Pooped on by Groupon!
Many of you, who are small business owners yourselves, have often asked me about my experience with Daily Deal Coupon sites and up until recently, I am pleased to say its been a very positive experience for my clients as well as myself. That being said, all Daily Deal Coupon Companies are not created equal.
As a business launching in a new market,(Phoenix) many of my new clients have come about through the Living Social ads I have run. Living Social is the forefront competitor of Groupon, who is the big fish in the pond where daily deals are concerned. The following article is a comparison of both of these companies and I must wholeheartedly agree with the author's summation. http://money.cnn.com/2011/04/26/technology/groupon_vs_livingsocial/index.htm
Living Social has proven through continued, open communication and attentive account reps that customer service is alive and well in some companies; in fact, it's ultimately what sets them apart from their competition and what they are actually selling! I can tell you that this simple mindset can be the determining factor between a successful coupon campaign and, like what I experienced with Groupon, a complete disaster.
It began months ago when the Groupon rep began wooing me and expressing an interest in featuring Stella Bella for a daily deal. And why not? For Groupon, Stella Bella offered a fresh concept in the cosmetic arena, had plenty of happy reviews from previous Living Social customers and had the potential to be a complete win-win for Clients, Groupon and Stella Bella alike.
After a month of attempts to come to an agreement that would benefit all involved, I was finally ready to go-or so I thought.
I signed my contract and thus began the wait-a three to four week estimate by all accounts of my Groupon rep and the company's marketing team. Simultaneously, and since I was told my company would be featured in late August/early September, I hired a Public Relations firm to get some exposure on my company as it was so new to the Phoenix market. The thinking here was potential clients would see Stella Bella in the news and remember us when the Groupon came out in Aug/Sept thus increasing the marketing efforts of Groupon.
Magazine after magazine began interviewing us. Fox 10 news aired a segment on Stella Bella and October, being Breast Cancer Awareness month, would bring Stella Bella into the spotlight more than ever before. PR companies are very effective. They are NOT however, free. Money was spent to coordinate the uptake in visibility of Stella Bella to coincide with Groupon's feature of Stella Bella to ensure a successful campaign.
The feature date came and went with no feature of Stella Bella or communication from my Groupon Rep as to why it hadn't happened. Being a reasonable person, I waited a while longer.
About 2 weeks post the target date, my inquiries via email and phone finally wore down my Groupon rep and I received an email stating that she did not, in fact, have a feature date for my company and that was simply that. She would however keep me informed.
Time passed and business went on as usual. Stella Bella was catching on quick in the Phoenix market and despite our "holding pattern" with Groupon, the company was growing in leaps and bounds. With two new locations on the horizon, I left messages with my Groupon rep to ask if we could add the two new locations to the upcoming campaign. More weeks went by with no reply to the numerous emails and voicemails I left. I would have assumed Groupon fell off the face of the earth had I not been a subscriber and still receiving deals delivered to my inbox daily.
In the interim I was approached by several other daily deal companies looking to feature Stella Bella on their coupon sites. Unfortunately, when a business is under contract with Groupon, there is a clause stating that you may not run an ad with another Daily Deal company until 3 months after the feature date with Groupon. So I was forced to decline several offers from other companies to feature Stella Bella on their sites. Still more weeks passed and no response from my Account Rep from Groupon. At this point I wasn't even sure if she was still with the company. I finally got the phone number of another employee of Groupon and, frustrated, left a message entailing my ordeal and dissatisfaction of how my attempts to contact my rep had went ignored. I went on to explain that I had a rather urgent question regarding where I was in the pipeline of deals to be run as well as the addition of my new locations that would directly affect my Groupon feature and absolutely needed to speak to someone. It was clear by this point that I was frustrated and I expressed that professionally but freely.
The next day my efforts to communicate my dissatisfaction was "acknowledged" by my account rep who informed me via email that Groupon would NOT be featuring Stella Bella at all now because Groupon would not be featuring any cosmetic products at all. I was wished good luck and waved off like an annoying gnat. It didn't make sense. I could understand Groupon not accepting any new deals for cosmetics but I already had a contract with them. I had already explained the lengths and money I invested to ensure a good campaign. I had declined serveral other daily deal companies invitations to be featured on their company sites. Did I just experienced an act of retaliation for "outing" the poor customer service skills of my rep and making my frustrations known? It would seem so.
So to recap my Groupon experience, it cost me time, money and missed opportunities to do business with a company who had no regard for my business and in the end walked out on a contract I had with them. Had I breached my contract with them I wonder if they would have been so flippant and cavalier as they were when informing me of their decision to reneg on their contract.
Not one to tuck tail and limp away, I called the company's customer service line today. I was assured that someone would be getting back to me today to resolve the matter-but the call never came-hmmm, BIG surprise!
It never ceases to amaze me the lack of customer service encountered with today's businesses. I have always strived to provide the utmost in Customer Service to my clientele from following up with clients regarding questions to hand delivering product to local clients who can't make it in to see me for one reason or another. In an economy like ours, I would question my ability to keep my business afloat with efforts of anything less-and then you hear stories like the one you just read where some companies not only have poor customer service skills but show a total lack of regard for their customers. At the end of the day, no matter how great a product you have, nothing supersedes good client relationships. Clients are the heartbeat of any business and each and every one of them holds the key to substantial growth or complete demise of your business. So why in the world would you not do something as simple as treating your clients right? While the public buys the vouchers, Groupon seems to be confused as to who their customer really is. Without merchants to offer the deals, where would Groupon be? That question can be answered in the incessant swirl of bad press and complaints from merchants that follow the company's reputation.
Good customer service cannot be discounted and for those who can't comprehend the magnitude of that, they will ultimately join the thousands of other businesses with the same mindset destined to an untimely death by their own accord and quietly replaced by those companies who make it their mantra to give their clients their very best-after all, isn't that what every customer deserves?
Kristin Provvidenti lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her 8 year old son and is the creator of Mystellabellashop.com, a cosmetic website dedicated to women with sensitive skin and those undergoing medical treatments that compromise their skin. A recent Cancer survivor herself, Kristin champions a cause for single moms and other survivors everywhere. For more information go to www.mystellabellashop.com
As a business launching in a new market,(Phoenix) many of my new clients have come about through the Living Social ads I have run. Living Social is the forefront competitor of Groupon, who is the big fish in the pond where daily deals are concerned. The following article is a comparison of both of these companies and I must wholeheartedly agree with the author's summation. http://money.cnn.com/2011/04/26/technology/groupon_vs_livingsocial/index.htm
Living Social has proven through continued, open communication and attentive account reps that customer service is alive and well in some companies; in fact, it's ultimately what sets them apart from their competition and what they are actually selling! I can tell you that this simple mindset can be the determining factor between a successful coupon campaign and, like what I experienced with Groupon, a complete disaster.
It began months ago when the Groupon rep began wooing me and expressing an interest in featuring Stella Bella for a daily deal. And why not? For Groupon, Stella Bella offered a fresh concept in the cosmetic arena, had plenty of happy reviews from previous Living Social customers and had the potential to be a complete win-win for Clients, Groupon and Stella Bella alike.
After a month of attempts to come to an agreement that would benefit all involved, I was finally ready to go-or so I thought.
I signed my contract and thus began the wait-a three to four week estimate by all accounts of my Groupon rep and the company's marketing team. Simultaneously, and since I was told my company would be featured in late August/early September, I hired a Public Relations firm to get some exposure on my company as it was so new to the Phoenix market. The thinking here was potential clients would see Stella Bella in the news and remember us when the Groupon came out in Aug/Sept thus increasing the marketing efforts of Groupon.
Magazine after magazine began interviewing us. Fox 10 news aired a segment on Stella Bella and October, being Breast Cancer Awareness month, would bring Stella Bella into the spotlight more than ever before. PR companies are very effective. They are NOT however, free. Money was spent to coordinate the uptake in visibility of Stella Bella to coincide with Groupon's feature of Stella Bella to ensure a successful campaign.
The feature date came and went with no feature of Stella Bella or communication from my Groupon Rep as to why it hadn't happened. Being a reasonable person, I waited a while longer.
About 2 weeks post the target date, my inquiries via email and phone finally wore down my Groupon rep and I received an email stating that she did not, in fact, have a feature date for my company and that was simply that. She would however keep me informed.
Time passed and business went on as usual. Stella Bella was catching on quick in the Phoenix market and despite our "holding pattern" with Groupon, the company was growing in leaps and bounds. With two new locations on the horizon, I left messages with my Groupon rep to ask if we could add the two new locations to the upcoming campaign. More weeks went by with no reply to the numerous emails and voicemails I left. I would have assumed Groupon fell off the face of the earth had I not been a subscriber and still receiving deals delivered to my inbox daily.
In the interim I was approached by several other daily deal companies looking to feature Stella Bella on their coupon sites. Unfortunately, when a business is under contract with Groupon, there is a clause stating that you may not run an ad with another Daily Deal company until 3 months after the feature date with Groupon. So I was forced to decline several offers from other companies to feature Stella Bella on their sites. Still more weeks passed and no response from my Account Rep from Groupon. At this point I wasn't even sure if she was still with the company. I finally got the phone number of another employee of Groupon and, frustrated, left a message entailing my ordeal and dissatisfaction of how my attempts to contact my rep had went ignored. I went on to explain that I had a rather urgent question regarding where I was in the pipeline of deals to be run as well as the addition of my new locations that would directly affect my Groupon feature and absolutely needed to speak to someone. It was clear by this point that I was frustrated and I expressed that professionally but freely.
The next day my efforts to communicate my dissatisfaction was "acknowledged" by my account rep who informed me via email that Groupon would NOT be featuring Stella Bella at all now because Groupon would not be featuring any cosmetic products at all. I was wished good luck and waved off like an annoying gnat. It didn't make sense. I could understand Groupon not accepting any new deals for cosmetics but I already had a contract with them. I had already explained the lengths and money I invested to ensure a good campaign. I had declined serveral other daily deal companies invitations to be featured on their company sites. Did I just experienced an act of retaliation for "outing" the poor customer service skills of my rep and making my frustrations known? It would seem so.
So to recap my Groupon experience, it cost me time, money and missed opportunities to do business with a company who had no regard for my business and in the end walked out on a contract I had with them. Had I breached my contract with them I wonder if they would have been so flippant and cavalier as they were when informing me of their decision to reneg on their contract.
Not one to tuck tail and limp away, I called the company's customer service line today. I was assured that someone would be getting back to me today to resolve the matter-but the call never came-hmmm, BIG surprise!
It never ceases to amaze me the lack of customer service encountered with today's businesses. I have always strived to provide the utmost in Customer Service to my clientele from following up with clients regarding questions to hand delivering product to local clients who can't make it in to see me for one reason or another. In an economy like ours, I would question my ability to keep my business afloat with efforts of anything less-and then you hear stories like the one you just read where some companies not only have poor customer service skills but show a total lack of regard for their customers. At the end of the day, no matter how great a product you have, nothing supersedes good client relationships. Clients are the heartbeat of any business and each and every one of them holds the key to substantial growth or complete demise of your business. So why in the world would you not do something as simple as treating your clients right? While the public buys the vouchers, Groupon seems to be confused as to who their customer really is. Without merchants to offer the deals, where would Groupon be? That question can be answered in the incessant swirl of bad press and complaints from merchants that follow the company's reputation.
Good customer service cannot be discounted and for those who can't comprehend the magnitude of that, they will ultimately join the thousands of other businesses with the same mindset destined to an untimely death by their own accord and quietly replaced by those companies who make it their mantra to give their clients their very best-after all, isn't that what every customer deserves?
Kristin Provvidenti lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her 8 year old son and is the creator of Mystellabellashop.com, a cosmetic website dedicated to women with sensitive skin and those undergoing medical treatments that compromise their skin. A recent Cancer survivor herself, Kristin champions a cause for single moms and other survivors everywhere. For more information go to www.mystellabellashop.com
Posted by Kristin Provvidenti at 9/29/2011 11:31 PM 
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: daily deal websites groupon best daily deal websites worst daily deal websites andrew mason groupon merchants groupon ipo daily deals daily deal companies groupon contact info online marketing coupon companies social media marketing groupon complaints groupon reviews daily deal reviewss daily deal marketing small business marketing daily deals phoenix groupon ceo small business advertising free advertising groupon contract top daily deal companies top daily deal coupon companies top daily deal coupon websites
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: daily deal websites groupon best daily deal websites worst daily deal websites andrew mason groupon merchants groupon ipo daily deals daily deal companies groupon contact info online marketing coupon companies social media marketing groupon complaints groupon reviews daily deal reviewss daily deal marketing small business marketing daily deals phoenix groupon ceo small business advertising free advertising groupon contract top daily deal companies top daily deal coupon companies top daily deal coupon websites
Comments