Can I offer discounts to....

M

mini1

New member
just a specific group of owners, say like 20% off German car month, then do Japanese car discount month later and so on?



Anyone ever done it or have any suggestions?
 
you can do whatever you want...lol



i think in June or July I am going to offer up a flat rate per day per car (one car a day, all day detail) IF, and only IF i can get every single day booked for the month



We will see what happens, should be interesting
 
toyotaguy said:
you can do whatever you want...lol



i think in June or July I am going to offer up a flat rate per day per car (one car a day, all day detail) IF, and only IF i can get every single day booked for the month



We will see what happens, should be interesting
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+1, you can offer whatever discount you want for whatever you want. If your question is more geared towards the ethics surrounding giving a discount to only certain make owners, I think you're fine. If someone really did complain that they weren't treated fairly, you always "extend" the discount to them as well.



Eric: That's not a bad idea actually, you could probably get a ton of work done that way ! And you and your customer have the same expectation when it comes to pricing, as opposed strictly to hourly services.
 
mini1 said:
just a specific group of owners, say like 20% off German car month, then do Japanese car discount month later and so on?



Anyone ever done it or have any suggestions?
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You should design an offer in which everyone can choose to take advantage of it. Using brands, limits the offer to only those who own that brand of car. And, do you really want to offer that much of a discount? Give the customer something for purchasing your services at full price, such as a gift card.
 
yeah, i dont offer discounts really, just added "extra services"

i.e. - tire sealant instead of dressing, scotch guard carpets, free interior uv protection, etc



for the simpler items, like wash, wax, light interior, I'll discount for multiple cars in one spot. But for paint correction, its hard to justify a huge discount.
 
WAS said:
+1, you can offer whatever discount you want for whatever you want. If your question is more geared towards the ethics surrounding giving a discount to only certain make owners, I think you're fine. If someone really did complain that they weren't treated fairly, you always "extend" the discount to them as well.



Eric: That's not a bad idea actually, you could probably get a ton of work done that way ! And you and your customer have the same expectation when it comes to pricing, as opposed strictly to hourly services.
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My question is geared towards more ethics and legality, yes. I don't want to make other brand owners mad or anything along those lines. I want to target specific brands, because of my direct mail marking campaign. I know who has what cars in what neighborhoods and I'd like to include a special personalized offer in my mailings.
 
mini1 said:
My question is geared towards more ethics and legality, yes. I don't want to make other brand owners mad or anything along those lines. I want to target specific brands, because of my direct mail marking campaign. I know who has what cars in what neighborhoods and I'd like to include a special personalized offer in my mailings.
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It's most certainly legal. Ethically, I don't see any issue with it, it's something I would do if I were trying to target a specific group.
 
I would never target by manufacturer. It really doesn't make sense because you are excluding people who may be looking for a discount that will eventually apply to them.



If they are bargain shoppers, you may loose the sale entirely.



If you are going to create an "offer" make it as universal as possible. You can never go wrong with a "Memorial day", "4th of July", or "Labor Day" offer. Create an incentive where you're covering the reduced margins by increasing your volume.



God bless America! : ) :usa
 
I think you pretty much got all you need from posts above...



I rarely offer discounts but did offer some for winter prep detailing throughout the winter and am now offering 10% off to all new clients, which I'll probably run until mid-April. Oh and I'm soon to sponsor a local car forum so all members will get 10-15% off.



Aside from that, I do take 5% off from all BMW details. I'm a huge BMW nut and see no issue in fellow BMW drivers saving $15-20 on a Light Polish Detail ($300-350). If it bothers someone, they shoud buy a BMW :nana:



Other than the forum, which I'm sponsoring and expecting a good return on my discount, I don't really target any specific make/model/etc.



So yea, long story short, you can do whatever you want, ethical or not, but it's obviously better not to discriminate.
 
that little month long deal I offered up is already stirring up some interest! just got a call from one guy with 5 cars, and another with 3 cars....we will see!
 
lecchilo said:
So yea, long story short, you can do whatever you want, ethical or not, but it's obviously better not to discriminate.
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I'd just like to throw in that offering a discount to a certain make of vehicle is very far from being discriminatory.



Giving, say, BMW owners a discount and not Ford owners is NOT discriminatory at all, since you're not saying that you won't detail the Ford. Now, refusing to detail all Fords just because they're Fords could be viewed as discriminatory (and unethical), and going a step further and saying you won't detail any vehicle owned by a black or hispanic person would most certainly be discriminatory from any viewpoint, unethical, and possibly illegal.
 
WAS said:
I'd just like to throw in that offering a discount to a certain make of vehicle is very far from being discriminatory.



Giving, say, BMW owners a discount and not Ford owners is NOT discriminatory at all, since you're not saying that you won't detail the Ford. Now, refusing to detail all Fords just because they're Fords could be viewed as discriminatory (and unethical), and going a step further and saying you won't detail any vehicle owned by a black or hispanic person would most certainly be discriminatory from any viewpoint, unethical, and possibly illegal.
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Definitely true. I think discriminatory might be a bad word... it's definitely not right, by someone's standards, that a Ford has to pay 100% of the price and BMW 95%, but it's nowhere near unethical as it could be said discounts for new clients discriminates against your regulars, and vice versa. Same could be said for services. Just be sure the discounts are justified and won't backfire.
 
lecchilo said:
Definitely true. I think discriminatory might be a bad word... it's definitely not right, by someone's standards, that a Ford has to pay 100% of the price and BMW 95%, but it's nowhere near unethical as it could be said discounts for new clients discriminates against your regulars, and vice versa. Same could be said for services. Just be sure the discounts are justified and won't backfire.
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I think anything is good as long as you're willing to deal with that "one-of" that calls you on it. If I were having a "Honda" special, where every Honda gets 10% off, and a Toyota owner called and asked "can I have that special too ?" or "why doesn't that special apply to me ?", I would have 2 choices, either to extend the discount to them or tell them to beat it. Personally, I would extend it to them, afterall, if they were a Honda owner, they'd be getting the discount anyways.



... That said, if it was a Toyota owner, I might have to charge an additional 15% "hazard charge" just in case it drives through my shop on its own :chuckle: j/k of course
 
Yeah we built our business on offers. A fixed price offer lets customers know the pirce before you physically talk and it cuts the dreamers easily.
 
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