Felicia Brown

 Just yesterday I was talking about discounting with one of my coaching groups. I was explaining to them that sometimes it is better to offer an incentive to get someone on your table or in your treatment room than to have it sit empty and generate no income or possible future business. To that end, I offered a couple of discounted multi-session massage packages in my own massage practice this summer thinking that it would incent regular clients to come in more often and encourage new clients to make regular massage a part of their lives.

You know what? I was right. Both things happened – regulars came in more often and a number of new clients became instant regulars. Plus, I got a pretty good chuck of cash up front that really helped my massage business weather a typically slow – and low cash flow – time of year.

So in my case discounting made perfect sense and helped my business. But is it always a good thing?

The short answer is no.

But to give you some more direction on this, I wanted to share this advice from one of my favorite sales gurus, Gitomer. In his recent article, “Sometimes You Have to Make a Decision That Hurts and Helps”. Gitomer shared these great tips about how to discount successfully.

1. Make certain that you can afford to discount.
2. Make certain there is some profit for you after the discount.
3. Have a start and end date. Do not go beyond the stated end date.
4. Have the promotion in the hands of ALL your customers electronically (proactive email is best).
4.5 Make certain that accounting is as involved as sales and marketing.

Click here to check out the rest of his article and see how Gitomer used discounting in his business.

In the meantime, carefully consider any discounts you are offering now or in the future to be certain they make sense financially and for the long-term.