Small Biz Survival

The small town and rural business resource

A row of small town shops

Coupons and discounts: two rules

By

Poker chip says, "free medium cherry limeade."

Sonic Drive-Ins issued this coupon on a poker chip. How can you make your coupons interesting enough to be worth it? Photo by Becky McCray.

When I spoke to small business owners in Ponca City recently, one audience member asked about offering coupons and discounts.

So we talked about her business (basically, a franchised frozen yogurt parlor), and how they’ve gotten started with coupons and discounts, so now people seem to expect them.

I made up these two rules for coupons on the spot:

1. Track them.
Never issue coupons that you can’t track how effective they are. Find ways to keep track of where they go out, when they get used, and whether those customers ever return.
I think a natural follow on is to make the coupon a lead-in to a loyalty program. You came in for the free cone; now we want to hook you with our Dish of the Week.

2. Make the coupon an experience.
The coupon itself could be an interesting experience.
Sonic Drive-Ins issued poker chip coupons. They aren’t cheap plastic things. They are heavy and soft-finished like real poker chips. You can see I kept mine. They even look like the mints Sonic is known for handing out.

The act of redeeming a coupon could be an interesting experience.
Servers could break into song. A free item could be served in a special dish. Maybe the coupon is for a special experience, like a drink in the “hidden” room in a bar.

Since I’ve admitted I made those up on the spot, I’m betting you can improve on them. What ideas do you have?

New to SmallBizSurvival.com? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Get our updates.

About Becky McCray

Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.

Wondering what is and is not allowed in the comments?
Or how to get a nifty photo beside your name?
Check our commenting policy.
Use your real name, not a business name.


Don't see the comment form?
Comments are automatically closed on older posts, but you can send me your comment via this contact form and I'll add it manually for you. Thanks!

Trackbacks

Howdy!

Glad you dropped in to the rural and small town business blog, established in 2006.

We want you to feel at home, so please take our guided tour.

Meet our authors on the About page.

Have something to say? You can give us a holler on the contact form.

If you would like permission to re-use an article you've read here, please make a Reprint Request.

Want to search our past articles? Catch up with the latest stories? Browse through the categories? All the good stuff is on the Front Page.

Shop Local

Buy local buttonReady to set up a shop local campaign in your small town? You'll need a guide who understands how we're different and what really works: Shop Local Campaigns for Small Towns.

Best of Small Biz Survival

More of the best of Small Biz Survival