Instead of free

[James R Cook GCF]

We used to do free jobs, things like wire, new backing, touch up a frame.
Something we have started doing lately.
First off they came to you and expected to pay you for doing, right!~
Instead of giving it to them free.
Print up some $10.00 coupons and keep them handy.
Then Charge them $10.00 or whatever and give them a coupon good on their next CUSTOM FRAME JOB.(On ours we put no cash value, no expiration). Tell them they can keep it or give it to a friend. We have gotten about a 48% return over the last year.
Make sure you put them in your POS.
Then when you do a mailing they will get it.
Increasing odds they return.

 

[Jim Miller MCPF GCF]

That's a great idea, Jim, and not too complicated.

Come to think of it, many of the more-sophisticated retailers do similar things, but most of them require some jumping-through-hoops. CVS, Walgreens, Staples, and other mass-market retailers offer coupons that can be combined with rebates and other perks to make things "free". The let's-make-it-more-complicated marketing concept seems to be quite popular now. Kudos to you for keeping it simple.

 

[Sue Davis]

Best Buy does a similar thing. When you recycle a TV or monitor, they charge $10 but give you a $10 gift card, knowing full well that you'll be back and spend more than that. I like the idea of doing this on those nuisance jobs.

 

[Kai Vanuffelen]

Even if the customer loses the voucher, you still make money on these little jobs.