Groupon

[Jtuseo]

What is Groupon?

 

[Bjorn]

something you really need to get into

trust me

 

[fresh1]

could you explain why?

 

[Brian R]

Groupon is a huge company that allows you to do a 'deal of the day" to all it's members in your area...if they support your area.

They really want "great" deals...great meaning cheap as all hell.

I did a deal a year ago for 3 rooms for $79.00

Groupon will take 1/2 of that normally and you get the other half...I made a better cut with them but they weren't as big then.

I sold almost 100 jobs in one day and it really was a good jump start...but we were able to upsell most of the jobs.

They have the Groupon store now which allows you to do you own deal...with their approval...but I only sold 10 when I did that one.

The Groupon store only takes 30% of that take so it's a little better...You just get lumped in with other companies.


If you can handle the work AND make a great deal AND still make money...go for it....is certainly is a risk...but that's what business is all about.


PS. It's hard to even get them to talk to you about a "deal of the day" because they are so busy.

I've been in the "pipeline" for my next deal for well over 6 months...closer to a year probably because I tried to do it right after the other one.

 

[Bruce Humphrey]

Brian out of the 100 jobs that were sold , how many jobs did your company end up cleaning? all 100? or did some people buy and not use it?

 

[Brian R]

We did did just about every one...maybe misses about 3.

 

[smastio]

I thought that some might like to see this chart (annotated with some comments) regarding this topic... I agree with the most that the opportunity is in the Up Sell. http://www.businessbridge.com/Portals/3 ... 0stats.png

 

[Brian R]

Their customer service is horrible...time wise....very nice people though.

I just think they got really big fast and can't keep up.

I've had a Groupon "approved" for a while now and it still hasn't hit. That's in the store

I get the Groupon daily deal every day as well...I'm prepared for when it hits too.

My Full Circle girls might freak out a bit when they get a bunch more calls for that day...but that's what I have them for. lol

 

[smastio]

Brian - one of the big issues with the Groupon concept, or any other DOD is that if it is successful, it can hurt your business as well as help. Imagine if you will... that you (an individual) just purchased a deal from "say" Groupon and you are waiting for the deal to end and the email to be sent so that you have the coupon code to give to the service/company when you you call them up; which since you have already paid for it is probably going to be immediately or at least in the very near future.

Now - Imagine that you are a carpet cleaner that offered the groupon and that you have a a person or two to answer the phone and schedule people. Can you or any service handle more than say a dozen calls at a time; and if you were the person/people that could not get through (on their time), how would that make you feel about the service that you ALREADY paid for. See where I am going with this one.... they found you on the net, they researched you on the net, the paid for your service on the net in advance... why wouldn't you think that they wouldn't like to schedule with you on the net? Maybe be Up Bought on the net and not Up sold in person; maybe on their time and not having to try again and again hoping that you are free. Want to see the prototype of that one?

 

[Brian R]

Hey Steve...buy a banner. lol


Groupon is a game...when these people buy the Groupon they assume it will be a PITA to get through and schedule.

When I did mine a year ago, I woke up to 30 voicemails :shock: and when I was checking the voicemails the phone kept beeping with incoming calls.
I did the best I could...still did almost every job with about 2 real complaints.

Now that I have Full Circle,I don't have to worry about the phone part...and I can sent the jobs to my subs and they all make money from it.

It isn't an issue really....it's the "get what you pay for" mentality and the customer expects it.

I remember the news segment that woke me up to Groupon over a year ago
A nail salon did the Groupon deal of the day and they scheduled the entire year off of it. Yes, people waited. lol

By the way...I made sure to make time for my "paying" customers and left one route in the area open for just them.

The Groupon routes had those jobs mixed in as well.

All and all it was a very good "deal" for me and my guys.

 

[smastio]

Brian was your deal that you did "margin rich" ? I am interested in hearing how you structured the deal, can you share the deal? I am interested in hearing how you could sub it out and make money. My guess is that your subs can up sell !

Thought I would add this as an after-thought (since it probably wouldn't all fit on a banner) thathurts - the COIT folks in Cincinnati did a $59 deal for two rooms and got, I believe, around 850 or so. I would love to talk to them and learn more, but I'd bet they are a still a bit busy...

 

[Brian R]

I did 3 rooms for $79.00 up to 150 sqft per room

at the time I could swing a better deal from Groupon than 50/50 which is what they do now mostly.

If we didn't upsell I would make about 5 bucks per and the tech would make half the price $39.50.

The first job we did was between $650 and $850...can't remember now but it gave a pretty good start to what was a very risky feeling.

We also made money off of the people who called us without purchasing the Groupon. We had a ton of hits to our website which helped get us going in the search engines etc.

I have seen recently where the old deal was still picked up by Google and appears in the searches.

I don't have numbers in front of me but we made money.

 

[smastio]

You bring up a GREAT point. These types of advertising/marketing has BRANDING power as well. Often times people that strictly look at the $ and cents aspect ignore the fact that it is still going out to potentially hundreds of thousands of people immediately AT NO COST! When you factor in that to the equation... IMHO margin should not be 100% of ones decision as whether this is potentially good or bad. It's a two-for-one type deal that many people have been doing for years; except this one has no advertising costs associated with it. :!:

 

[Brian R]

Survey Sez???

Ding ding ding

 

[lust1kiddo]

The question at hand is, without any up-sell how do you make money. Hypothetically, if you're giving 150 bucks worth of service for 75.00. then groupon takes half of that leaving you with 39.50 for lets say two hours worth of work. How can that be worth it? There is a % of people who will only call because they have a groupon deal. I also heard that the company takes a while to pay you, is that true? I am only being skeptical because I was/am seriously considering doing one. I am a one man operation and could use the boost.

 

[Brian R]

without any up-sell how do you make money

I would say that about anyones entire business.

The upsells are where you make your profits.

Yes, you need to be prepared to do the minimum in everyone of those homes...but you really need to get those upsells so that that the bread gets buttered.

No company has ever accomplished anything without taking a risk.

The deal of the day is hard to get into....Your deal has to be really low to make the customer buy.
It takes some creativity but it also takes some courage.

I think this works best for an O/O and then maybe for a company that pays hourly. I did it with my subs ( 50/50) and did well...but Groupon was newer then and they took less than 50% at that time...not sure they'll do that now.

I just posted a deal in this room where a carpet cleaner did 3 rooms for $49...he will get at least $25.00....it's not a big area so he will do ok if he upsells 1/4 of the jobs...should be closer to 1/2.

Then again...he could lose his behind in the deal. You never know.


By the way...if you are making $39.00, you will have to cut your time down from 2 hours...if you're afraid of obtaining "hack" status...the deal might not work for you.
But really, the customer gets what they pay for ....which is the $75.00...so you need to deliver on that.

Anything extra from 1 pet stain to whatever HAS to be charged more.
In my normal pricing...I would just take care of that spot or whatever.

 

[Brian R]

I've mentioned before ...when I did my deal, there were several jobs over $600.00...those jobs made up for some of the ones that stuck to the groupon deal.
It's all numbers.

 

[lust1kiddo]

My time...its averages to 75-80 bucks per hour. Its my first year. Also, Whats the deal with the payment schedule with them. I haven't seen anything on this thread about it. I just dont want to run around for 39.00. Its not worth it for me. I'm in NYC so I do mostly upholstery and area rugs. I just want an idea of how this could work for me from someone who experienced it. Also, i heard their customer service is garbage..and I am a neurotic nervous nelly if you cant tell by now.

 

[Brian R]

They are sooo busy...it's hard for them to get back to anyone....that's my guess.

They've changed how they pay.

Used to be they paid out the total in 1/3s every 30 days

Now (with the groupon store) you have to redeem each Groupon used ( I do this over the phone when I schedule the job) and then they pay out every 30 days on the Groupons redeemed.

Not sure if they do the deal of the day the same way (the deal of the day is the most common and biggest seller).

I don't like it this way but at least you get paid as you do the job...if budgeting is a problem and you get paid all the money in the first 3 months but still are cleaning after that...it could be a problem.
Again...unless you upsell. lol

 

[Marc Imbesi]

Now (with the groupon store) you have to redeem each Groupon used ( I do this over the phone when I schedule the job) and then they pay out every 30 days on the Groupons redeemed.

So, now I take it, they profit 100% from the unredeemed, but paid for, deals, not sharing it with you?

 

[Brian R]

Now (with the groupon store) you have to redeem each Groupon used ( I do this over the phone when I schedule the job) and then they pay out every 30 days on the Groupons redeemed.

So, now I take it, they profit 100% from the unredeemed, but paid for, deals, not sharing it with you?

That is correct.
It used to be that the company doing the deal would make the money no matter what...now Groupon will keep the cash.
Kinda crappy but it's in their best interest I guess if they need to give a refund for any reason.

With that said, when I did the deal I cleaned almost every one except for a few. Some I knew for a fact were gifts because I spoke with the lady who bought 4 of them. The gifted groupons were never used....so yes, I was able to keep about $50.00 from each of them.

Now it would be $150.00 lost.....but gained for Groupon.