Small Business Saturday

[512detail]

Anyone doing anything for this?

I just spoke with a lady that runs the local small business association and they are packaging coupons etc from local small businesses and going to be distributing them out tomorrow. I live in a small suburbanish town and most of the community here is very tight nit so I think this would be great awareness for my company especially since I have not really done enough marketing (totally my fault) to get my business really off the ground. Hopefully it will be a chance for me to snag a few new customers once they realize that there is something better than the local scratch and swirl. If not repeat customers I could still use a little extra change in the business account for capital expenses.

I just don`t really know what to go for...
A) discount on services (thinking 20% or so off services or cheaper `detail` packages)


free added shine (something like adding spray wax to an ONR wash or using ONR type product with wax in it and then adding optiseal after drying)

suggestions?

I`m also thinking about making these discounts good though the end of the year or good on anything booked (for open date) for two weeks. Obviously I don`t expect to get 15 vehicles or whatever completed or even scheduled on saturday

also if you think any part of this is a bad idea please feel free to let me know your (tactful) opinions

[Beemerboy]

If you offer any reduced prices make sure it`s marketed as a introduction to your services, and that the actual price is also listed on the coupon, they need to see the difference, also put a time limit on it as well. It`s really hard to get a price increase once you`ve given them a lower rate, people equate the service with what you`ve charged them last, going back in they want the same price. If it`s offered as a limited offering then you have that going for you.

[Trouble]

Anyone doing anything for this?

I just spoke with a lady that runs the local small business association and they are packaging coupons etc from local small businesses and going to be distributing them out tomorrow. I live in a small suburbanish town and most of the community here is very tight nit so I think this would be great awareness for my company especially since I have not really done enough marketing (totally my fault) to get my business really off the ground. Hopefully it will be a chance for me to snag a few new customers once they realize that there is something better than the local scratch and swirl. If not repeat customers I could still use a little extra change in the business account for capital expenses.

I just don`t really know what to go for...
A) discount on services (thinking 20% or so off services or cheaper `detail` packages)


free added shine (something like adding spray wax to an ONR wash or using ONR type product with wax in it and then adding optiseal after drying)

suggestions?

I`m also thinking about making these discounts good though the end of the year or good on anything booked (for open date) for two weeks. Obviously I don`t expect to get 15 vehicles or whatever completed or even scheduled on saturday

also if you think any part of this is a bad idea please feel free to let me know your (tactful) opinions

If you give someone 20% off once don`t ever expect them to pay retail

Maybe you could offer a free gloss enhancer (QD)

[512detail]

thanks for the advice.

i ended up going with a weekend only drop off discount to encourage drop offs since its getting into colder weather here. I did advertise the price compared to normal service so they can see the discount but did not put any time frame reference on the flyer (doh!).

the more i thought about this last night the more i realized i should just use this as free marketing and am not really expecting anything special to come from this except for hopefully just creating more awareness. and ive read countless threads on here about how not to offer discounts,etc so i am well aware of the downsides to this idea

i only invested about an hour of my time and 100 sheets of card stock in my printer plus colored ink so we`ll see how it goes

[Trouble]

thanks for the advice.

i ended up going with a weekend only drop off discount to encourage drop offs since its getting into colder weather here. I did advertise the price compared to normal service so they can see the discount but did not put any time frame reference on the flyer (doh!).

the more i thought about this last night the more i realized i should just use this as free marketing and am not really expecting anything special to come from this except for hopefully just creating more awareness. and ive read countless threads on here about how not to offer discounts,etc so i am well aware of the downsides to this idea

i only invested about an hour of my time and 100 sheets of card stock in my printer plus colored ink so we`ll see how it goes

All it takes is the right 1 person to see your ad. Best of luck to you