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Any GOOD experiences out there with therapists using Living Social or Groupon?
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Erica Koester on
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my brother in law did it for his business and sold over 700 gift certificates - yes they sell them for 1/2 price of what your service is worth then they keep 1/2 of sold price for self - yes service is worth alot more but he was in hopes to get returning customers. so far he had a few returning clients but dont know if i would say it was successful.
I believe when you set up the accounts you have to specify what type of massage it is good for or not good for so the people who are buying it know upfront and are not disappointed as well.
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Permalink Reply by Laura Allen on
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I wrote an article for Massage & Bodywork on this subject, and I interviewed a lot of therapists who had done it. You can read the article online for free. The therapists who responded to my requests for interviews (I put out the call on all my networks) were all very happy with their experience....while they were initially nervous about people just coming to get a cheap massage and never coming back, that didn't happen. It really built up their business in the long run.
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Permalink Reply by Lee Edelberg on
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I ran a Groupon feature just last month, Apr 25. I'm going to wait a while longer and post on the other thread, after I have a better handle on it.
So far the work is going well, BUT I will say that the sales department seemed inexperienced, and made more than one mistake in the process.
More later, on the other thread.
L.
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Permalink Reply by Nancy Henson on
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Thank you Laura! I will check it out! :) So far, business is growing just by networking and word of mouth so I may not have to use Groupon or Living Social.
Laura Allen said:
I wrote an article for Massage & Bodywork on this subject, and I interviewed a lot of therapists who had done it. You can read the article online for free. The therapists who responded to my requests for interviews (I put out the call on all my networks) were all very happy with their experience....while they were initially nervous about people just coming to get a cheap massage and never coming back, that didn't happen. It really built up their business in the long run.
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Lee, looking forward to your response! Hope it yields the results you wanted it to...
Lee Edelberg said:
I ran a Groupon feature just last month, Apr 25. I'm going to wait a while longer and post on the other thread, after I have a better handle on it.
So far the work is going well, BUT I will say that the sales department seemed inexperienced, and made more than one mistake in the process.
More later, on the other thread.
L.
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Thanks Nancy.
I'm tempted to take up bandwith right now about it, but am going to wait,
Cheers!
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Some discount services may be worth it, but I think the business proposition to the spa/therapist is fundamentally flawed.
1) They build clientele -- BS, or at least not the clientele I would want. They "brag" that they reach new clients across NYC with their specials, that is not a selling point, quite the opposite. If you believe the build a clientele, you have to believe that New Yorkers buying 1/2 price spa services will someday shun all other 1/2 price services from Groupon/LS and all their competitors, trek across town, passing dozens of spas along the way, and pay full price for your services because they were so blown away by the 1/2 price deal that all that effort is worth spending 2x as much money. I don't think so
2) They have "high-value" clients. More BS. Check out reviews on YELP or TripAdvisor and you will find a remarkable correlation between the price paid (low) and the amount of complaints (high). "i paid $99 on Hotwire for a $400 hotel room and they gave me the smallest room in the house, blah, blah blah"
3) They have "high-value" clients II. "Deal" clients are treating themselves. When a 1/2 deal is a treat, they can't afford you the other 364 days of the year, can't afford to spend anything on products, and are very unlikely to rebook
4) They are creating a "bargain" culture and denigrating the services received. Perception is reality, and high priced is perceived as better.
5) anyone whose business model is predicated on YOU taking a 50% haircut, then handing over 50% of what remains to them is not a sustainable business model. It is a parasitic one. The parasite ultimately devours the host and moves on to another host. When you lose money on a treatment, the more you do, the more you lose. You don't make it up on volume.
6) They don't believe in their own business model. If they did, they would be willing to charge 0% for offering the deal and ask for 100% of revenue from all repeat business for the next 6 months. Every "deal"sales person i spoke with would claim how great they are at driving repeat business, but are flabbergasted when i ask them to put their money where their mouth is.
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Permalink Reply by Emmanuel Bistas on
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Well said
Relax & Rejuvenate said:Some discount services may be worth it, but I think the business proposition to the spa/therapist is fundamentally flawed.
1) They build clientele -- BS, or at least not the clientele I would want. They "brag" that they reach new clients across NYC with their specials, that is not a selling point, quite the opposite. If you believe the build a clientele, you have to believe that New Yorkers buying 1/2 price spa services will someday shun all other 1/2 price services from Groupon/LS and all their competitors, trek across town, passing dozens of spas along the way, and pay full price for your services because they were so blown away by the 1/2 price deal that all that effort is worth spending 2x as much money. I don't think so
2) They have "high-value" clients. More BS. Check out reviews on YELP or TripAdvisor and you will find a remarkable correlation between the price paid (low) and the amount of complaints (high). "i paid $99 on Hotwire for a $400 hotel room and they gave me the smallest room in the house, blah, blah blah"
3) They have "high-value" clients II. "Deal" clients are treating themselves. When a 1/2 deal is a treat, they can't afford you the other 364 days of the year, can't afford to spend anything on products, and are very unlikely to rebook
4) They are creating a "bargain" culture and denigrating the services received. Perception is reality, and high priced is perceived as better.
5) anyone whose business model is predicated on YOU taking a 50% haircut, then handing over 50% of what remains to them is not a sustainable business model. It is a parasitic one. The parasite ultimately devours the host and moves on to another host. When you lose money on a treatment, the more you do, the more you lose. You don't make it up on volume.
6) They don't believe in their own business model. If they did, they would be willing to charge 0% for offering the deal and ask for 100% of revenue from all repeat business for the next 6 months. Every "deal"sales person i spoke with would claim how great they are at driving repeat business, but are flabbergasted when i ask them to put their money where their mouth is.
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An interesting article titled: "Why groupon is posied for collapse"
http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/13/why-groupon-is-poised-for-collapse/
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Very good read
Emmanuel Bistas said:An interesting article titled: "Why groupon is posied for collapse"
http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/13/why-groupon-is-poised-for-collapse/
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Permalink Reply by Alyson C Schlobohm on
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I won't say I disagree with what you've said 100%, but it sounds like to me that you've never run a special with Living Social or Groupon. I must say, when I first spoke with Groupon, their "I'm doing you a favor" attitude rubbed me wrong. I was fortunate enough to find out about their competitor, Living Social, before I ran with Groupon, and still say to this day that it was the best decision I ever made. I had just started out on my own as a Massage Therapist - fresh out of Massage School and renting a room on my own - so I was struggling to find affordable means of marketing myself. Living Social gave me 24 hours of FREE advertising with their email blast, and I even had people call and ask if they could just book an appointment with me directly.
On top of that, within 6-months I had a base of about 35-40 clients - again, that was only 6 months of finishing the program and going out on my own. These 35-40 clients were using the discount services to find a Massage Therapist that was a good fit for them, and they've been faithful to me ever since.
The chunk of change my "run" with them put in my pocket allowed me the financial freedom to pursue other forms of marketing.
Finally, I vividly recall both companies asking me several time if I was comfortable with the amount of business it would bring to me. I developed an Excel spreadsheet as long as my arm with all possible scenarios including the 50% off, my 60% cut, estimated taxes, how many massages I would have to do per day to fulfill my number of purchasers, how many other clients I could accomodate per day, etc., etc., etc., etc.
Bottom line - do your homework, know what you're getting in to, get EVERYTHING in writing, and you CAN be successful and happy with running a special with Living Social or Groupon.
Relax & Rejuvenate said:Some discount services may be worth it, but I think the business proposition to the spa/therapist is fundamentally flawed.
1) They build clientele -- BS, or at least not the clientele I would want. They "brag" that they reach new clients across NYC with their specials, that is not a selling point, quite the opposite. If you believe the build a clientele, you have to believe that New Yorkers buying 1/2 price spa services will someday shun all other 1/2 price services from Groupon/LS and all their competitors, trek across town, passing dozens of spas along the way, and pay full price for your services because they were so blown away by the 1/2 price deal that all that effort is worth spending 2x as much money. I don't think so
2) They have "high-value" clients. More BS. Check out reviews on YELP or TripAdvisor and you will find a remarkable correlation between the price paid (low) and the amount of complaints (high). "i paid $99 on Hotwire for a $400 hotel room and they gave me the smallest room in the house, blah, blah blah"
3) They have "high-value" clients II. "Deal" clients are treating themselves. When a 1/2 deal is a treat, they can't afford you the other 364 days of the year, can't afford to spend anything on products, and are very unlikely to rebook
4) They are creating a "bargain" culture and denigrating the services received. Perception is reality, and high priced is perceived as better.
5) anyone whose business model is predicated on YOU taking a 50% haircut, then handing over 50% of what remains to them is not a sustainable business model. It is a parasitic one. The parasite ultimately devours the host and moves on to another host. When you lose money on a treatment, the more you do, the more you lose. You don't make it up on volume.
6) They don't believe in their own business model. If they did, they would be willing to charge 0% for offering the deal and ask for 100% of revenue from all repeat business for the next 6 months. Every "deal"sales person i spoke with would claim how great they are at driving repeat business, but are flabbergasted when i ask them to put their money where their mouth is.
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No, Alyson, actually, you can't be successful with Groupon just by following those guidelines.
Maybe for a sole practitioner, for whom every $ in your pocket is incremental revenue you did not have. It is impossible for a sole practitioner to lose money on a deal site.
But for a business with employees, whom I have to pay an amount greater than I would received from Groupon for the service performed, every Groupon sold is a money loser.
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