A couple of weeks ago my husband and I went to a local restaurant and at the end of our meal the waitress handed us a sealed document and told us not to open it. She said if we came back before the expiration date (it was only two weeks away) the manager would open it in front of us to see what we got. She told us there was the possibility of an Italy vacation and also $100,000.

 

Having this little document encouraged us to return before two weeks. There's something about the intrigue of possibly getting something big. We really like this resaurant and would of returned eventually anyway but probably not in less than two weeks. You guys get where I'm going here???

 

So. I've made up little documents with facials for10%, 20% and 50% off and also a free facial. There is also a few 20% off of products and free treatment extras. Most of them are for 10% off though and only one free facial in the bunch.

 

Here's what I'm offering...when a client purchases a gift certificate this holiday season, she gets to pick out one of these sealed documents to use in January. She must come back for her treatment in January with the document sealed in order to redeem it.

 

Oh yeah...we got 10% off of our meal that day! I was sure hoping for that Italy trip!

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Shelley,

I love this idea. We went there too! And when we went back we got 10% off the second time. It is an ingenious idea as the restaurant was nearly full for the time of day. I'm sure there's lots of competition for casual Italian but they were doing ok.

I was reading your page about your Groupon experience. Thank you for all your generous knowledge sharing. I am considering doing this soon but need to get some things in place before I take the dive.

One question I have for you is, do you have much downtime anymore? Are you booked solid now? I have a 19 month old and I'm pretty pooped from caring for her and trying to run a business. (Plus daddy travels most weeks so its all on me when she's not at daycare.) I want to do a Groupon or Living social deal but I don't think I have the stamina right now. Any advice?

Christine...if you do decide to do one, limit the amount that can be purchased. We opted for 200. It's not about high number, it's about being able to service well the new people that do come in. Your first month will be very busy and then it seems to taper off a bit. Also, remember you are in control. They will call and ask to get in the following day. I always tease with them...I give a little laugh and say "good try" with a smile in my voice. They know that you are swamped with appointments but they try anyway. When I approach it this way, they usually end up having a little laugh along with me. Also, don't over a regular foofoo facial. If you do, you will get the discount seachers and they son't be potential long term clients. Offer something different than the skin care cetner down the street has so that these discounted clients need to come back to you to get that service again. Making sense? Call me if you'd like to chat! 

Shelley,

Thank you for the response. Limiting the amount sounds so wise! I forgot you could do that.

By the way, how did it go with Trubates?

That is awesomely creative!

Thank you for the information!!!

I love it!

 

How can you make sure that they don't open the sealed documents until January?

I put the little certificate in a sealed red envelope and put a holiday sticker over the sealed area. Then when we (the esty that works for me or myself) sell one to a client, we are going to sign our name on the back through the sealed area. If they can get that open and resealed without us being able to tell...well then they deserve something free just for all that effort!! :-)

That's smart AND funny!

Ok, so I thought about this discussion topic last night when I was out at a local restaurant and they had a similar promotion going. I thought the Skin Care Professionals members would be interested in this fun idea:

The restaurant had a little mini booklet on the table like a passport and inside on each page was a popular food or drink item. If you ordered any of those items, they would stamp the booklet and if you came back by the end of November with 10 out of 20 items stamped you received a $50 gift card to the restaurant.

I thought this sounded like a fun idea because I'm sure everyone has clients who like to try new facials or as a way to get your clients try different services that you offer. I thought, there must be a way that you could turn this into a promotion for fall/holidays for repeat skin care clients!

Even if you had a little punch card and you called it a "Skin Care Passport" and the clients received a stamp or punch for coming in for a mixture of both waxing and facial services. Or, if you offer different types of facials the clients would need to come in for a few different kinds (microderm, peel, deep cleansing, etc). Or, if you are doing holiday promotions they can come in for a fall/pumpkin facial, a winter/cranberry facial, hydrating facial, and so on. If they come in for say 6 services by January 1, they get a discount, or an add on service free, or something fun.

I should have prefaced this post by saying that I, myself am not an esthetician, so I'm sure you ladies can get much more creative with this idea and customize it for your service menu and business/marketing needs. But I thought this passport of popular food items was a fun, creative idea, so thanks for letting me share!

- Hannah @ ASCP/Skin Deep magazine

Love it...thanks so much for sharing! I'm going to run this past the Esty that works for me and see how we can incorporate this....we were just chatting about holiday specials this morning!

Hannah;

Thanks so much for sharing this idea! It's great and it's got my mind working.....hmmmm

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