Yes, Shawn....guess what Karen got surprised with first thing Tuesday morning?? Apparently Groupon called our owners late Friday afternoon...saying they saw we have a new salon and they needed a mani/pedi service to feature Tuesday and they needed to know right away. My owners caved. (We'd had a meeting a couple weeks ago saying we weren't going to do any more of these types of deals....but....they folded like a cheap suit! lol)
So...what I have on the books is a "3-tiered" group of services... A mani/pedi retreat....that was already deeply discounted at $50 for both done in an hour (just a bit more than buff and polishes for both hands and feet) that went for $25.... A Pumpkin Spice Pedi (again, an already discounted specialty service we had on the books, but the groupon ppl loved it and convinced the owners to go with it....45 minute pedi at $35 featuring a sugar scrub we made with honey, dark brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice, a pumpkin enzyme masque, and a vanilla cinnamon body butter massage after the hot towels are used to remove the masque. Convinced the owners you can NOT do this level of spa pedis in 45 minutes, so they agreed to drop the masque/hot towels) and signature manicure that is supposed to be $25 on our menu, but our introductory price of $17 is what they included...that went for $28 And an "Apple Cider" pedicure (featuring an apple bath bomb in the water ---which we don't have yet even though one booked today...was supposed to not be able to book until tomorrow...) and apple cider to drink. We 're going to use the same cinnamon/nutmeg/allspice/ginger sugar scrub and the vanilla cinnamon body butter. (There is no masque dreamed up for this one...but it was allotted 55 minutes...and priced at $50, thankfully.) Along with a Shellac manicure service, which would be priced at $30, and does not include soaking off existing product...that would be a $10 add on. So $80 dollars of service for $38. I don't know what Groupon keeps....but...I did tell the owners that they can't afford too many months of them paying me a set $10 per hour if they're only taking in $4. And also, I really needed to be included in the decisions in the future...as we need to be sure we can actually fulfill what we promise. They agreed...and were completely apologetic about not having time to run it by me first. (sigh...they're just so stinkin' nice! I can't even be mad!) The deal was supposed to run for 24 hours...but it turns out it is 2 days! And six months to redeem. We were SLAMMED on the phone and our website...ppl trying to book it themselves....we didn't even have time to set up parameters...so one owner spent most of the day on the phone taking appointments and making damage control phone calls! We are completely booked this week....and managed to set aside several blocks of time for regular clients next week. I have no idea if they set a cap...hopefully they did!!! And to retain them, we offered them the opportunity to pre-pay us for 1 more deal like they got. We print them a GC...with an expiration date. We had 2 of these clients today....1 was a bargain hunter...but she tipped me $10... The other had been looking for a salon to help her "heal" her beat up, chopped up nails...and was so happy to find out about us....and had said, "I'll definitely be back...I love it here...and you're fantastic....blah blah blah.. " She tipped me $20, bought the additional deal, and rebooked already. Tomorrow....is a riot! Will keep you guys posted....and I am very interested in the variety of responses this thread got. Thanks so much, guys! Karen Hodges ________________________________ From: shawn wilson <shawnwilson1...@gmail.com> To: nailtech@googlegroups.com Sent: Tue, October 18, 2011 11:21:38 PM Subject: Re: NailTech:: Groupon!!! Need input!!! Hi Karen, Have they already signed the contract? Shawn Wilson www.ExquisiteNailBoutique.com 312-263-0330 On Oct 18, 2011 11:16 PM, "Nicole Cormier" <gefj...@gmail.com> wrote: I was thinking of doing it so I helped out a girlfriend at the spa she manages when her Groupon clients overwhelmed the staff. Here is my 2 cents: >1. They operate on appts so the groupon people dominated the schedule at the >expense of regular clients. Each staff person is about 70% booked on average >so >it was difficult fitting clients. > >2. The grouponers were very price minded and almost all of them did not react >well to being upsold. They were there for the cheap pedi and detox special and >that was that. > >3. None of the clients became regulars or used other services. Like I said, >they >were there for the cheap pedi and that was that. > >4. It was a gamble the spa lost out on, in wages and other operating costs vs >money brought in by the groupon crowd. Their client base floated what would >have >been a big loss. It would be like paying a full staff complement to do >overtime >when no one was booked. > >4. I don't know what it is about sales and gift certificates but they seem to >attract the pickiest people ever. Expecting good service is one thing, but >they >always seem to want to squeeze even more out of you for free. It gets crass, >quickly. > >I have listened to groupon salons here in Winnipeg talk about their >experiences >as well as my own in helping Corinne. A lot of my industry peers here said >publicly it was great but in private that they would never do it again. It >seems >like groupon and groupon clones are passing like a fad through Winnipeg >anyway. >At first, the specials would sell out like crazy and now I see the same salon >had been running the same special for ages and no one else has one out. > >I decided it was not for me. >Nicole >On 2011-10-18 10:28 PM, "Karen" <keyzka...@bellsouth.net> wrote: >> >> Hey guys...those of you who have done these....I need some REAL >>information...not what the salesman told the owners of the salon I'm working >>in! >> >> 1. Do you feel you get a mix of "real" customers versus "bargain hunters" >> >> 2. Any idea of the conversion-to-regular-client rate? >> >> 3. Did you feel you made money? Broke even? Took a hosing? >> >> 4. If you thought of doing it again, what would you do differently? >> >> 5. How long was your deal available to purchase? Was that long enough? Too >>long? >> >> 6. As time goes by....what percentage do you feel are never redeemed, if >any? >> >> 7. How does Groupon stack up against others like Living Social, Travel Zoo, >>etc...?? >> >> Really need my posse to help me out here..... >> >> >> Karen Hodges >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>"NailTech" group. >> To post to this group, send email to nailtech@googlegroups.com. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>nailtech+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> For more options, visit this group at >>http://groups.google.com/group/nailtech?hl=en. >-- >You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >"NailTech" group. >To post to this group, send email to nailtech@googlegroups.com. >To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >nailtech+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >For more options, visit this group at >http://groups.google.com/group/nailtech?hl=en. >-- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "NailTech" group. To post to this group, send email to nailtech@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to nailtech+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nailtech?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "NailTech" group. To post to this group, send email to nailtech@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to nailtech+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nailtech?hl=en.
