(Tales from Las Vegas Part Two – you can read Part One on the greatest customer service we’ve ever received here)
When do you think a client is most likely to purchase something from you?
I believe it’s immediately after they’ve just purchased something else.
Think about it.
They are most likely stood right in front of you.
They’re happy about their previous purchase and how you’ve made them feel.
Heck, there is every chance that they’ve still got their debit card in their hand!
That’s a full house right there, if you’ll excuse the tenuous Las Vegas pun.
In America they are only too aware of this and it’s everywhere.
Coffee shops are spectacularly aggresive at this and it’s borderline impossible to walk out with just the coffee you went in for.
You can expect all manner of upsells, crosssells and downsells before being bamboozled into purchasing something just to stop the never ending flow of questions.
In all fairness it’s becoming more like this on our shores, too.
(The one I hate the most is when you purchase a magazine in WHSmith and they try and sell you the giant, totally unrelated, probably going out of date, Dairy Milk bar for £1. You’re better than that, WHSmith).
Supermarkets have known for years that you’re more likely to drop something from the checkout display into your trolley whilst you wait for the next cashier.
And I don’t need to bring up the classic upsell catchprase responsible for probably trillions of dollars of sales worldwide over the years, “would you like fries with that?”
Of course, all of that was prevalent in the States this time too.
But what I was more excited about (seriously, what’s wrong with me?), were the examples of what US marketers call ‘bounce back offers’.
Now I’m not sure if Disney invented either the term or the strategy but they sure do a lot of it.
Basically, a ‘bounce back offer’ is an offer to a client which is only made available to them whilst they are with you and to entice them back to spend more money.
Striking whilst the iron is piping hot.
And it’s a smart move.
So we came across two great examples whilst in Vegas.
The first was whilst we were playing ‘Twighlight Zone Glow-In-The-Dark Mini Golf’ (obvs) on my birthday.
After we finished our game we were handed a coupon to come back for a free game.
Presumably they realise that very few people play alone and you’re going to bring at least one friend with you.
You’ll probably also get some drinks, popcorn, play some video games or whatever.
Either way, you’re likely to spend way more than the cost of one game of bowling.
It was a good move, but personally I thought they could have executed the offer better.
Thing is, most people in Las Vegas are on holiday (or, if you’re American, vacation – or even vay-cay if you’re down with the kids).
Chances of going to the same place to play mini golf twice on the same holiday given how much there is to do in Vegas?
Pretty slim, I’d say.
They’d have been much better off giving out a coupon for half price bowling or video games or something. Something which would have kept us there and spending money for a little longer.
It was a good idea, but it could have been done better.
Next place we saw a good example of it was after doing the Stratophere Skyjump. Which, if you’re interested, is an assisted skydive off the top of the tallest hotel in Las Vegas.
You travel 829 feet (which is 107 storeys!) in about 9 seconds, strapped to a bungee cord of sorts.
It’s not for the faint hearted.
Anyway, when you get your ticket for your jumpsuit you’re also handed a couple of bounce back offers.
Ones done correctly.
(And we know they were done correctly because we actually used one when we wouldn’t have otherwise).
So one was for 20% off merchandise in the store (which is probably artificially inflated by 20% in the first place but that’s another story) and the other was for half priced cocktails during happy hour in the bar on the 108th level.
Now I don’t know if the times for happy hour change based on when you jump but it sure was convenient that happy hour was going on right after our jump!
Either way, we were happy for the half priced drinks and had a couple each. After the jump, not before, just to be clear!
Now would we have gone back up 108 storeys for a drink without the voucher?
Probably not, in all honestly.
So it worked.
Conversely we didn’t go back for more mini golf – even though we enjoyed it – so that didn’t work.
How easy would it be to copy this in your own business?
Super easy!
All you need to do is get some flyers or business cards printed up. That would cost only £50-100 depending on the quantities and how professional you want them to look.
It then costs you nothing to distribute them as you’re simply giving them to people stood in front of you!
So here are a couple of ways you could do it (you’ll want to adapt this to your own business and always run the numbers first to ensure you’re still making a profit)…
- have a special one for X% off if they have another treatment right now (you only give these out if you have available diary space right then that you want to fill)
- offer a luxury version of a different treatment to what they’ve just had for the price of standard version if they book it there and then (perfect for those who don’t rebook straight away normally)
- special coupon for a discount or package deal on some products, for example 3 for 2 or X% off or whatever works for you
- bring a friend with you next time and both get 20% off your treatments
You can do whatever you like and whatever works with your menu.
(Please, just make sure you know your treatment delivery costs and you’re still making a profit!)
The point is these are a great way to either get people to increase their spend with you (at the time when they are most likely to buy something, too) or a great way to get them to book in for the next one when they might not have otherwise.
Mix it up.
Test a few things.
The real beauty is this is so cheap to try out that you can afford to experiment a little and see what works.
Why not try it this week?
Enjoy this? You can read our other Las Vegas blogs below…