Context

Like most Rolfers, I was not drawn to this career out of an entrepreneurial spirit. The decisions involved in managing and marketing a business invited nearly paralyzing anxiety. If I could have graduated from the Rolf Institute® and found a job as a Rolfer at somebody else?s practice, I would have done it. If all I had to do was show up and practice the Ten Series on ten to twenty clients each week, I would gladly have earned a mere third of the going rate for Rolfers. If such jobs did exist, I was unable to find them.

After completing my basic training in July 2010, I spent fourteen months trying to find clients in Boulder, Colorado. Although the quality of my work pleased clients, my busiest weeks had only six appointments, most had only one or two, and the numbers were not growing. This schedule sapped my confidence and left me in debt. When my sweetheart?s career led us to the Boston area, I was excited for the opportunities of a bigger city. Even so, I would be starting out with no connections, minimal confidence, and no money to invest in advertising ? all in a city with high rent and few people who had heard the word ?bodywork,? much less Rolfing® Structural Integration (SI).

Into this context entered Groupon. A representative called me a few weeks after I registered my business in Boston. For no initial investment, the company would design a descriptive ad for me and put it into the phones and inboxes of tens of thousands of locals. The prospect that I would receive a third of my share of the sales a week after the promotion was announced gave me the security of knowing I could pay my rent. The deal could also boost traffic to my website, raise my Google? search rating, and give me additional opportunities to demonstrate the value of my work to clients who might continue at full price and perhaps make referrals. For these benefits, I was happy to face the downsides of Groupon, against which I had been aggressively cautioned by my fellow Rolfers.

The Contract

Groupon?s primary business model is to email a daily local deal to its thousands of subscribers (more than 200,000 in the Boston area). Subscribers have a limited amount of time (usually one to four days) to purchase the deal coupon through the Groupon website. The coupon can be used in electronic form on a smart phone or tablet, or be printed out. At the time of service, the ?merchant? (the business that is offering the deal, delivering the goods and services that Groupon advertises) enters the redemption code off the coupon on the Groupon-merchant website, so that that coupon won?t be used again or refunded by Groupon. If the client has the Groupon app, the coupon can also be redeemed on the client?s smart phone with two button clicks, no typing necessary.

Groupon has a standard contract for merchants: customers buy your service at half or more off; Groupon takes half of that money, and also subtracts the credit card fees for all the sales out of your portion. One day after the deal offer expires, the company calculates how much your deal has brought in and sends you 33%. Another 33% is sent a month later, and the final 34%, minus any refund deductions is sent a month after that. (The refund deductions is ?an amount two times the total value of all refunds actually paid by Groupon prior to the Third Payment Date.?) If any of the reserved money remains after the agreement expires, you are sent another payment. If, on the other hand, more customers get refunded than the amount of money reserved, Groupon covers the costs. In my case, for example, in the first two months after my deal was advertised, one person who bought a $69 coupon got a refund from Groupon rather than redeeming the coupon. Therefore, Groupon took $138 out of my final 34% payment. If no one else had requested a refund, Groupon would have mailed me $69 at the end of the year-long contract. Since eight other people did eventually get refunded, I did not get a fourth payment, but neither did I have to pay for those refunds. People warned me about the loss of control over my message when using Groupon, but I found the collaboration highly functional. I was clear about trademark rules, and when asked for information to use in an ad, I simply directed the company to my website. Groupon came up with an ad that I thought was accurate, inviting, and funny. I could never have done that on my own. I was also allowed to make a last edit before it was published to ensure that there would be no misrepresentation.

Since my contract with Groupon ended December 27, 2012, customers are no longer able to use the ?promotional value? of the coupon they purchased. Most customers ignore these expired coupons, but they are contractually allowed redeem the coupon for the amount paid. For example, people paid $69 for a coupon, redeemable for a single Rolfing session with me, which is usually priced at $140. That coupon has now expired, but there are still thirty-one people out there somewhere who could claim a $69 credit at my business, which means they could get a Rolfing session by paying me $71 at the time of service. There are also thirty people who purchased three sessions at $189 who have not redeemed their coupons. So far, only one person called to ask whether she could still redeem her expired coupon for three sessions. I explained that the contract would have me offer her one session plus another at half off, but that I would let her redeem the coupon for two sessions. She responded with gratitude and relief and is planning to complete the rest of a Ten Series at my regular rate. As of the writing of this article, the date of her third appointment has yet to take place, so such plans are far from guarantees. Even so, I feel good about this offer, as part of the incalculable marketing value of my Groupon experience is to get many people in my community to know about Rolfing SI, about me, and to have something positive to say about both.

Drawbacks of Using Groupon and Similar Marketing Strategies

There is an argument that heavy discounts lower the perceived value of a service. Once the work has been cheapened, other providers of the same service might have to lower their prices to compete. When I was deciding on whether to work with Groupon, the hostility from other Rolfers who feared that such discount marketing would drive down the rates of all of us to unacceptable levels was tangible. Doing business with Groupon felt like crossing a picket line.

Another fear is that Groupon customers are relentlessly deal-seeking, so much so that they will never pay full price for a service. Even if the Groupon customers themselves are not inherently unwilling to pay full price for a service, the mere fact of starting with a discount may cause problems. Many practitioners assert that clients need to make significant financial investments in a service in order to participate fully in the experience. The reasoning continues that lukewarm participation is more likely to yield mediocre results, satisfying neither the client nor the practitioner.

A third way that Groupon could harm a business rather than build it is through the strain on the practitioner. Working for such low rates (roughly a quarter of one?s regular fee) could invite emotional stress and physical exhaustion, reducing the quality of the service provided and thereby creating a poor professional reputation. Many people bristle at the seeming injustice of a company like Groupon taking half of the money for a service that it merely publicizes. Even those who see the value of Groupon?s presentation to its customer list acknowledge that this is a hefty cost for advertising.

Finally, the lack of a final expiration to the paid value of the Groupon coupons might leave some practitioners feeling vulnerable, as would the general dynamic of negotiating with such a large business. The ?ick? factor of big business is significant for some of us.

Larger Considerations

Many of the arguments against using Groupon touch on bigger issues in the Rolfing community, juicy questions that guide us with the tension of their unanswerable natures. We ask questions about how to present our field to the public so that people understand how we can help them, seeking balance between anchoring to what they know and pointing them to new possibilities. This relates to the tension between ?fix-it work? versus transformation, since it is much easier to explain getting out of pain than evoking personal evolution.

I believe that some of the tension around the issue of selling Rolfing sessions through Groupon comes from generalized angst about what is ethical marketing. There is a logical debate about whether deep discounts undercut colleagues, but I?ve found a deeper conflict in me, one that I suspect is also playing out in many of us: is there a fundamental discord between charging money for services and whole-hearted helping? Although I can make all sorts of rational arguments for the pragmatic value of capitalism, I am still influenced by my socialist-leaning upbringing. I have been conditioned to associate selling with scamming, accepting money with selfishness. I have been taught to see more nobility in those who are paid by the collective (my parents were both public school teachers) than in those who are paid directly by individuals who receive the work. Like omnivores who abhor the thought of killing a poor, innocent animal, I have sought to distance myself from the exchange of money. My conflict of identity as I have begun learning about marketing has alternately clouded my thoughts and evoked personal growth. I choose to listen to those who define marketing in terms of honest communication. I continue to educate myself about this view of ethical business, and I frequently revisit the question, ?How am I contributing to a better world??

Results

My success with Groupon was as follows: 241 transactions sold, 93 for single sessions, 148 for three. Out of the single-session coupons, 35% were unredeemed. Out of those that were, only 9% continued, for an average of four additional regularly-priced sessions. As for the triple-session coupons, 20% were unredeemed. Of those who redeemed their coupons, 38% continued for an average of 5.6 additional full-priced sessions. Several clients have referred others to me, as well as helped me make professional networking connections.

For nearly six months after my Groupon deal was advertised, I was seeing over twenty clients every week and had a wait list. It took a while for me to figure out the best way to arrange a wait list so that current clients could reschedule as needed, future clients would not get too impatient, and so that I could accept new full-paying clients as they called. One of the ways I dealt with the wait list was by teaming up with another local structural integrator whose practice was far from full. She was happy to accept my overflow clients at the rates I was getting from Groupon. Out of her thirteen Groupon clients, 54% continued for an average of 6.6 additional sessions.

Other Rolfers I have talked to throughout the country who have run Groupon promotions have all told me that it was worth it. The estimates they gave me about clients returning for more regularly priced sessions ranged from 25% to 50%. Although some were thrilled with the results, most had come to more moderate conclusions, and nearly all told me they would never do it again. I hope I will never need to, but I would consider using Groupon again to launch a new service (Rolf Movement®, perhaps), or to start over in a new city.

Procedures for redeeming the coupons were easy, and clearly explained. Depending on how you schedule appointments, there is a chance of being cheated if clients don?t present their coupons or if they don?t show up for their appointments. There are ways to avoid this risk, such as insisting on a credit card number when booking an appointment, but they seem cold, and were not worth it to me. I had one client ?forget? her coupon on the first of three scheduled appointments and then not return my calls or emails. I also had a few clients who didn?t show up for their first appointment, whom I chose to let reschedule for free, even though the fine print on the coupon insists on a $50 fee for missed appointments.

Clients who used their coupons in the first six months after the promotion were much more likely to continue with regular-rate sessions. I didn?t want to negotiate a shorter redemption period because I wanted to sell more coupons without buyers feeling the sessions had to be squeezed into too short a time period. It might have been better to move up the expiration date to maintain enthusiasm. However, all the unredeemed coupons helped to increase the average amount I was compensated per session. Another consideration is that my Groupon deal was promoted just before Christmas, and many of the coupons were given as gifts. Most, but not all, of the gift recipients were disappointed by Rolfing SI?s dissimilarities from massage. It might be that many of the unredeemed coupons were gifts as well.

In contrast to Groupon, I ran a couple of deals with Signpost, one offering half off one session and the other offering two sessions for the price of one. None of the seven people who bought these deals continued.

I used the money I earned through Groupon to get out of debt and invest in my practice. As of this writing, it is nearly two months since my Groupon deal expired, and I am confident and happy, averaging ten paying clients a week.

Recommendations

Should anyone choose to try a Groupon promotion, these are my recommendations for a successful deal:

? Negotiate for a better contract. The deal I ended up with earned me more than $2,000 more than the one they first offered.

? Consider your current clients. Do not offend those who have already been paying you full price for your services.

? Make space for clients who wish to continue with a series. For me, a wait list was instrumental. Booking your schedule full several weeks in advance can mean that clients will have the flow of their series interrupted.

? Make space for new full-paying clients who come from the increased word of mouth and website traffic. Again, consider a wait list.

? Know your limits. Don?t let your mind, body, or interest get burned out.

? Consider guaranteeing payment at the time of booking by requesting either the coupon redemption code or credit card information.

? Educate your Groupon clients about Rolfing SI and the Ten Series.

Conclusion

Helping clients and managing a business are two very different skill sets. Many of us feel more comfortable with the former rather than with the latter. Ingrained beliefs, chosen values, and lack of education may all contribute to our difficulties with marketing. Addressing these limitations can help us to rationally weigh the pros and cons of any business decision, such as offering a deal through Groupon.