Have You Thought About Doing A Daily Deal ?

Daily deal sites like Groupon, Living Social, Social Shopper, Deal Canada, etc. and etc. – they are big and small, they can give you a healthy customer base or they can shatter your business in pieces leaving you crawling in exhaustion. To be or not to be… Rhetorical question? How to win from running your business on 70% off deal steroids injected in your business blood stream?

• Ensure that all of your branding touchpoints are in place to maximize all of your efforts and justify the sacrifice of discounting your services. When your new clients come through the doors your business must make the best first impression possible. Review your signage, sandwich boards, logo, brochures, business card, website, general cleanness, etc. – refer to this brand touchpoints article. There is no second chance! Most clients are coming to your business only because of the daily deal discount – its now up to you to keep most of the fish in the net.

• Think ahead about the best way for your clients to redeem the coupon.

• Be sure you don’t discount the service that costs more than you anticipated. It is a common mistake among many deal first timers. Don’t rob your business and don’t rush with the deal until your absolutely sure you can deliver what you promised at no significant cost to your business.

• Don’t sign the daily deal until you read the terms thoroughly. Some contracts have a clause outlining that if you need to cancel for whatever reason – you will have to pay the fine. Also carefully review the return policy and expiration date policy.

• Negotiate your commission. Yes, it is possible. The deal market is becoming competitive so some deal providers will give you a better commission to keep you.

• What data do you want to get from your clients? (email, phone number, address, b-day, wedding anniversary, facebook?)

• What is your follow -up strategy? (This is a huge one!) It is amazing how many businesses don’t take this very important aspect into the account. I would suggest any business running a Deal to spend at least 50% of all efforts on creating an excellent follow up strategy.

•  It is important to note that if you decide to run the Deal don’t expect much monetary compensation. The commission you received as a service provider will probably barely cover all the expenses required to provide the service.  Look at it as a marketing expense to gain new leads and customers.

Are you still thinking to deal or not to deal? In my next article for Byzblog I will share a few success stories and what these businesses did to gain recurring sales.