The Reality of Gift Voucher Sales.

By Phoebe Bawden

Let’s have a chat about Gift Vouchers… because on the surface they can be an amazing cash injection into our business (especially at those busy times of year), but did you know that, if not executed well, they are actually a liability?

This is something that has been coming up a lot with my coaching clients and I want to give you five tips around the creation and sales of GV’s, to help keep your income flowing in whilst still honouring them.

1. Cap your promotional voucher sales and stick to it!

Limiting the number of vouchers sold provides a sense of exclusivity and gives your clients a call to action. Example: only making 50 available. Put all of those people who miss out on purchasing, on a waiting list and reach out to them when running your next promotion. Whenever new or existing clients contact your business in any regard (socials, phone, email), whether they convert to a sale or not, gain as much contact info from them as you can and add it into your database. Then make them the first point of contact when you run your next promotions, alternatively for those ones who miss out, lock them into an appointment booking within the next week or two. This will maintain your cash flow.

2. Stagger the expiration dates.

We all have those weeks where we feel like we are being smashed by voucher redemptions leaving us with little income being generated. By staggering your expiration dates this will alleviate the pressure and allow you to redeem whilst still having the time to accommodate full paying

Technically in Australia, monetary vouchers do have to be honoured up to three years, but promotional/’add on value’ ones do not. So, make sure you’re playing within the rules here.

3. Get your staff HUSTLING!

Educate your staff on the importance of product sales, upgrades, and the ultimate client experience. We want to turn Gift Voucher clients into loyal ongoing customers, that is the goal, right? By giving them the most incredible customer service experience is a sure-fire way to have those customers coming back again and again. Also get them spending over and above the value of their voucher so you can make extra cash along the way.

4. Set the money aside.

Transfer gift voucher sales into a separate bank account and only move back into your transactional account when that voucher has been redeemed, the same as you should be separating out your tax savings.

So. Many. Times. I have seen salon owners overspend when getting some extra cash leaving very little left to pay the bills. Having a separate bank account is a really smart way to keep that money flowing.

5. Redeem gift vouchers on both service and product.

We want to get rid of as many vouchers as we can and quickly. What a lot of people don’t realise is that when it comes to selling your business, outstanding vouchers can come off the sale price. Can you imagine if you had $100,000 in unredeemed vouchers? What would your salon be worth then?

A big mistake people make here is thinking that products cost a lot of money and vouchers should only be redeemed on services. The truth? Products cost nowhere as much as the labour for your services does. Why would you spend an hour doing a service for $80 when you can give someone a product for $80 that maybe costs you $40 and takes up no time at all?

Coach Pheebs X

My books are currently open to new coaching clients, feel free to connect with me at Instagram.com/PhoebeCMCoaching or phoebe@caitlynmenzel.com