offer on a unique landing page you can create a great deal of efficiency.
6. Think about hiring help. Using a service like My Receptionist can help you manage your Groupon response by diverting all your calls to be answered by professional receptionist with experience scheduling appointments. My Receptionist also gives you the ability to have your Groupon appointment requests scheduled online as well as allow you the ability to track the success of the campaign through data reporting. Leveraging our services will dramatically improve your ability to provide a positive experience when your clients are trying to schedule their Groupon. It will also help you retain your current clients, by keeping the phone lines open to allow them the ability to continue to do business with you.
7. The end goal is to create repeat business. Create an up-selling strategy once you have a new customer’s attention. Selling packages or memberships is a growing trend and a very effective way to secure prepayment for services and long-term clients. The ‘Packages Module’ offered by My Receptionist gives you the ability to create packages and assign them to the clients that purchased them. Once assigned, the client can use their pre paid package sessions to ‘pay’ for future appointments. You can also use this module to sell memberships (keep track of them) and then manage the monthly ‘billing’ (auto payment) for them.

The bottom-line is: Make sure you are prepared to capture all your Groupon inquiries, then upsell to turn new customers into repeat clients.