Groupon, Living Social, etc...

[beerfish]

Anyone have experience on the business side of these sites? I'm interested in promoting my business using a Groupon type deal, but was wondering if anyone had done so and what their experience with one or both of these companies was. (Or other like companies...)

FYI... Those that know me... I quit my job as my company began to fall apart at the seams, and formed a similar company in order to provide IT service as it should be provided.

If you don't have business experience with these type of sites... do you use them as a consumer? What do you use them for? Things you already buy? Trying new things? Trying new companies for services you use?

I'm trying to determine if this will work for my company, so any insight you can provide will be appreciated.

My company provides unlimited IT services at a fixed monthly fee based on the number of total computers we support. I have a help desk ready to support new clients, but I'm concerned about having too many new clients too fast if the deal goes well.

Generally, I personally go (or send one a high end rep) to new clients in order to properly set up and document architectures, so I'm a bit concerned that things may take off too quickly if I offer too many vouchers.

Thoughts???

 

[Widdy]

Heard several variations of stories from business owners that has used Living Social and Groupon. First of all, if you're not aware, LS/Groupon and the likes will take 50% of all revenue generated. I know of at least 1 business, a physical therapy provider closed up shop because the they were not prepared to handle the volume, the sudden surge took them by surprised and their service took a huge hit. On the flip side, an archery place I frequent every week in Queens recently scored about 4600 sales between LS/Groupon, they are quite organized with their bookings and appointment scheduling. At the end, they were able to manage expectations, and is doing very well. Because the 50% hit is a tough pill to swallow, I think business owners that get in bed with these companies need to include a deal that will entice the consumers to return; this time outside of LS/Groupon and on your terms.

Pretty cool idea you have though. I own a SMB IT consulting company as well, and never thought about using Groupon as a partner. But then again, I'm pure T&M so not sure how well that'll work...

 

[bizzarro]

if you use groupon or those sites, what type of deal would you offer anyway? Like one month service or a few free trouble calls?

As a person working in IT for a large national company, I probably wouldn't look to those sites for this service especially since it needs to be reliable and timely. When I use to work in a small/midsize I'd use Google or other search engines for local companies.

Your potential clients could be the same business already advertising on there and they would know the added business can swamp you.

I would just stick to the traditonal approach of marketing which I'm sure you're already doing.

 

[beerfish]

The plan is to offer one month of unlimited support at the reduced rate. This would give the company an opportunity to try the service out and see if it's something they want to continue. After the month is over, if they are happy with the service, it's likely that many will continue on at the full rate.

Basically I would cover my licensing cost on the software, and the cost of my helpdesk on the first month, but I would make nothing. After the first month, anyone who continues with my company would help recoup the loss in the first month. Worst case scenario, I lose a month of my time.

My current clients have settled in, and don't require much attention now, so I have the capacity for new clients, and I'm able to limit the number of vouchers offered on these sites, so as long as I keep the number fairly low, I think it could work.

I think it's a balancing act, but if I do it right, it may work. My biggest concern is that I don't sacrifice quality. I pride myself on the ability to be responsive and on top of issues for my clients and I don't want to lose that.

 

[lfsmarineguy]

I think as long as you put a limit on the number of packages you should be fine, like you said. A lot of the horror stories you hear about are businesses that weren't expecting the sudden volume and it ended up destroying them rather than helping them because service suffered. Pick a number you know you can manage and if it works out you can always bump it up the next time when you have more staff to support the last influx of clients. It's in the execution and what kind of deal you offer so as long as you limit it you should be fine for the first go.