Do You Have Any Coupons?

Post by Julie Chisum

It's just a fact: everyone wants to see if they can save some money, get a discount, or get something for free. So, why not make everyone shopping on your site happy by always having relevant coupons available?

Well, it sounds easy enough, but we usually hear two major reasons that hold Internet teams back from always having great coupons on their sites. Any guesses? Time and Ideas.

There's no magic solution to the time problem, just make sure this task of coupon building and maintenance is assigned to someone. Delegate. You know you can do it.

Now, let's talk about ideas.

We would encourage you to think outside the box when it comes to coupons. You will probably need something a little more enticing than $200 off the price, so what are customers looking for, exactly? Research is showing us that customers still buy from people they like, so use this opportunity to give customers a reason to like you. Offer discounts to members of your communties that make huge sacrifices for not a lot of dough. For example, teachers, EMTs, fire fighters and police officers all keep our communities going and discounts for these folks can go a long, long way for your repeat and referral business, too.

Also, it might be a good idea to post coupons for military personnel. Lots of them are coming home and will need vehicles. Don't forget to tell them how much you appreciate their service by offering discounts or free gadgets.

This brings us to our next idea of gadgets. If you want some great ideas of things to offer, take a look at the Best Buy flier in your local weekend paper. Toyota shoppers seem to love electronic gadgets and games, so why not appeal to them through your coupons?

We've seen dealers offer ipods, portable navigation systems, xbox or wii games, digital cameras, printers...you get the idea.

Our last set of ideas has to do with Service and Parts. It is crucial that you get your Parts and Service Managers engaged in this process, so don't give up until they give you the information you need to build the coupons, or they offer to get them done themselves. Either way, we would encourage you to make sure there are always coupons for Oil Changes (including price and what a customer receives for this service), Filters (air and oil) and Wiper Blades. These tend to be the most requested in the Parts and Service departments, so doesn't it make sense to always have them listed on your site?

So, now that you know that you can delegate coupon building and you have ideas to use, what are you waiting for?

Oh, one last thing. To build these coupons, you need to log in to Fusion Tools and choose from the menu on the left. It will take you step-by-step from there.