[Steve Barnett (Carpet Care Plus)]

Good luck with it Jason, be interested to hear your results

[Shaun_Ashmore]

I'm not convinced that groupon is the future for everyone, in the US they have groupon or equivalent and not all cleaners advertise there, groupon is based on getting the bargain of the day and impulse purchasing I don't set my stall out for those customers and get along nicely I'm sure others do also.

Shaun

[Helen]

the demographic of groupon  customers is of one which  matches  the customer type I am looking for.

As a base form,  demographics are statistical characteristics of a population, then sub sectioned into race, gender blad de blad de blah

what would your interpretation be of a demographic relating to groupon customers?

we will all have different ideas on this demograph, so do "groupon" theirselves, give you this info and if so where do they collate their info from?

[jim mca]

Jason

How long will it take you to do the 20sq metres of carpet for the offer ?
How many can you do in a day ?
How many custys will you get ?
How long are the vouchers valid for ?

What method of cleaning are you using ?
Does the offer exclude stairs ?
Can you set the price for additional areas ?

I can see both points of view nothing ventured nothing gained.

[Neil Williams]

You don't have to bait and switch.

I never said it was bait & switch I said it was a form of.
The intent is to get through the door of a potential customer who believes they will be getting a specified job done for x amount, and then to upsell on that specified job for get extra work whilst there and purely for that purpose only.
That is clearly different to the customer volunteering without any pressure or subliminal messages to ask for 'extra' work at the full rate.

Any customer with more than 10 brain cells would ask for 2 rooms at £22 one day and then buy (via the web) another 2 rooms at £22 a couple of days later. I really don't get how they would want to pay £22 for 2 rooms and then £122 for a further 2 rooms on the same day.

[jasonl]

The offer is valid for one day only , I will report back

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Be an interesting read, the big picture won't come until you have done all of the work and hopefully re booked extra work or upsold on jobs to calculate the magical number.

Shaun

[derek west]

theres far better ways to build a customer database quickly. and with a lot more chance of retaining those customers for the future.

[jasonl]

theres far better ways to build a customer database quickly. and with a lot more chance of retaining those customers for the future.

With no cash down  , like?

[cozy]

Jason, I would think that newspaper , local parish mags, leaflets, Facebook or your mums knitting class notice board would be better than cleaning rooms at 22 quid a pop. I never knew the market was so small for carpet cleaning in the UK.

[jasonl]

It is not £22 a "pop" it is 20m2 for   £16  , but the customer is free  , where to advertise in those other places  costs £40 per customer to get in the door.  And is a lot slower ,and there is a risk of zero or low returns . This is a guaranteed foot in the door to show what you can do .


I have had an e mail from a regular poster who only sold 80 deals and grossed nearly 5k  from his groupon day .

I am not really interested in what I get from the customer on day one , it is the lifetime  value of the customer that builds the business that I can then sell on , I have sold  8 cc businesses up to now , 6 are still trading.

[Doug Holloway]

Hi Guys

Anyone can work for nothing, you will get lots of customers but they will not become good paying ones.

I would'nt touch a cheap company for anything important and expect to pay good money for a good product.

Cheers

Doug

[cozy]

Yeah 5K grossed, but what was the end profit and how much repeat work from that one day? If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

The only way I can see a way to make money at those silly prices are to go into the room, lock the door, turn on the machine for 15 minutes and take my flask out and have a cup of tea. Spray fabric softener about and walk out of the room, look the custy directly in the eye and say "There ya go mate".

Grab the 16 quid and see how fast I can get the gear back in the van and do F1 grid start to get out of sight.

And all that for 16 quid. 

Who wants custies that expect a job done for that price. As has been pointed out on this thread already. Surely your business is running well enough without this Yank marketing stuff.

[garyj]

Well done Jason for at least giving it a go.

This is how I'm reading the thread.......

Someone we know and trust is having a go at a marketing concept we know little about.
He is going to come up with an offer that suits him and his customers and let everyone know how it goes.

If it bombs he'll tell us, if it works we'll never hear the end of it and everyone will be doing it.

The only effort we have to put in is read this thread, think I can just about manage that ( will be even easier if Easter Bunny keeps his thoughts to himself  ).

Doug, thanks to companies like Go Compare people are getting used to trawling the internet for deals and the cheapest price. In this climate everyone is looking to save a few quid, I bet more people are hiring Rug Doctors than ever before. I think it is naive to think everyone will pay top dollar for a good job, sometimes 'it's better than it was' will do, especially if you've saved a hundred quid.

[Doug Holloway]

Hi Guys

The internet is fine for comparing like with like  but for a service it also allows yuo to stand above your competitors and charge accordingly.

Cheers

Doug

[cozy]

Garyj, totally dis-agree there. I agree tha it's good that Jason is willing to jump in and test the water. I like to think that after years of being self employed, I can see a good deal from a bent one. Lot's of cheap work is never good. I've also never felt the need to "Show what I can do".

There are huge cleaning firms in my area. They never need to show what they can do. Why should any firm feel the need to do that?

Groupon might be good for a newbie who needs to find their feet, but for a well run company, it's a good way of selling you cheap to make a profit from your work.

[Mike Halliday]

to answer some of the negative points brought up in this topic...in my opionion.....


If i bought a meal for 2 for £22 from Groupon ( which is an offer i get at least 3 times a week emailed to me)

1)  I wouldn't bat an eyelid if i have to pay full price for the desert or wine, just  because I'm getting the meal for £22 doesn't mean i expect everything else the resturent offers to be a reduced price.

2) because I'm only paying £22 doesn't make me think the restaurant  will not be any good,

3) the next time i want to go out to eat if the restaurant was good I will go back again.......  and i will happily pay full price.

groupon lets me try a new restaurant for just £22.

[cozy]

Yes, but did you order the desert and would you order it next time? How long would it be between visits? How long till you need a carpet cleaner again?
By that time, hopefully, Groupon will be out of business as they spend alot on advertising.

With a restaurant, these deals could be easier to swallow (Excuse that  ) but with a service like CC, it would cause more damage, for all the reasons given so far in this thread.

[Mike Halliday]

I always order a desert!!..... its my favorite part ....... and the restaurants most profitable sale.

and we eat out twice a month, but if I used a groupon  carpet cleaner to do 2 rooms I still have 8 rooms and 2 suites that still might need doing in the future.

I agree its not a perfect marketing strategy but with the right conditions it could be used without too much risk

[derek west]

I always order a desert!!..... its my favorite part ....... and the restaurants most profitable sale.

and we eat out twice a month, but if I used a groupon  carpet cleaner to do 2 rooms I still have 8 rooms and 2 suites that still might need doing in the future.

I agree its not a perfect marketing strategy but with the right conditions it could be used without too much risk

so the question is, have you ever used/bought a groupon deal, and if not,  why have you not.

your reply about groupon makes a lot of sense until you delve into it deeper, i'm guessing you and me and most on here are not groupon customers, there a different breed, they thrive on bargains, they don't see the wood for the tree's, just the low pound signs and the big word that says 70% off.

i would say 80% (total stab in the dark that % is) of groupons customers will never be a repeat customer, they'll be too busy searching groupon, cutting out discount vouchers and ringing competitions with questions like.....
what colour is black?

is it
A) black
B) nearly black
C) a tree

if you know the answer call this number 07854690355 and you could win a holiday to the carribean, flight, taxes and hotel room not included.