Comments on: Birthdays and Anniversaries

By: David Schneider

David Schneider — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 19:24:07 +0000

Thank you all for the great ideas and suggestions! We're taking a hard look at this and will be adding some new features based around birthdays and anniversaries; this discussion will certainly help us.

And, we've already taken the first step based on what we read here. As of this moment, if go to the Reports tab in SpaBoom, then look at the sidebar on the very bottom of the page, you'll see a brand new report for displaying upcoming birthdays! (Of course, you will need to have birthday information for your clients.)

Thank you very much for your comments! Look for more features soon.

By: Lori

Lori — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:54:06 +0000

I agree with Steve. I would like to have a way to further categorize clients (by birthday, frequency, miss you, etc.) to email them as a "special or event."

I think clients will forward email to friends and family as everyone is always asking, "What do you want for your birthday?"

Spa gifts are especially great for those "people who have everything" or those that say, "Please don't buy me anything."

I wonder how much this would cost for SpaBoom to set up?

I prefer to focus on spa products and services instead of flowers and candy. Gift with purchase is a great way to introduce service and product at the same time.

If SpaBoom provides spa owners the option in the "specials or events" email program, it may really help generate more sales of gift certificates.

By: robert luu

robert luu — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 02:37:14 +0000

I really like the ideas being generated here. I started working with a local flower shop and we've been discussing ways we could set up an "affiliate" link to each other's sites to streamline flower delivery/spa packages that doesn't require us to be involved in postages, payments to one another, etc…

The problem lies in the back-end. Trying to setup an automatic affiliate program requires a lot of money to set up. If SpaBoom can set something up with a national flower delivery, tie in our spas services with flowers, etc… that would increase everyones profits!

In the meantime, I'm going to give away express pedicures to the birthday person via auto-emails generated by the salon software. At the same time I'm adding incentives to bring 5 or more of their friends by bribing them with booze and chocolate covered strawberries. =] –Robert

By: Christine

Christine — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 07:01:49 +0000

I use Send Out Cards. It is automatic if you fill in all of the information. I can send out hundreds and hundreds of post cards to my clients with a few clicks of the mouse. I send out 40 to 60 B-day postcards every month this way. The downfall is it is a MLM company and to get the best rate it cost $200, but it is worth every penny. They start you out with some credit for cards and postage as well. They also give away sample cards at the site so you can try it out for yourself. Each one of my postcards through SOC cost 31 cents plus postcard postage.

By: Steve

Steve — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 04:25:23 +0000

I am very interested in setting up an automatic mailing program of a birthday gift certificates of $10 or $20 discount for massage within 30 days of their birthday.

By: Debbie Hirsch

Debbie Hirsch — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:52:39 +0000

I have always had a birthday promotion. I keep a card file on every client (old fashioned way, but it works) and a few days before the beginning of each month I mail a postcard with a $10 off coupon. It would be great if I could do that electronically through SpaBoom! I would also love to see an option for the anniversaries — where it could prompt maybe 2 weeks before the anniversary date — send an e-mail reminder about instant gift certificates.

Thanks for all you do — it has really made an impact in my bottom line — especially since I am a sole proprietor and do not have any employees to help with any of this.

By: Lori

Lori — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 05:35:26 +0000

Answer to Christine. I don't charge clients to mail a gift certificate no matter what the cost. I'm surprised you are c/o a $1.49 charge versus the amount that you make off each client. Also you mention your clients as crazy people? Wow, just wow. People have different reasons for wanting a certificate mailed. One simple reason is not having a printer. Some people esp. elderly still have problems understanding computer usage.

I would say stay focused on what we do. Offering discounts off services always works for anniversaries and birthdays. We have also worked with a flower shop to do personal deliveries however you need to be wary because it can cut unnecessarily into your spa profits!

By: Jill

Jill — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 17:40:51 +0000

Just answering Christina first off — we don't charge for mailing a certificate. It just costs us the $.41 stamp.

I would love to see a partnership with a national florist registry to do a flower & gift cert delivery. That would be amazing.

With a little extra legwork (phone calls, emails, etc.) it's possible to establish a relationship with a florist in your area to complete a package like that.

Anniversaries abound — there's an anniversary for almost every occasion these days, not just wedding anniversaries.

By: Christine

Christine — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 01:59:38 +0000

I would love to see another option similar to the one for postage for us mailing a certificate. I would love to offer personal delivery with flowers, candy, or balloons. We could set how much it would cost and then put that amount in. If they want it, they can take it, if they don't they can either choose for us to mail the certificate or print it themselves.

I had a crazy lady who opted for the mail option. She misunderstood. She lives out of state and wanted the certificate mailed. She called because it wasn't there when she thought it would be. She didn't realize she could print out the certificate and mail it herself! She figured it had to be mailed, so she had to take that option. I have had more people than usual take the mailing option. I charge $1.49, but honestly, it is not enough. I really don't like the trouble involved with mailing certificates. I am either going to raise the rate a few dollars or just take it away totally. I don't need any more crazy people calling me wondering where their certificate is.

How much do other places charge for mail delivery?