After the Groupon

Using a Groupon or daily deal site is one way of attracting a lot of prospective members to your business.  I say prospective because many may never become actual members.  Too many are attracted to just trying something new or the price tag, but don’t want to pay full price for a service nor are looking to form a lasting relationship with a business.  Still running a daily deal is one of the best ways of attracting people and of knowing that your advertising actually worked!

Lets say you decide you’re going to run a daily deal.  Here’s how to handle the deal itself, and here’s how to figure out whether your business actually benefited from doing the deal.

Remember the point of doing a deal is to increase your chances of finding long term members.

Treat them like a real member not like a deal.

Too many business owners treat those who bring in a deal with the equivalent level of customer service, which feeds into the adage “you get what you paid for.”  Once again the point of the deal is not to make money, its to attract a new base of members and get the word out about your business.  Hence, as a business owner the level of customer service should be equal to what you would give a member who has paid full price.

Its fine if you want to provide prospects with a sample of your service by cutting down on time or limiting them to select services, but don’t cut down on quality.  Lowering quality is what leads to most people not returning.  Even those who are sensitive to price are willing to return if they feel like the quality of service you are offering is high.

If you’re level of customer service goes down because you’re trying to service a lot of people at once because, then put a cap on the number of deals you want to handle.

Walk a fine line when following up.

Some people just don’t like being bombarded by email marketing or phone calls.  So when someone signs up for your service let them opt out of receiving an email, but do let them know what they are going to be missing out on such as special events, promotions, and even simple things like closings, partnerships, and expansions.

When you do follow up try to make things a little more personal. Sending people a generic email newsletter just makes them feel like they’re generic.  A better first time interaction is to send a personal email or call thanking them for their visit and asking them for feedback.  This not only builds a relationship, but it also helps you improve your business, because you can find out if someone isn’t returning because of your staff, price, or they just didn’t get what they were looking for.  Never hesitate to follow up, but do limit the number of times you call the same person.

Get as much info as you can.

You might end up servicing someone who may not return.  Maybe they were just visiting from out of town, that doesn’t mean they aren’t going to tell their best friend who lives in town about your business, or they got busy with life.  Whatever the reason is, you shouldn’t’ think of these prospects as lost business.  Instead, get their email address or physical address and periodically send them updates.  Keeping people in the loop about how your business is doing is another great way to create a lasting impression.

Once someone comes in for a daily deal, don’t hesitate to ask them for their contact info.  If they’re very reluctant then they’re probably going to be reluctant to helping you out in the future.

Deals do help initially spread the word, but if you want to keep the buzz going long after you need to:

• Provide a high quality of service
• Follow up with feedback
• Keep people in the loop about your business

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