Wowing Customers Doesn’t Come With A Groupon

Wowing Customers Doesn’t Come With A Groupon
Tags: Consumer Behavior, Customer Experience, Customer Service, Employee Training, Marketing
May 23, 2011

I was reading a blog about using Groupon for a restaurant and a posted comment stood out, "... the key is adding value, so that when they use their Groupon at your restaurant they have an AWESOME experience and can't help but come back for more! If you are confident you can deliver an unbelievable experience and understand marketing, you aren't afraid to even offer free meals, because they will come back plenty of times and pay for more of your food, because you are being nice to them!"

Well isn't that the hope of any transaction?

But when you get thousands of customers who have never seen your store or restaurant and are there for "the deal," are you really capable of "wowing" them?

Especially when you aren't "wowing" them already?

I mean seriously, if you were indeed "wowing them," why would you need to reach for such a risky strategy of online coupons for your business?

Yes, there are plenty of risks in offering deep discounts including possible damage to your online reputation, loyal customers finding out someone else gets a better deal than them and the wholesale commoditization of your retail category.

But that's just the beginning....

That's why I wrote Groupon: You Can't Afford It – Why Deep Discounts Are Bad For Business And What To Do Instead because so many brands continue to run for the magic bullet of Groupon, LivingSocial and the rest.

But let's go back. Why is a program like Groupon so successful? Easy concept to understand for customers. They signup to get Groupon's deal-a-day email and save "up to 90%."

It's easy for businesses to offer right? You signup with no money down and you get a rush of customers who already have paid Groupon to buy from you. Seems like a no-brainer – yes?

But it takes a lot of forethought. Not unlike "wowing them"...

What would have happened to GAP if, instead of selling 441,000 Groupons and taking in about $5+million, (giving roughly $5.5 million to Groupon,) they had taken that money for a new sales training program?

That would have allowed about $1700 per store for sales training. How much could that have lifted sales for the holidays- much less for 2011?

We'll never know. But success isn't measured in coupons sold or discounts offered but in profitability.

And how do you get to profitability?

By having customers – not fans – so enamored with the treatment they get day in and day out that they will crawl naked over broken glass to experience it again.

Wow indeed....

That does come with a price but not to your bottom line like these group buying discounters.