By now most of us have heard of the phenomenon known as Groupon. It was launched in November 2008 and now does business in 43 countries. Since that time there have been many other companies doing basically the same thing either nationally or just in certain local markets. Either way, this phenomenon does not seem to be slowing down and is really becoming a viable way for consumers to find new businesses and new opportunities to try them out and save money in the process.
Groupon essentially contracts with businesses that they are willing to promote to their massive email data base of consumers at no charge to the business owner. The business owner must offer a product or service at a discounted rate of 50% or more to Groupon's followers. Groupon then writes and produces the content of the email blast and schedules the date for that offer to go out. Groupon typically only sends out one featured deal of the day. Once this is promoted to the groupon followers there is either a 1-2 day window of opportunity for people to purchase the "deal." Groupon takes care of the order, the credit card processing and then sends you a detailed report of who bought your Groupon deal. The people that purchased now print out their groupon and call to make an appointment. And the last thing that happens is that Groupon sends you the agreed percentage of money collected to you in the form of a check which is typically 50%. Not bad for not putting out one penny for a promotion that literally goes out to hundreds of thousands of local consumers. But like with everything, it has its pro's and con's and variables that most don't think about when they contract with a company like this.
Is It Right For You?
The first thing to consider is if this format will really serve your business in the long run or actually hurt it?
For some struggling businesses like restaurants Groupon has not worked well for them because they can't afford to discount their food 50% unless they can get repeat business from these groupon shoppers. And that's the rub. Many people that use groupon do not return after using their deal. They hop from one deal to the next because the deals keep coming and coming.
Now in this example, if this restaurant is poorly managed, in the wrong location, has average food or dining experience any amount of half priced business won't save them. In fact, the only business they might get is this shot in the arm business from groupon and that will not sustain them. And they may find themselves relying on that model of business to just fund their existence form one deal to the next.
This would hold true to a Chiropractic business as well. Groupon should not be used as a primary model of business especially if the business is not stable to begin with. Don't forget that when you start discounting your fees it's hard to go back to getting paid your full fee. Unless you use Groupon very strategically and you have a great sense of how and when to use this new form of advertising.
Strategy: Promote a New Service
So, when is the right time to use Groupon? And for what services in a Chiropractic business are you going to discount? I believe the most strategic way to use Groupon is to use it to promote a new service within your business or any service you offer other than your main business of Chiropractic adjustments.
I think it is always a big mistake to offer huge discounts to your community on chiropractic adjustments, decompression, acupuncture or any other main service you represent. Groupon is great for promoting your secondary business offerings like massage, nutrition, weight loss, lipolaser or any other secondary niche service you provide. When you have these secondary services they should be there to augment your main business or create some synergy in your services. They also are a way to bring potential chiropractic patients into your practice by first experiencing you through these other services.
When you promote one of these secondary services it allows you to maintain your integrity and value on your Chiropractic services. Nobody really wants to go to a deep discounted dentist but I wouldn't mind a deep discount on professional teeth whitening. The key is to always keep and maintain the highest value for who you are and what you represent as a doctor. This will also keep in you good standing with your colleagues and state board.
Reasons to Promote
Ok, now we have a secondary service we want to promote using Groupon. There are only three good reasons to do this, so let's discuss each.
Let's take the first one. Groupon is a very good choice to launch a new service because you will be reaching a large audience very quickly. You will also get instant feedback as a gauge if this service is needed or wanted by your community. Without spending a penny upfront you can receive substantial funds from this groupon launch that can go into paying off new equipment or go into your traditional marketing fund for future advertising.
Make sure when you offer your deal that it is for a sample or partial service so that you are not giving groupon more than you have to. lso the consumer will have more resistance if you are asking for $1500 let's say for 10 LipoLaser treatments vs. $99 for 3 LipoLaser treatments.
[pb]The purpose of using groupon for a launch is to get as many people as possible to come in, get a result and experience what you offer. At this point you can offer a special fee to complete a full package of LipoLaser treatments now that they see it works. And now you won't have to split that full package with groupon either. This all allows for a much higher conversion count by getting more in for a reasonable fee and service them into bigger packages once they know and trust in your service.
Now the second reason to use Groupon is when you have had a service for a while and it is not performing as well as you hoped. Not because of the service or you, but because you have not been able to market it in a way that reached enough people. So this can be like a second chance. A way to promote something that people did not know existed in their community. This can be a real shot in the arm and breathe new life into this service that has just been sitting on the shelf.
And the third good reason to use Groupon is if your secondary service has seasonal peaks and valleys.
I found out that in my state of Michigan, all cosmetic type services drop in the summer months. So, my wife decided to launch a Groupon campaign for her LipoLaser business in the "dead" of the summer. Wow did it serve us well!
She was able to stay extremely busy and bring in more than 875 new clients that never new of this service. She kept her staff busy and it also created opportunity to figure out how to handle and take care of that many people. So it also became an incredible learning experience in efficiency and high volume production needs. During the slower summer months my wife was also able to temporarily discontinue all other forms of advertising while she served the needs of these 875 clients which allowed her to bank that money for future promotions when they will be more effective. Capturing this opportunity in a typical valley is a great way to keep momentum and build great clients out of such a large sampling of interested people.
Business Rush
With all of these ways to get the most out of a Groupon type promotion you have to always be prepared for this rush of business. And if you are not prepared it can be very overwhelming and if you can't deliver your services or you upset these people because you were not prepared for this, it can definitely hurt your business and reputation. So you must anticipate the rush. You will need to make sure you have enough equipment and or product to perform the service. You will need to have enough trained staff to support the demand of hundreds of phone calls, voice mails and scheduling gymnastics. You should definitely consider expanding your hours and days to accommodate this rush of business even if it's a temporary change until things settle back to normal levels. But hey, those are good situations to have for a change!
I also recommend that you make sure your website is up to date and can capture leads because your web traffic will go dramatically up as potential groupon buyers check you out. So your web presence needs to look modern and must relate to this specific service. If you don't have a specific website for this niche business (which I suggest), make sure the website address they provide on the groupon offer is directed to the exact webpage of this service within your pages. Don't make them hunt it down and try to find it. They will need to see you have this thought out and that you are a legitimate business providing this service. You also want to study and know all the groupon logistics and make sure everyone that takes calls knows what to do and what to do when they check in.
When the Groupon clients come into our office, we first offer what I coined as a: "Groupon Add-on" Certificate. On this Groupon Add-on we offer them an opportunity to purchase the full LipoLaser Package for a special price only available through their last visit. Or it's taken off the table. We also include other Add-on's like: A reduced price for one micro-current facial session, or a free Spinal examination.
You should know that if your Groupon clients are coming in for a product or service that is unrelated to chiropractic, like lipolaser, the percentage that will convert to chiropractic patients will be smaller than you might like. But, if the Groupon offer is for related services, like nutrition, weight loss, etc, you will probably see a higher percentage become chiropractic patients. Either way, you increase your ancillary business and introduce more people to chiropractic.
How to Negotiate with Groupon
You can negotiate a better than 50/50 split in most cases. And I think you should because you still have to perform all the services and pay your overhead. I was able to negotiate a 70/30 split after the first 100 bought. It all depends on the local office and how bad they want to promote your unique service.
You can also get the 2.5% credit card fee waived in most cases just by asking. You can limit the number of deals you offer so that you control the volume. Or in our case, you can shut it down when you realize 875 clients is enough and letting it run for another day will be too much to serve all those people well and prevent full paying new clients from getting a spot in our fully booked schedule. You also don't have to wait 90 days for your check if you ask. I was able to get 50% of what was due to us in 5 days, 40% in two weeks, and the remaining 10% in 30 days.
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