Want to lose your butt...do Groupon!

Marketing
81

Sometimes Enviro, I’m like “huh?” with your posts.

This is one of them.

Short-term gain from a discount-coupon promotion gives you a way to make money from the people who don’t really care about window cleaning or see much value in it, and who become willing to try thanks to the discount.

Your bills are short-term. You have to buy gas for your vehicle today, not just 8 months from now. You have to pay your mortgage or rent today, not just 8 months from now. You need to buy diapers today, not just 8 months from now. You need short-term cashflow. The promotion should produce it’s own needed financial backing for a long-term run.

I don’t really understand the law suit comment, sorry.

And every time you lower the price, demand goes up. Conversely, every time you raise your prices, demand goes down, and fewer people line up to buy your stuff, generally speaking.

If Porsche USA decided to discount the 911 Turbo at 40% off for the month of March, they would sell a TON more in the next 30 days. Demand for a brand-new Porsche 911 Turbo at 40% off would be through the roof.

But they would be fools to do it, I’m sure you would agree. You and I would love it if they did, and we would tell all our friends, and www.supercardiscounts.com would be thrilled, and make a lot of money from helping us close the deal, but Porsche would be a bunch of goofballs for thinking it was a smart business growth strategy.

82

I agree with you, half of my statements you either didn’t understand or were thinking something else. I’ll try to make it more clear for you.

83

LOL - It makes me feel better to know I’m not the only one that doesn’t understand your advanced way of thinking. x <— eye roll smiley

btw where are the smiley icons?

84

I haven’t read the whole thread Kevin, but there are companies who do offer their services for free or at a loss to gain a long term customer. My college age son was recently given 50 bucks for opening a checking account at a major bank who was holding a promotion on campus. He closed the account a month later and kept the fifty bucks. There is no way they didn’t lose money on his account. However, because they understand their customer behavior and can accurately calculate their short term losses against their long term gains that form of promotion can be successful for them.

There are many ways to position oneself in the market and being the Porsche of window service is only one of them. Personally my service area demands us to be more like the Lincoln MKS, classy, fast, and still reasonably priced. You have to compare apples to apples. Coffee, window cleaning, massages, and exotic cars are all different and have to be marketed differently. Yes, I know there are people who pay $14,000 for a haircut, but for every stylist charging that, there are thousands who are not and still making a great living, so the anecdotal evidence fails there.

As you stated Kevin Groupon can be used effectively although I personally wouldn’t use it. However, I would and have discounted my services and had people paying twice as much the next time around for the same service and gained a long term customer from it, it happens all the time.

85

Good points, all of them.

It happens, yes, that people become long-term clients after consuming heavily discounted services.

Banking on it for survival, to pay for subsidized acquisition is crazy, in my opinion.

Remove the risk is my suggestion.

86

Okey, dokey.

Hit me again.

87

Groupon is a clever idea. In some cases, maybe too clever for it’s own customers good.

88

Anyone else besides my wife take advantage of the deals? We’ve done a few things we would not have done by purchasing a groupon.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

89

It’s not an advanced way of thinking. Just hard to stay in the right context when talking about a few different things at the same time.

90

Well said, George.

Great for customer segment one (the deal-buyers), but not so hot for customer segment two (the deal-sellers).

91

My wife just told me this morning she is booking a massage with one of the two masseuses she has used through groupon. First visit was $32 this next one will be $75 and she will probably go every 4 to 6 weeks.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

92

As I’ve stated and a lot of others - Groupon will work in different industry’s. Just not window cleaning.

93

This is what I’m understanding your position is simplified:

You have to get top dollar from every customer, because it isn’t very smart to plan on referrals, addons, and repeat business. Because someone that gets a discount isn’t very likely to ever pay your normal prices and you would like to make $600/hr of a person one time instead of making $75-100/hr off of them for a lifetime. Short term thinking your strategy is without flaw (huge upswing in revenue, but long term the strategy of this is killing off your customers every time you come in with a 600/hr offer. My grandpa used to say “once a wise man, twice a fool” That’s what I feel your customers will say after a ridiculous one time charge.

What made this even more interesting:
I started using your terminology back on I saw on facebook that you offered 50% off of one of your information products. Then when I asked if you would do the deal for 100. You said you would do it for 50. Almost the exact same thing as a groupon except we don’t use the phrase groupon.

I kind of hammered this home and got off point because I was using your own logic against you.

Here is my simplified position:

I want to lower the barrier of entry as low as I can go to get people to try out my products and/or services.

Through excellent products/services and systems and procedures in place I am looking at the long term value of the client and their referrals.(I know this number is low, especially in the groupon setting, but from what they can do over night, without any cost to you other than your service and be fronted a 1/3 of it to start you out) Long term is my number one strategy, while making sure the numbers make sense short term and I don’t sink.

Sorry for the delay had a busy weekend/early week.

I disagree with your position, but respect the energy that you put in to helping other window cleaners grow their businesses.

94

It’s okay for us to disagree, Don.

I think you’re wrong, and that you’re misapplying marketing strategy to a weak and dangerous medium and market segment. I was pretty thorough in pointing out the facebook tactic as different, too, but I guess it got lost in the lengthy posts. Fair enough.

To quote you, it takes incredibly careful planning to ensure the [B]“numbers make sense short term and [you] don’t sink.”[/B]

That is a hefty statement, and one that does not apply to the vast majority of the Groupon-using small businesses out there, including the window cleaning business owners.

As for the likelihood of selling off-the-shelf repeat window cleaning services at 100% price points to a bargain-obsessed market segment, after they’ve initially sampled it for 50% off, you know how I feel.

Run.

95

And as for the disillusioned clients who overpay and are embittered thing, that is a whole OTHER conversation. It’s one of my favorites, though.

But it is completely separate. Never do I suggest burning long-term potential for immediate rewards. Never do I suggest fleecing people, and leaving them with the impression that as your Grandpa said “they’ve been taken for a fool.”

Never.

It’s about delivering value, and standing behind your word 100%. If you can’t do that, then your stuff isn’t good enough yet. Back to the drawing board. Make/deliver/provide better stuff, so that every customer is completely satisfied with their investment in your stuff.

As I said, this is a very different conversation, and I apologize if I somehow suggested this approach. I’ve never wittingly encouraged that.

96

Could Groupon Save Your Business?

This article is a reprint from my column at AMEX OPEN Forum from Apr 30, 2010

The title of this article may sound a bit bold, but I’ve personally witnessed three separate businesses dramatically impacted by their participation with Chicago based collective buying phenomenon Groupon. My favorite coffee shop, massage therapist and eco-friendly cleaner can all attest to the success of their Groupon campaigns.

What, You Don’t Know About Groupon?

Groupon is a collective buying discount service. Actually, that idea has been around in variations for years, both on and offline, but Groupon seems to have figured out how to make it simple and social.

Every day subscribers get one great deal offer for their community by way of email. Offers are from local businesses and are come with a price tag in order to earn a discount – something like $35 for an $80 massage. Groupon is working in about 30 cities currently, with near term plans to go to 80.

The offer doesn’t become good until some prescribed number of people elect to buy it. If a subscriber decides to buy the offer they often pass it along to friends to make sure the deal happens.

You can learn how Groupon works for subscribers here

Consumers Love It

Everywhere I go now, I hear people gushing about the addictive nature of the daily deal. As of this writing, over four million Groupons have been purchased in the fifteen months the company has been offering them.

On top of the deals the buyers receive, Groupon users are getting hooked on the hyper-local discoveries of new businesses in their community. Groupon founder and CEO Andrew Mason claims that one of the driving forces behind Groupon is this notion of exploring your own back yard

Read the Rest of the Article Here–>
~ ~ ~

John Jantsch is a veteran marketing coach, award winning blogger and author of Duct Tape Marketing and The Referral Engine.

He is the creator of the Duct Tape Marketing small business marketing system. You can find more information by visiting Small Business Marketing Consultants, Strategies and Ideas - ::

You may reprint this article in its entirety if you attribute the article to John Jantsch and include the information about the author above.

97

Sad thing is, the window cleaner may be remembered for just that.

98

Hope the screens are on the exterior

99

We just ran a Groupon ad. $40.00 for $80.00 worth of window cleaning. We sold around 70. Yes we have the people who only want the $80.00 worth, but we also have the customers that want more. We have one new client that is over $400.00 more work. Another stated that she needs mineral removal and extra windows cleaned. She stated, “as long as it’s not over $1000.00 I will be happy”. Tell you what, I know I am happy. When you design a Groupon ad you need to be very specific. Only new customers. Limited travel area. Stuff like that.

100

Mixed feelings on groupon right now
I deciding if I want to do it this fall or not