Why Groupon? - Organic Hair Color for Salon Professionals

Groupon:Leveraging Social Shopping For Your SalonAbout Organic Salon SystemsOrganic Salon Systems, headquartered in PalmHarbor Florida, has been serving the professionalsalon industry since 2003. The Company providessalons with the highest performance products thatmaximize the use of gentle, nourishing, organic, andnatural ingredients while minimizing the necessity forharsh or damaging chemicals. The company is theexclusive marketing and distribution company forseveral more natural and organic professional salonproduct lines including Organic Color Systems andKeragreen throughout the United States andCanada. Organic Color Systems is a revolutionary full range of professionalsalon products including our tightly integrated color, curl, care, and connect lines.KeraGreen is a full range of innovative, formaldehyde-free, organic keratintreatments exclusively for salon professionals.Organic Salon Systems’ offering also includes other complimentary products,education, advisory, and consulting services. For more information or to placean order, please visithttp://www.OrganicSalonSystems.com or call (888) 213-4744Privacy InformationThe information contained in this document is the proprietary and exclusiveproperty of Organic Salon Systems except as otherwise indicated. No part of thisdocument, in whole or in part, may be reproduced, stored, transmitted, or usedfor any purposes without the prior written permission of Organic Salon Systems.The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice.The information in this document is provided for informational purposes only.Organic Salon Systems specifically disclaims all warranties, express or limited,including, but not limited, to the implied warranties of merchantability and fitnessfor a particular purpose, except as provided for in a separate agreement.Privacy InformationGroupon: Leveraging Social Shopping For Your SalonOrganic Salon Systems • www.OrganicSalonSystems.com • +1 (888) 213-4744© Copyright 2011 Organic Salon Systems, All Rights Reserve 1

Groupon:Leveraging Social Shopping For Your SalonThis document may contain information of a private nature. This informationshould not be given to persons other than those who Organic Salon Systems hasdirectly provided it to.Table of ContentsAboutOrganicSalonSystems.......................................................................................1PrivacyInformation ..................................................................................................................................................1TableofContents.........................................................................................................2Introduction.................................................................................................................3SocialCoupons.............................................................................................................4CaseStudies.................................................................................................................5Ernest ..............................................................................................................................................................................5SalonTru........................................................................................................................................................................5XEXChicago ..................................................................................................................................................................5WhyGroupon?.............................................................................................................6TheRightCustomers ................................................................................................................................................6IncreasedFootTraffic(NewClients).............................................................................................................. 10IncreasedWebTraffic ........................................................................................................................................... 10BuildingClientListsforEstablishedSalonsandNewStylists............................................................. 10ImmediatePayment............................................................................................................................................... 11Preparation................................................................................................................11Website........................................................................................................................................................................ 11Email............................................................................................................................................................................. 12Copy .............................................................................................................................................................................. 12Stock.............................................................................................................................................................................. 13Training ....................................................................................................................................................................... 13Staffing......................................................................................................................................................................... 15Service.......................................................................................................................................................................... 15Protection..................................................................................................................15Let’sGo! ....................................................................................................................17Groupon: Leveraging Social Shopping For Your SalonOrganic Salon Systems • www.OrganicSalonSystems.com • +1 (888) 213-4744© Copyright 2011 Organic Salon Systems, All Rights Reserve 2

Groupon:Leveraging Social Shopping For Your SalonIntroductionHello,At Organic Salon Systems, we feel it’s important to do all we can to build lastingrelationships with our client salons. A big part of this is our educational efforts.We want you to have the tools to build your business better than anyone else.This is why we’ve created this whitepaper. There are tools available to you nowthat were unimaginable just a few years ago. This paper helps you leverage whatmay be the biggest: Groupon.With any powerful tool, if used improperly it can work against you. That’s whywe’ve set some guidelines to make sure you can deal with the amazing amountof new clients that Groupon will send your way.We’ve heard countless reports of salons growing by leaps and bounds just byoffering our products. While this is great, we want to help you grow in other waysas well. Whether you’re business is thriving or you need to build your client list,Groupon can be a boon to you.Cheers to you, your salon, your clients!The Organic Salon System staff1.888.213.4744www.OrganicSalonSystems.comP.S. We want your Groupon experience to go as smoothly as possible. We’vebeen as detailed as possible in this guide, but if there is anything you needassistance with, please email or call!Ashley@organiccolorsystems.comSocial CouponsThere has been an explosion recently of social coupon (or ‘group buying’)services that connect people with fantastic deals in their cities. There are severalexplanations for this:Groupon: Leveraging Social Shopping For Your SalonOrganic Salon Systems • www.OrganicSalonSystems.com • +1 (888) 213-4744© Copyright 2011 Organic Salon Systems, All Rights Reserve 3

Groupon:Leveraging Social Shopping For Your Salon• They provide excellent value for consumers• They build businesses• They are inherently viral• They tap a wealthy, intelligent, influential demographic that is hard toreach.The major player is Groupon, closely followed by LivingSocial. Every day more ofthese sites are popping up. Notably GILT and Buy With Me. Groupon in particularhas been making the news for it’s extreme success. LivingSocial is making adent, but Groupon remains far superior, so that is why we chose them as ourfocal point.This is how Groupons work for consumers:• You get a deal for a local business sent to your email inbox every day.• A certain amount of people must agree to buy the deal to trigger the sale.This guarantees new customers.• You can either print the coupon or use your smart phone to redeem theGroupon at the business.It’s a great deal, it’s easy, and it’s fun.If you think this good for consumers, just wait until you see what it will do for yourbusiness.Groupon: Leveraging Social Shopping For Your SalonOrganic Salon Systems • www.OrganicSalonSystems.com • +1 (888) 213-4744© Copyright 2011 Organic Salon Systems, All Rights Reserve 4

Groupon:Leveraging Social Shopping For Your SalonCase StudiesHairapyPDX – Ernest Brookswww.HairapyPDX.comErnest is a wonderful client at Organic Salon Systems and has had extremesuccess with multiple Groupon campaigns. An unbelievable 40% of the clientsbrought in by Groupon have become regular customers. In fact, the responsehas been so great that Ernest has had to bring on a second stylist to help dealwith all the new clients Groupon has brought on. His website’s traffic spiked by1200 page visits on the day the deal was featured.Tangerine Salonshttp://www.tangerinesalon.net/Tangerine Salons had been having great results from standard advertisingbefore, but decided they could benefit from a Groupon push. And they did. Theirwebsite traffic increased to 10,000 daily visitors and boosted their Yelp rating.15% of the clients pre-booked their next appointment when redeeming theirGroupon.XEX Chicagowww.xexChicago.com75-80% of customers redeeming their Groupons spent more than their Grouponwas worth. Their site traffic spiked 500%. Referrals continue to be made byclients made by their Groupon campaign.Groupon: Leveraging Social Shopping For Your SalonOrganic Salon Systems • www.OrganicSalonSystems.com • +1 (888) 213-4744© Copyright 2011 Organic Salon Systems, All Rights Reserve 5

Groupon:Leveraging Social Shopping For Your SalonWhy Groupon?There are many ways Groupon can benefit your salon. Here are a few:• Great demographics• Increased foot traffic• Increased web traffic• Building client lists for new stylists• Does what traditional advertising can’t• Immediate paymentGreatDemographicsGroupon allows you to reach an audience that tends to be young, female,educated, single, employed, and wealthy. They also tend to be influential.Groupon is often used as a service for exploring your city.Groupon users go out two times a week or more. They habitually use Facebook,Twitter, and other social media tools for spreading their likes. 92% of companieswho have used Groupon for their business said the customers attained werequality.Groupon: Leveraging Social Shopping For Your SalonOrganic Salon Systems • www.OrganicSalonSystems.com • +1 (888) 213-4744© Copyright 2011 Organic Salon Systems, All Rights Reserve 6

Groupon:Leveraging Social Shopping For Your Salon68% of Groupon users are 18-34 years old. Only 3% are 55 years or older.80% of Groupon users have either a Bachelor’s or Graduate degree.Groupon: Leveraging Social Shopping For Your SalonOrganic Salon Systems • www.OrganicSalonSystems.com • +1 (888) 213-4744© Copyright 2011 Organic Salon Systems, All Rights Reserve 7

Groupon:Leveraging Social Shopping For Your SalonJust under half (49%) of Groupon users are single.A whopping 77% of Groupon users are single. They got to impress!Groupon: Leveraging Social Shopping For Your SalonOrganic Salon Systems • www.OrganicSalonSystems.com • +1 (888) 213-4744© Copyright 2011 Organic Salon Systems, All Rights Reserve 8

Groupon:Leveraging Social Shopping For Your SalonIncreasedFootTrafficThis doesn’t mean a few more peoplestopping by. This means phones ringingoff the hook and walk-ins increasingdramatically. Your salon will be seen bymore people than ever before – and in aconcentrated period of time. This is awonderful thing for salons – but you needto be ready! Later in this paper we willdiscuss how to prepare your salon tomake the most of this deluge of traffic.IncreasedWebTrafficIt’s estimated that your web site willexperience five times the amount oftraffic it normally gets. Sometimeseven more. Again, we will go throughall the steps to prepare your site tomaximize this massive opportunity. Ifyou don’t have a website, don’t fret!We’ll talk about how you can easily geta website for your salon.BuildingClientListsWhether you are a salon owner or a sub-contractor, Groupons can help you buildyour client list. There isn’t a more effective way of getting potential long-termclients in your seat. We talked about the demographics earlier – think about theGroupon: Leveraging Social Shopping For Your SalonOrganic Salon Systems • www.OrganicSalonSystems.com • +1 (888) 213-4744© Copyright 2011 Organic Salon Systems, All Rights Reserve 10

Groupon:Leveraging Social Shopping For Your Salonconstant flow of willing and able clients coming to your salon chair. RecallErnest’s 40% conversion rate!Also, you can run Groupons specifically for certain stylists who are new andhaven’t built their book. This is their chance to give their book a shot ofadrenaline.QuickPaymentGroupon collects all the money from the Grouponssold. They then pay you in three segments withinsixty days of the feature. This is great becauseyou’re getting paid in sixty days or less for couponsthat last a year.PreparePreparation is key to a successful Grouponcampaign. Groupon introduces a unique challengeto small businesses: too much traffic.Managing thistraffic isn’t hard if you follow some simple guidelines.This section of our guide will help you get everything ready for your Grouponfeature day. There is a lot to do in the days before your Groupon goes live!WebsiteFirst of all, if you don’t have awebsite, get one. Even if you don’tkeep it up after the Groupon, it’sworth having for the deal. Eitherpay to have one made or makeyour own. Websites like Wix.comand SquareSpace.com make thisvery simple and beautiful. It’s alsoeasy to set up a simple site onWordPress.com. In fact, our friendErnest has a great site that he setup with WordPress:www.HairapyPDX.com .Groupon: Leveraging Social Shopping For Your SalonOrganic Salon Systems • www.OrganicSalonSystems.com • +1 (888) 213-4744© Copyright 2011 Organic Salon Systems, All Rights Reserve 11

Groupon:Leveraging Social Shopping For Your SalonYou may want to seek out a company who specializes in making websites forsalons. Contact Organic Salon Systems for some great site makersuggestions.EmailCreate a dedicated email for theGroupon feature day. You can do this atwww.gmail.comin about five minutes.Just go to the homepage and click the“Create an account” button at thebottom right.Okay, you’re set up with your website and email. Let’s make sure you’re ready totake advantage of the massive wave of traffic Groupon will bring.Put ten or more customer reviews on your site. You can pull these from sites likeYelp.com, maps.yahoo.com, maps.bing.com, maps.google.com, citysearch.com,etc. Positive reviews make people feel safer in spending money with you.First, go to yelp.com. Then search foryour salon. Below the general informationabout your salon you will find userreviews. Many times the reviews will belengthy so feel free to take just a smallsection. If Yelp doesn’t have enoughreviews to choose from, check the othersites listed about.Construct a beautiful, concise paragraph about what you’re offering. This can beused for both your website and Groupon.Groupon: Leveraging Social Shopping For Your SalonOrganic Salon Systems • www.OrganicSalonSystems.com • +1 (888) 213-4744© Copyright 2011 Organic Salon Systems, All Rights Reserve 12

Groupon:Leveraging Social Shopping For Your SalonFor an example, let’s go back the Ernest’s Groupon campaign “HairapyPDX is anorganic, ammonia-free salon. Befitting this, the KeraGreen treatment smoothesstrands gently without the use of formaldehyde or low-pH toad bile. The speciallyformulated keratin-and-protein system achieves the same results as a Brazilianblowout, but via active ingredients derived from amino acids and minerals, plusjojoba oil, collagen, and silk. Sit back while your stylist wields an arsenal ofproducts, including shampoos, conditioners, serums, and deep-penetratingcomplexes that rejuvenate tresses ravaged by sun, chlorine, and incendiary pyroflies.At the end of your treatment, you'll have sleek and glossy results that lastfour months, making you irresistible to your significant other, your new flame, orthe male model on the billboard by your office.”Remove any promotional advertising on your site. When you land a Grouponfeature, that’s all you want to advertise. Keep your site clean.Whatever service your Groupon is going to highlight should also have thespotlight on your website. Again, maximize your Groupon conversions.StockThe first day and monthof the feature, you aregoing to want to haveplenty of product instock. Grouponrecommends that youhave five times yournormal inventory ready.Salons are unique in thatyour most scarceresource is time. We willtalk about how tomanage the inflow ofclients later. But evenwith our clientmanagement techniques you will want to have a lot of extra product.Groupon: Leveraging Social Shopping For Your SalonOrganic Salon Systems • www.OrganicSalonSystems.com • +1 (888) 213-4744© Copyright 2011 Organic Salon Systems, All Rights Reserve 13

Groupon:Leveraging Social Shopping For Your SalonIt’s also important to stock up for the expiring month of the sale. Grouponrecommends holding three times your normal inventory. Groupon users tend toredeem in three key areas: 10% in the first ten days, 20% in the first month, and15% in the expiring month.TrainingEveryone in your salon needs to understand how Groupons can be redeemed,what to do when they are redeemed, and how to handle the change in thereceipt. Groupon provides an illustrated paper that makes these all clear:http://www.grouponworks.com/need-to-know.pdfMany salons will opt for the paper redemption method over the electronic one.It’s more simple to set up and easier to train for. Make sure everyone is familiarwith the following sheet:http://www.grouponworks.com/redemption-worksheet.pdfMake sure stylists know to ask for the Groupon number immediately upon theclient making a reservation. This makes things much easier than schedulingsomeone then getting their Groupon information later. Just collect all theinformation you need now so you don’t have to worry about it later.Always ask clients to rebook before they leave the salon.This is imperative withthose using Groupon. The whole reason you’re doing a Groupon promotion is tobuild your client base, so make the most of it!Consider setting up specials to incentivize Groupon users to book their secondappointment before they leave the salon. Be sure everyone is upselling as muchGroupon: Leveraging Social Shopping For Your SalonOrganic Salon Systems • www.OrganicSalonSystems.com • +1 (888) 213-4744© Copyright 2011 Organic Salon Systems, All Rights Reserve 14

Groupon:Leveraging Social Shopping For Your Salonas possible. The advantage of your Groupon is the massive amount of potentialnew clients but this doesn’t mean you can’t be making retail sales along the way.Get everyone in your team together to talk about the above points. Get themexcited and make sure they understand that the month following you Grouponfeature will be extremely busy. You don’t want anyone fatigued or cranky. Make itvery clear that this is a huge opportunity for everyone to benefit.StaffingOn the day of the feature, you will need ‘all hands on deck’.Fill your chairs. If you have more chairs than stylists –bring some in! Craigslist.com is amazingly effective forthis. To do this go to Craigslist.com and click “post toclassifieds” at the top left. From there you will bepresented with a series of forms to fill out. If you areunable to place an ad we’d be willing to help you with it.You will want at least one dedicated receptionist for the day of the feature. If youalready have receptionists, then you’ll want double that number. Your phone willbe ringing off the hook. Similarly, you will need to have someone dedicated toanswering questions on the Groupon message boards and any other socialpresence you have.Groupon: Leveraging Social Shopping For Your SalonOrganic Salon Systems • www.OrganicSalonSystems.com • +1 (888) 213-4744© Copyright 2011 Organic Salon Systems, All Rights Reserve 15

Groupon:Leveraging Social Shopping For Your SalonIt is common for people to feel overwhelmed on the day the Groupon featureruns. It’s of the utmost importance that everyone is at their tip-top. Your clientbase won’t grow much if you aren’t doing great work or being unpleasant with thecustomers.ProtectionGroupon can be the best thing to happen to your business. Taking advantage ofit requires you protect yourself. Following some simple guidelines that othersoverlook will help set you way ahead of the game.Set restrictions on when you will accept appointments for new clients usingGroupons. This is the most important thing you can do to protect your salon. Ifyou’re a one-stylist-show you may only be able to take one Groupon coupon aweek. This is an extreme example, but it is important that you don’t overwhelmyourself or your stylists with Groupon users. For example, you may take sevenGroupons a week in the hours from noon to 2 PM.Some people will be annoyed by the delay, but they won’t hold a grudge. We’vehad reports of people setting full-cost appointments because they didn’t want towait for the next available Groupon time slot. Then the salon allowed for thecustomer to redeem their coupon on a later date.Cap the amount of Groupons you offer as well. A simple way you can estimatethis number is to decide how many you want to accept per week. Then multiplythat number it by 45. This will give you some wiggle room for off days.Restrict the Groupon to new clients only. The whole point of the Grouponcampaign is to grow your client base. Current clients can’t help much with this.Groupon: Leveraging Social Shopping For Your SalonOrganic Salon Systems • www.OrganicSalonSystems.com • +1 (888) 213-4744© Copyright 2011 Organic Salon Systems, All Rights Reserve 16

Groupon:Leveraging Social Shopping For Your SalonLimit each person to one Groupon. We suggest allowing people to buy anadditional Groupon as a gift for a friend.Think carefully about what service you want to offer for the Groupon. You willwant to select something that has margins high enough to survive the deepdiscounts Groupon requires. Think about what service could benefit the mostfrom a first time client.Let’s Go!Getting a Groupon featuredefinitely takes time andenergy, but we’ve seen thepayoffs to be great. Nowgo back through this paperstep-by-step and plan howyou will get ready for therapid business growthGroupon will bring you.As always, Organic ColorSystems is here for you. Ifyou need help at any pointlet us know. We’re evenwilling to have one of ourbusiness professionals look over your “Grouplan”.Let’s do this thing!The Organic Salon Systems Teamwww.OrganicSalonSystems.comwww.facebook.com/OrganicSalonSystemGroupon: Leveraging Social Shopping For Your SalonOrganic Salon Systems • www.OrganicSalonSystems.com • +1 (888) 213-4744© Copyright 2011 Organic Salon Systems, All Rights Reserve 17