Comments for http://www.hairmaxsalonsoftware.com Wed, 18 Apr 2012 02:58:52 +0000 hourly 1 Comment on Is Groupon a Good Deal for Salons? by Christina http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/hairmaxsalonsoftware/ONTM/~3/NiwHuDvfmL8/ Christina Wed, 18 Apr 2012 02:58:52 +0000 http://www.hairmaxsalonsoftware.com/?p=1599#comment-135 I run my own salon business and have done a few of these deals. I totally disagree with this article. The decision to run a promotion must be done with forethought. If done with a deal that your business can afford to offer these can create loyal clienteles. I believe that the deal gets them in the door, but it's my job to keep them coming back. I've had several of my "deal" clients tell me that I was the first stylist they had been to more than once. If you make yourself valuable to them they will come back. Customer service is all important and I think it often gets left out for these clients, which could account for low retention rates. I've heard many people say that they've been treated rudely while redeeming these kinds of coupons. Some people are just shooting themselves in the foot! I will continue to use these sites to promote my business. I recently ran a printed coupon ad for $550 and received no leads from the promotion, so what's the real scam? At least this guarantees you the chance to earn a loyal client! I run my own salon business and have done a few of these deals. I totally disagree with this article. The decision to run a promotion must be done with forethought. If done with a deal that your business can afford to offer these can create loyal clienteles. I believe that the deal gets them in the door, but it’s my job to keep them coming back. I’ve had several of my “deal” clients tell me that I was the first stylist they had been to more than once. If you make yourself valuable to them they will come back. Customer service is all important and I think it often gets left out for these clients, which could account for low retention rates. I’ve heard many people say that they’ve been treated rudely while redeeming these kinds of coupons. Some people are just shooting themselves in the foot! I will continue to use these sites to promote my business. I recently ran a printed coupon ad for $550 and received no leads from the promotion, so what’s the real scam? At least this guarantees you the chance to earn a loyal client!

]]> http://www.hairmaxsalonsoftware.com/is-groupon-a-good-deal-for-salons/comment-page-1/#comment-135 Comment on Is Groupon a Good Deal for Salons? by Sarah http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/hairmaxsalonsoftware/ONTM/~3/Yp4Cjzkm_B8/ Sarah Mon, 02 Apr 2012 00:19:26 +0000 http://www.hairmaxsalonsoftware.com/?p=1599#comment-133 I agree with everyone who had some negative to say about Groupon. It is the worst thing we ever did. The people that I work for only saw dollar signs and sold a Shit load of these. The result was, WAY too many were sold, we didn't/dont have the staff to accommodate the clients. We did Massage, Facial and Nails, no Hair, THANK GOD. We have had significant turnover with Massage Therapists due to this because they are making no money on them. Then the clients get pissed when they call and can't get an appointment for 3 weeks or more, because we simply dont have the staff to accommodate how many sold. Its a vicious circle. To boot, these ARE NOT THE CLIENTS YOU WANT, they are snakes. Looking for deals, complaining about every minor detail, they constantly try to substitute services for others, abuse Groupon rules for 1 per person etc. AND they tip horribly or not at all, and when he said in the article that your staff will be in the back-room complaining about "Groupons" (((yes, thats what we refer to the clients with groupons, we simply call them "Groupons"))) HES RIGHT!!! And its awful, it turned our industry into something nasty. This industry is about customer service, no client should be treated differently than an other, but unfortunately it has happened. Then the last part is that all these people go online and write reviews. People only write reviews if they are extremely satisfied or extremely dissatisfied. You hope to make everyone happy, but in the end, we couldn't accommodate, people were dissatisfied, wrote poor reviews, and reputation is all you have in this industry. Theres something to be said for not discounting your services. When you discount it cheapens you. We have all worked so hard to be as talented as we are, and spent so much money getting there. I think clients actually think you're better when you charge more. I know it's true because its been said before by many others. I agree with everyone who had some negative to say about Groupon. It is the worst thing we ever did. The people that I work for only saw dollar signs and sold a Shit load of these. The result was, WAY too many were sold, we didn’t/dont have the staff to accommodate the clients. We did Massage, Facial and Nails, no Hair, THANK GOD.

We have had significant turnover with Massage Therapists due to this because they are making no money on them. Then the clients get pissed when they call and can’t get an appointment for 3 weeks or more, because we simply dont have the staff to accommodate how many sold. Its a vicious circle.

To boot, these ARE NOT THE CLIENTS YOU WANT, they are snakes. Looking for deals, complaining about every minor detail, they constantly try to substitute services for others, abuse Groupon rules for 1 per person etc. AND they tip horribly or not at all, and when he said in the article that your staff will be in the back-room complaining about “Groupons” (((yes, thats what we refer to the clients with groupons, we simply call them “Groupons”))) HES RIGHT!!! And its awful, it turned our industry into something nasty. This industry is about customer service, no client should be treated differently than an other, but unfortunately it has happened.

Then the last part is that all these people go online and write reviews. People only write reviews if they are extremely satisfied or extremely dissatisfied. You hope to make everyone happy, but in the end, we couldn’t accommodate, people were dissatisfied, wrote poor reviews, and reputation is all you have in this industry.

Theres something to be said for not discounting your services. When you discount it cheapens you. We have all worked so hard to be as talented as we are, and spent so much money getting there. I think clients actually think you’re better when you charge more. I know it’s true because its been said before by many others.

]]> http://www.hairmaxsalonsoftware.com/is-groupon-a-good-deal-for-salons/comment-page-1/#comment-133 Comment on Is Groupon a Good Deal for Salons? by Steve Sampson http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/hairmaxsalonsoftware/ONTM/~3/B9CD_u44Lms/ Steve Sampson Sat, 10 Mar 2012 17:45:25 +0000 http://www.hairmaxsalonsoftware.com/?p=1599#comment-132 As you know I am not a big fan of any of these deal sites. It's unfortunate that you got wrapped up into this mess when you were at such a poor cash flow position. These sites are never the answer! Keep up the positive attitude and you will land on your feet and succeed. Everyone in business has had failures...it just goes with the territory. Good luck and keep the faith!! Steve As you know I am not a big fan of any of these deal sites. It’s unfortunate that you got wrapped up into this mess when you were at such a poor cash flow position. These sites are never the answer! Keep up the positive attitude and you will land on your feet and succeed. Everyone in business has had failures…it just goes with the territory. Good luck and keep the faith!!

Steve

]]> http://www.hairmaxsalonsoftware.com/is-groupon-a-good-deal-for-salons/comment-page-1/#comment-132 Comment on Is Groupon a Good Deal for Salons? by I am out of business, Lesson Learned http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/hairmaxsalonsoftware/ONTM/~3/DHrrTmWVS60/ I am out of business, Lesson Learned Fri, 09 Mar 2012 23:00:38 +0000 http://www.hairmaxsalonsoftware.com/?p=1599#comment-131 I own a small boutique Day Spa in Brooklyn. The focus has been to treat clients on a personal level and build a membership. I am going out of business and last thing I am seeing is groupon customers. My experience with the clients were positive in some cases,however I knew from them even though they enjoyed the service they would not repeat. Why is that you may ask. Well people were 1. coming from insane distances to redeem their groupon! That alone was a clear indicator that they were not going to return. 2. Most said that they love using groupons! Some said they would stop purchasing groupons because of the way they were treated by some business especially the ones in the service industry. I have to take full responsibility for the decision. I was convinced that it would bring us new clients. What it actually did was alienate my current clientele because they began waiting for the same deal to be given to them. It harmed my brand. Most did not want to leave gratuity citing that they did not know, even saying that if they had money for gratuity they would not be doing Groupon. Eventually I had to insist that a 20% gratuity was included for the services received. That was what was used as payment for the staff, They were basically working for tips. Groupon collects the funds puts the cost of the credit card fees on the merchant, takes 50% of a deeply discounted service, refuses to put a cap on the amount sold, saying that it would make no sense to do so, then pays you over a 3 month period, send you a 1099K for the entire amount for what they collected. Making you responsible for paying taxes on the full amount collected. Now I am being told by groupon either I service all the groupon clients that purchase or I need to send them the money back for the groupon clients I did not redeem. I am unable to do neither of those things since I am unable to pay the rent for the space to service the clients. Go figure... you live and you learn. Groupon is not operating from a place of integrity, but the final decision was of course mine. We all have our experiences. We make decisions and we learn from the effects they produce. I will advise any service business that has a cash flow issue, or stuggling without working capital, or that you boot strapped your business to get it started. Steer clear of the deal sites it is not in your best interest. I found out to late that I could create my own deal page and send my clients deals that look just like groupon! My one regret is that I am unable to service all of the clients who purchased our groupon. But life is for the living right:-) I own a small boutique Day Spa in Brooklyn. The focus has been to treat clients on a personal level and build a membership. I am going out of business and last thing I am seeing is groupon customers. My experience with the clients were positive in some cases,however I knew from them even though they enjoyed the service they would not repeat. Why is that you may ask. Well people were 1. coming from insane distances to redeem their groupon! That alone was a clear indicator that they were not going to return. 2. Most said that they love using groupons! Some said they would stop purchasing groupons because of the way they were treated by some business especially the ones in the service industry.

I have to take full responsibility for the decision. I was convinced that it would bring us new clients. What it actually did was alienate my current clientele because they began waiting for the same deal to be given to them. It harmed my brand. Most did not want to leave gratuity citing that they did not know, even saying that if they had money for gratuity they would not be doing Groupon. Eventually I had to insist that a 20% gratuity was included for the services received. That was what was used as payment for the staff, They were basically working for tips.

Groupon collects the funds puts the cost of the credit card fees on the merchant, takes 50% of a deeply discounted service, refuses to put a cap on the amount sold, saying that it would make no sense to do so, then pays you over a 3 month period, send you a 1099K for the entire amount for what they collected. Making you responsible for paying taxes on the full amount collected. Now I am being told by groupon either I service all the groupon clients that purchase or I need to send them the money back for the groupon clients I did not redeem. I am unable to do neither of those things since I am unable to pay the rent for the space to service the clients. Go figure… you live and you learn. Groupon is not operating from a place of integrity, but the final decision was of course mine.

We all have our experiences. We make decisions and we learn from the effects they produce. I will advise any service business that has a cash flow issue, or stuggling without working capital, or that you boot strapped your business to get it started. Steer clear of the deal sites it is not in your best interest. I found out to late that I could create my own deal page and send my clients deals that look just like groupon! My one regret is that I am unable to service all of the clients who purchased our groupon.

But life is for the living right:-)

]]> http://www.hairmaxsalonsoftware.com/is-groupon-a-good-deal-for-salons/comment-page-1/#comment-131 Comment on Is Groupon a Good Deal for Salons? by Steve Sampson http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/hairmaxsalonsoftware/ONTM/~3/Zg70TcM87VM/ Steve Sampson Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:11:11 +0000 http://www.hairmaxsalonsoftware.com/?p=1599#comment-126 Hi Ryan, Groupon Now clients are exactly the wrong clients that you want to have. For the very reason that they almost immediately commoditize your services and attract "price shoppers". Read my post in January 2012 Newsletter under the "News" link at the top of this site. It's all about price and how to charge premium prices... You don't want to start off by using "Price" as your magnet to attract new clients. Bad move. And as far as your friend is concerned...take 19 minutes and watch the FREE webinar that I have on Facebook and you will see why 95% of salons today are just struggling to get by. Learn what the other 5% know. Here is the link to the FREE Facebook webinar https://apps.facebook.com/salon_growth_expert Hi Ryan, Groupon Now clients are exactly the wrong clients that you want to have. For the very reason that they almost immediately commoditize your services and attract “price shoppers”. Read my post in January 2012 Newsletter under the “News” link at the top of this site. It’s all about price and how to charge premium prices… You don’t want to start off by using “Price” as your magnet to attract new clients. Bad move. And as far as your friend is concerned…take 19 minutes and watch the FREE webinar that I have on Facebook and you will see why 95% of salons today are just struggling to get by. Learn what the other 5% know. Here is the link to the FREE Facebook webinar https://apps.facebook.com/salon_growth_expert

]]> http://www.hairmaxsalonsoftware.com/is-groupon-a-good-deal-for-salons/comment-page-1/#comment-126 Comment on Is Groupon a Good Deal for Salons? by R http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/hairmaxsalonsoftware/ONTM/~3/xmMBM8aSoX4/ R Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:27:55 +0000 http://www.hairmaxsalonsoftware.com/?p=1599#comment-125 What have your experiences with the newly popularized Groupon Now been? I feel like there is a decent sized (and growing) percentage of the population who will, when they need a haircut, check Groupon Now for a nearby deal and take whatever is best at that time. If salons aren't making money on Groupon Now, and the Groupon Now customers only go to a salon that is offering a Groupon Now deal, then the only people benefiting are the customer and Groupon. I know a salon that hasn't been able to turn a profit the last couple months and I believe this may be the issue. Their walk-in traffic has decreased a ton. How do salons combat this issue? What have your experiences with the newly popularized Groupon Now been?
I feel like there is a decent sized (and growing) percentage of the population who will, when they need a haircut, check Groupon Now for a nearby deal and take whatever is best at that time. If salons aren’t making money on Groupon Now, and the Groupon Now customers only go to a salon that is offering a Groupon Now deal, then the only people benefiting are the customer and Groupon. I know a salon that hasn’t been able to turn a profit the last couple months and I believe this may be the issue. Their walk-in traffic has decreased a ton.
How do salons combat this issue?

]]> http://www.hairmaxsalonsoftware.com/is-groupon-a-good-deal-for-salons/comment-page-1/#comment-125 Comment on Is Groupon a Good Deal for Salons? by stella http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/hairmaxsalonsoftware/ONTM/~3/UsIYYLJKN2Q/ stella Tue, 27 Dec 2011 20:34:59 +0000 http://www.hairmaxsalonsoftware.com/?p=1599#comment-116 We've done it very recently. just opened a brand new place and all the stylists had some of their own following. We charged the full ala carte price for the services (most stylists give discounts on services added to a chemical), then added a treatment to the service to increase the value a bit. After the 50% deduction the client still paid a decent amount for the service and the salon only took a few bucks to cover costs of product. The rest went to the stylist to get THEM busy and keep them happy durring the transition of moving and losing clients (which happens everytime when you move) and the tips were good for them. Most of the clients we've had were great and I feel good about saying that my stylists are good enough to bring them back. Not enough time has gone by to see any of them again, but EVEN IF THEY DONT, I didn't actually LOSE any money, bored stylists got to make some money and if they don't get any return clients, then we just wont do it again...that simple. BUT, you have to really believe that your salon, stylists, concept, atmosphere and work will speak for itself and bring them back, AND you have to be careful with the deals/packages that you offer. We’ve done it very recently. just opened a brand new place and all the stylists had some of their own following.
We charged the full ala carte price for the services (most stylists give discounts on services added to a chemical), then added a treatment to the service to increase the value a bit.
After the 50% deduction the client still paid a decent amount for the service and the salon only took a few bucks to cover costs of product. The rest went to the stylist to get THEM busy and keep them happy durring the transition of moving and losing clients (which happens everytime when you move) and the tips were good for them.
Most of the clients we’ve had were great and I feel good about saying that my stylists are good enough to bring them back.
Not enough time has gone by to see any of them again, but EVEN IF THEY DONT, I didn’t actually LOSE any money, bored stylists got to make some money and if they don’t get any return clients, then we just wont do it again…that simple.
BUT, you have to really believe that your salon, stylists, concept, atmosphere and work will speak for itself and bring them back, AND you have to be careful with the deals/packages that you offer.

]]> http://www.hairmaxsalonsoftware.com/is-groupon-a-good-deal-for-salons/comment-page-1/#comment-116 Comment on A Way to Instantly Increase Salon Profitability by Mark Palumbo http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/hairmaxsalonsoftware/ONTM/~3/Hf3pJOjAJcA/ Mark Palumbo Tue, 06 Dec 2011 18:06:56 +0000 http://www.hairmaxsalonsoftware.com/?p=1763#comment-108 Steve I have been doing this for years and I also included Profit sharing in one of our price increases. I took 2% of the 10%price increase and had the clients fund the profit share plan. "how many salons offer this" great way to put in place. Every body wins. Thanks Mark Steve I have been doing this for years and I also included Profit sharing in one of our price increases. I took 2% of the 10%price increase and had the clients fund the profit share plan. “how many salons offer this” great way to put in place. Every body wins. Thanks Mark

]]> http://www.hairmaxsalonsoftware.com/a-way-to-instantly-increase-salon-profitability/comment-page-1/#comment-108 Comment on Salon Success Comes One Client at a Time… by Steve Sampson http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/hairmaxsalonsoftware/ONTM/~3/JfAHX_8hces/ Steve Sampson Fri, 02 Dec 2011 17:18:35 +0000 http://www.hairmaxsalonsoftware.com/?p=1758#comment-107 Hi Connie, you're right...times are different today. But I always tell people that ALL businesses need to "re-invent" themselves every 2-3 years. Or at least introduce new products, services that make a <strong>significant </strong>difference in their businesses. Heck Look at McDonalds...they're constantly re-inventing themselves and the company is stronger and better than ever. If they have to do it...so don't we all! Keep on plugging away...and i will help you any way I can. Hi Connie, you’re right…times are different today. But I always tell people that ALL businesses need to “re-invent” themselves every 2-3 years. Or at least introduce new products, services that make a significant difference in their businesses. Heck Look at McDonalds…they’re constantly re-inventing themselves and the company is stronger and better than ever. If they have to do it…so don’t we all! Keep on plugging away…and i will help you any way I can.

]]> http://www.hairmaxsalonsoftware.com/salon-success-comes-one-client-at-a-time%e2%80%a6/comment-page-1/#comment-107 Comment on Salon Success Comes One Client at a Time… by Steve Sampson http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/hairmaxsalonsoftware/ONTM/~3/EWXmg7CKrFo/ Steve Sampson Fri, 02 Dec 2011 17:13:25 +0000 http://www.hairmaxsalonsoftware.com/?p=1758#comment-106 Hey Lisa, The most efficient? That is a tough question to answer in a few sentences. I suggest that you go to www.salongrowthexpert.com and there is a free report that I put together that tells you the 7 BEST ways of attracting new clients. Check it out when you get a chance. Hey Lisa,

The most efficient? That is a tough question to answer in a few sentences. I suggest that you go to http://www.salongrowthexpert.com and there is a free report that I put together that tells you the 7 BEST ways of attracting new clients. Check it out when you get a chance.

]]> http://www.hairmaxsalonsoftware.com/salon-success-comes-one-client-at-a-time%e2%80%a6/comment-page-1/#comment-106