Gathering place for osteopaths
Groupon vouchers
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jody Jakob on -
Personally I dislike the idea of promotional discounts.......in my mind it cheapens our service........I do give discounts but on a personal basis when a patient really needs it and can't afford it.
Better to spend your time giving talks. Setting up a good website is important these days.........offering free treatments to the local pharmasist and GP is a good way as they are influencers..and lots of people ask them for advice.....get out and about, talk up your work and give away some freebees.......don't sell yourself....ATTRACT PATIENTS instead.....
But different things work for different people........
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Permalink Reply by David Webster on -
Thanks - I agree that discounts in this format go against the grain, to put it mildly !
Jody Jakob said:Personally I dislike the idea of promotional discounts.......in my mind it cheapens our service........I do give discounts but on a personal basis when a patient really needs it and can't afford it.
Better to spend your time giving talks. Setting up a good website is important these days.........offering free treatments to the local pharmasist and GP is a good way as they are influencers..and lots of people ask them for advice.....get out and about, talk up your work and give away some freebees.......don't sell yourself....ATTRACT PATIENTS instead.....
But different things work for different people........
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Permalink Reply by Small Fry on -
I know a massage therapist stuck with 400 clients she has to see at a loss in the hope one or two will stay. They never do stay, they just take the next voucher and go to the next therapist. 'Marketing for Dummies' calls this 'buying clients' and warns strongly against it.
I already contacted Groupon to try and find out what the deal is, and smelled a rat when it came clear they don't give out such information until you place yourself onto their conveyor belt. They responded to straightforward questions with smarmy answers like "it's great that you've decided to give your business the boost it needs" etc, and then tell you they can't answer the question yet because...
Googling 'groupon sucks' is quite revealing also.
My instinct is avoid.
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Permalink Reply by David Webster on
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Thanks - the possibility of treating a hundred or so patients three times, for virtually none of them to return is certainly a thought which has crossed my mind ! I'm also acutely aware of the tension between the value and integrity of Osteopathy vs. the commercial imperative of the real world, a point alluded to by Jody in the previous post.
Small Fry said:I know a massage therapist stuck with 400 clients she has to see at a loss in the hope one or two will stay. They never do stay, they just take the next voucher and go to the next therapist. 'Marketing for Dummies' calls this 'buying clients' and warns strongly against it.
I already contacted Groupon to try and find out what the deal is, and smelled a rat when it came clear they don't give out such information until you place yourself onto their conveyor belt. They responded to straightforward questions with smarmy answers like "it's great that you've decided to give your business the boost it needs" etc, and then tell you they can't answer the question yet because...
Googling 'groupon sucks' is quite revealing also.
My instinct is avoid.
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Permalink Reply by Margaret sinclair on -
Where I work tried it - got 100 people, none cam back. They just wait till the next offer. Not worth it.
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Permalink Reply by Rikamortis on
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Groupon depends on how good you are at selling both follow on care and maintenance care. Small Fry is right you can be lumped with treating a lot of patients at a loss. Groupon is getting quite good at putting businesses out of business!
On the other hand my chiro buddy does them regulaly, but hes good at selling block treatments so he makes money on it.
If you can take the financial hit then its not a bad way of getting some exposure for your clinic and patients through your hands...If you use the 3 sessions to educate your patients about the benefits of regular osteopathic care maybe some will stay.
Good luck
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Permalink Reply by Greg Guillon on -
Hi David,
I met the groupon sales guy in charge of health few months ago and here are the facts.
1) You have to stick to their sale template i.e at the moment I think it is 4 treatments for £39
2) Out of the £39, you get roughly £16... for 4 treatments
3) They keep the VAT
4) They keep the money for paid but non-claimed vouchers
People who will come through your door will only here because they have a deal and are not willing to pay the full price.
In conclusion, I woudl stay away from groupon (like I did) unless if you want to work for free....
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Permalink Reply by Quad on -
Hi ALli am not familiar with groupon, so not sure how it all works. my biggest concern with purchasing block session has always been what to do if the patient wants their money back after the 1st session or two, as they may feel osteopathy is not for them, or they go to their gp who advises them not to see an osteopath, something that happen regularly.
Greg Guillon said:Hi David,
I met the groupon sales guy in charge of health few months ago and here are the facts.
1) You have to stick to their sale template i.e at the moment I think it is 4 treatments for £39
2) Out of the £39, you get roughly £16... for 4 treatments
3) They keep the VAT
4) They keep the money for paid but non-claimed vouchers
People who will come through your door will only here because they have a deal and are not willing to pay the full price.
In conclusion, I woudl stay away from groupon (like I did) unless if you want to work for free....
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Permalink Reply by David Webster on
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Thanks for taking the trouble to reply, everyone. I have decided not to bother.
Best wishes.
David.
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If your setting up your own businsess you can offer a deal without groupon for example -
Initial consultation normally £40 plus two follow up sessions normally £30 plus an ice pack say £5 total value £105! but for a limited time £50!! Save over 50%... Hand out flyers door to door and put the ad in the local newspaper..
There is nothng wrong with promotional discounts it does not de-value your service it gets people into your clinic then you have 3 sessions where you can educate you patients as to the value of regular osteopathic care at an interval that suites.
I get the point across by comparing it to going to the gym or eating a healthy diet, you dont just do it for a week or two its a lifestyle choice..
In order to build a practice you need maintenance care patients then your not at as much risk from downturns. My advice would be to advertise advertise advertise even when things are going well keep all your hooks out there... But dont do anything for free...if its free patients wont value it...
Good luck with your practice if you can do it in these times you can do it anytime...
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Permalink Reply by David Webster on
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Thanks, Rik. Good advice.
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Permalink Reply by Robin Adams on -
We have done a Groupon promotion earlier in the year when they were new in this area. We then accepted a massage promotion which Groupon transferred from another clinic who were unable to fulfill. It was one massage at a large discount.
We sold about 50 osteopathy coupons, of which 30 or so turned up, and about 180 massage coupons of which about 100 turned up. (you only get paid on those that turn up and redeem their coupon)
Our osteopathy promotion was one consultation/treatment at 60% off. It worked well. Most came back for a course of treatments, but the drop off was a bit higher than average. We had just opened the clinic so it was very worthwhile for us.
The massage promo was a hard slog for our massage therapist who made a small fee from each. The retention was almost non-existent.
My conclusion is, the single treatment offer is worthwhile for osteopathy. If Groupon insist on a package of 3 it is definitely not worthwhile unless you are able and willing to apply chiropractor style selling techniques (which I am not). Even then I doubt it will work well as you devalued your service to such a huge extent.
To those that are knocking Groupon, I would argue that Groupon have done more to promote osteopathy than any other single initiative, probably ever. So, if you are going to knock it, perhaps you might come up with some comparably successful initiatives (in terms of building the public's awareness of osteopathy) - no body and no organisation has done to date (as far as I can see). Conversely, if you sell yourself too cheaply, you will spend years trying to rebuild any value in yourself and your business.
© 2012 Created by Ronan O'Brien.
