Since mid November, I have been running a special on gift certificates. My special is that if someone buys four of them, they get a fifth one free. Well, I didn’t sell as many as I had hoped, but I did sell a total of 31 which isn’t anything to sneeze at.
Since the special is better than any discount I have going, most of the gift certificates sold were purchased by existing clients. My landlord bought 10, another business neighbor five (these last were 90-minute sessions). Two other regular clients bought five each. Six more were purchased by others, some clients, some not.
I had had a sign made up to go out by the road. It paid for itself as someone driving down the street saw it and came in and purchased two. I was afraid that it might have been a waste.
These have all be good sales, and they have helped the business, but I really hate gift certificates. I would prefer to do the work, then get paid. Gift certificates bring money into the business for work not done, and admittedly all too many don’t ever get used, but it still means that a lot of work will be done without money coming into the business. And since they are valid for six months, it is possible to fill up the schedule without bringing a penny in. Since most of these sold were purchased by clients, they were purchased because of the deal and will be used by them instead of given away. So, yes, they will come back.
But I can’t argue that this isn’t good for business, because it surely is. It’s just that I prefer to get paid for work I do, instead of work I haven’t done, and have yet to do.