One question I get asked a lot; “Should we offer a coupon code?”
NOOOOOOOOOOO!
Here’s the story: It’s probably happened to you. You are buying a widget, or booking a thingy, and then you hit checkout You’re fishing out your credit card to pay and then you see:
Enter Your Promo Code: ____________________
What do you do? A large number of people leave the page and then do a google search for
Widget Thingy Coupoon Code…
Odds are now they are going to find some Groupons, and coupon codes to probably YOUR COMPETITION!! Why are you sending them there?
When someone is ready to pay you… let them pay you! If they don’t go searching, they will at least be a little pissed off that someone else is getting a deal and they aren’t.
Studies have shown the drop off rate from a cart with a coupon code to me much greater due to people looking for the code. Some studies have shown an increase in cart abandonment of over 30%.
So never offer a coupon in your check out process.
But if I want to advertise a special deal?
The best way to do that is to offer a special deal that they can book directly. Set up a particular package to be “not visible” and run a direct link to it. Then you can use that direct link in a social media ad, an email, etc. so that person gets the special, but customers who just go straight to the booking without the special link won’t see it, won’t leave to search, and won’t feel like they are being slighted.
One of the biggest mistakes new businesses make is constantly under pricing their goods or services. Keep in mind, you are the new thing, the fun thing, and you are selling on having an exciting and unique experience – not the cheapest one.
