a community of practitioners

Groupon for ABMP members?

Has anybody checked into the new partnership with Groupon to see if there are favorable terms? Or are we all so turned off to the idea by being burned so bad that nobody is interested?

Groupon for ABMP members

My experience was I had a manager that didn't pay us. She owed me $4,000 in back wages. I eventually got my pay over a period of time but it took over a year. I know people that had their pay rates cut because of them. I also had somebody try to hire me for minimum wage saying the "tips will be wonderful". From experience - no or low tips.

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on May 19, 2018 at 10:59am

I’ve always worked as an employee. I’m sure one can make more money working for yourself, or having your own business. But there can be a lot of headaches that can come with that extra potential of money. Hmm, thinking back, I did work as an independent contractor for some time in a chiropractic clinic. It felt like I was working for the chiropractor though. All the patients basically came from him. But I use to offer a series of four massages at a discount. That discount did help scheduling more massages. At the time it was $50.00 an hour for a massage. A series of four, they paid up front, was $180.00. So maybe offer your own discounts? Not sure if that’s good advice or not, I don’t consider myself a savvy business person. But that gives people decent savings if they love or need to get massages on a regular basis.

When I worked in the spa. Gift certificates seemed to work well for the owners. A certain percentage of those gift certificates were never redeemed.

Hopefully someone running their own business can offer some ideas. I’m also pretty sure there are marketing books and CEU courses out there that can be of value. G....maybe I should have read one of those books?

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Ajay on May 20, 2018 at 11:02am

I for one am not interested. Groupon clients are true bargain hunters, they rarely re-book unless it is for another "inexpensive massage" unlike regular clients, and they don't tip either. Use Groupon at your peril and then only for short times if you must, and limit the number of discounted massages to 5 or less a month. IMO, things like Groupon are a disaster for our industry, do you see other health care providers using Groupon?

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Massage sucks on August 3, 2018 at 1:25pm

I worked at a spa a few years ago that accepted groupon. The main complains were that the clients didn't come back and that they didn't leave tips.

The idea that Groupon clients are true bargain hunters holds merit. I have also read in a few places that it's an excellent way to gain more clients. One of those was in the massage and bodywork magazine. I can't remember what issue off the top of my head.

Yes, i have read adds placed by chiropractors in groupon.

I can see why groupon would be considered a disaster for our industry. If we depend upon it to much, we end up cutting our own paychecks by 60% easily. However, it can increase short term profits by bringing in more clients if you are in a slow season.

This does make me think twice about using it myself. I was planning on doing just that.

Gift certificates work differently in each state. Some states allow you to put end dates on them and hold them firm. Other states don't allow any end date. I have heard in other places that many gift certificates go unused as well.