How do you offer your Gift Cards?

mirrorfinishman · 10-16-07, 11:57

Just a couple of quick questions for all the pro detailers out there.

1- Do you offer your gift cards in dollar amounts? Such as; $100, $200, $300.

2- Or do you sell a gift card based on the actual price of the vehicle to be detailed?

AppliedColors · 10-16-07, 01:01

Option 1 works best. And be kind and refund the difference in cash. Customers appreciate that.

TexasTB · 10-16-07, 01:21

Both.... though #2 can bite you in the rear.

Make sure they have an expiration date on them.

I sold a few and they never booked appointments. It is like money fro nothing.
But, when you get $ for a GC, hold on to it. I used to spend it, and when they called me a month or so later, it felt like I was doing it for free...LOL

David Fermani · 10-16-07, 01:32

I love gift cards! It's basically like people giving you the gift, because they never redeem them. I use to put a huge sign up in front of my building (busy road) and sold several dozens each year. I basically let the purchaser decide how much they were willing to spend and then I customized a special package accordingly. They were allowed to change it if needed and I usually had a 1 year expiration date.

davekt · 10-17-07, 08:27

I sell them like option 1 with an expiry date of a year.But if it is for a car I know I will just put it down as a detail so the person getting the card doesn't know how much is being spent on them.I find they tend to be good sellers around Fathers Day and Christmas.

mshu7 · 10-17-07, 08:46

I sell them in $50 increments.

mirrorfinishman · 10-26-07, 10:25

Thanks for all the good replies.

I am considering changing over to offering only specific dollar amounts, such $100, $150, $200, $250, etc. rather than selling gift cards based on the actual price of the vehicle to be detailed. It makes it a lot easier for the client to purchase and as prices increase I can still base my price of the detailing on the going rate at the time the gift is redeemed. The longer they wait to redeem, the more likely the price of the detailing may have gone up.

As an added incentive and in appreciation to my current customers buying gift cards, I will include either a $10, $15, $20, $25 Off Card to be used as a 10% discount off their next car detailing.

Jakerooni · 10-26-07, 10:30

My shop has all kinds of package details I offer. So you can get as much or as little done as you want. I sell Gift certs based on a package price but I treat them as cash credit. (ie someone comes in an gets a GC for a package #4 detail worth $200 but when the car gets in here it's really only needing a Package #3 detail for $160 I simply refund them the $40 difference) and yes defiantly experation dates. I give a year on Gift cert and if I put out coupons it's usually a 3 month limit.

mirrorfinishman · 10-26-07, 10:53

Hey Jake, thanks for the reply.

Actually, I have been extending the expiration dates rather than shorting them. Especially, since I am now switching over to dollar amounts. That way, some people may not get around to using them for a long time and some may not ever use them. Why create a sense of urgency?

Also, the gift cards I offer cannot be redeemed for cash. Meaning I do not offer any cash refunds. The purchased gift cards are only good towards my detailing services. The way it works is the total amount of the gift continues to decline as services are purchased.

Jakerooni · 10-26-07, 10:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by mirrorfinishman

Hey Jake, thanks for the reply.

Actually, I have been extending the expiration dates rather than shorting them. Especially, since I am now switching over to dollar amounts. That way, some people may not get around to using them for a long time and some may not ever use them. Why create a sense of urgency?

Also, the gift cards I offer cannot be redeemed for cash. Meaning I do not offer any cash refunds. The purchased gift cards are only good towards my detailing services. The way it works is the total amount of the gift continues to decline as services are purchased.

Not a bad idea... Might just have to implement something along those lines here as well. I've only sold a couple of GC so far but with the holidays coming up it's something I'm acutally planning on pushing more of.

mirrorfinishman · 10-26-07, 11:27

Jake,

Anyone in the detailing business who is not promoting gift cards for their customers to buy and give to their friends is missing out on a lot of lost income. Let's say one of your good customers gets their car detailed and decides to buy a $200 gift card. The specific customer just happens to know someone who also takes good care of their cars and would very much appreciate the unique gift.

About a month later, a new customer calls and tells you they have a $200 gift card that was given to them by one of your good customers and they would like to set up an appointment to have their car detailed. When they actually get their car detailed they are very pleased with the entire experience and they now make another appointment to have another car detailed.

Selling your services to this new customer was simple and required very little effort on your part. And when you stop and think about it, you probably would have never found this new customer if it wasn't for your good current customer buying that gift card in the first place. Remember, it was your original customer who figured out they had a friend who would appreciate the merits of having their car detailed. In other words, they (the original customer) did your target marketing for you. All because you gave them the opportunity to purchase one of your gift cards.

The cycle of gaining another new customer is repeated each and every time you sell a gift card. It is an ideal way to reach your target market and instead of costing you money, it actually makes you money.

Thanks again for the reply Jake!

Scottwax · 10-27-07, 10:31

I have some customers who buy them every year. I base the cost on finding out as much about the vehicle as I can. Since it is customers already aware of my prices, they tend to really honest about the condition of the vehicle.

I had lady from Houston who kept buying them for her Dad who lives up here but he'd only redeemed about half of what she'd bought him over the last few years. She contacted me again about buying another couple details for him one Christmas and I had to tell her he wasn't using them up fast enough for me to feel good about selling her any more until he used what he had. She said she appreciated my honesty and next time she came up to visit her Dad, booked an appointment for me to detail her SUV.