Groupon regularly features all sorts of awesome experiences and today’s Featured Merchant is no exception. We checked in with Darron Nilsson, owner of River’s End Rafting & Adventure Company in Bakersfield, CA, on one experience any adventure seeker would love.
When Groupon first reached out to Darron in early 2010, he wasn’t familiar with the Groupon concept and needed some time to conduct his own research. He did his homework on Groupon during the 2010 rafting off-season after reading about the company in TIME Magazine. Click through to read how Groupon helped Darron have his best, most successful summer ever in 2011.
Writes Darron:
As a small business owner of seven years, I have done extensive research in the area of marketing. I’ve read countless books and have tried every trick to draw new customers through my door.
The biggest dilemma facing many small businesses is artfully balancing exposure and cash flow. In order to grow your business, you need exposure; however, to achieve that exposure, you need to spend on marketing. If you sacrifice marketing to keep your cash, you wind up squelching your growth.
It’s a dilemma I’ve grappled with for years, and one that seemed to have no practical solution until Groupon entered the picture.
Last spring, a Groupon sales rep invited us to run a deal on their site for a rafting tour. At the time, I had not heard of Groupon and failed to see the impact it could have on my company. During the year that followed, however, I researched Groupon and began to realize the exposure we’d gain through accessing Groupon’s enourmous base of active customers.
Once I understood more about the company, I was anxious to get my feet wet. When Groupon approached me this past spring, I was ready.
I knew Groupon followers who saw the deal were likely to recognize the incredible value of the offer and purchase a trip. What I didn’t anticipate was that I would hit the jackpot of exposure and have nearly 6,000 new customers coming my way!
Our first Groupon ran in April 2011 in Ventura County, CA. Our eyes were glued to the computer as our offer went live on Groupon’s site, netting 726 purchases. We were delighted—this was a huge sell for us.
Little did we know, things were about to get even better.
Our second Groupon, also in April, was targeted at members in Los Angeles, CA. Again, we watched the computer screen with intense fascination; but this time the ticking of the sales climbed quickly from the hundreds into the thousands. Our phone rang non-stop from 7am until late into the night. We responded to online questions from Groupon customers throughout the experience, and spent hours sorting through messages people had left while we were busy on the phone.
The Los Angeles Groupon sold almost 4,500 rafting trips in a single day. This nearly doubled the number of rafting trips we typically sell in an entire season
We still had one more Groupon to rollout–this one in our hometown of Bakersfield, CA. With this Groupon, another 707 new customers came on board. We had our work cut out for us, but we had prepared accordingly and I had told my employees to expect a busy summer.
In total, our three Groupons produced almost 6,000 purchases and a boatload of new adventurers to raft with us this summer. In addition to the deal sales, we have seen a significant number of customers come by who learned about us from friends or family who purchased a Groupon deal. Many of our customers that have redeemed their Groupons this season have already purchased future full-price passes, too. This summer we also sold more T-shirts and food than ever before. It’s important to look at everything when running a Groupon deal, not just the initial discount you provide.
I’m now faced with the problem any entrepreneur dreams of having—how to accommodate all these customers! Logistically, it’s been challenging, but having to expand our company to accommodate growth is a challenge we’re thrilled to take on.
Groupon has taken our business to a level of success we had not seen after seven years of traditional marketing efforts. Our partnership with Groupon has been the single-most valuable resource in growing our business into something exciting and huge.
Groupon won’t have to solicit us to work with them next spring, because we already plan to use them in all future marketing strategies.
-Rivers End Rafting & Adventure Company owner Darron Nilsson
Questions or comments for Darron? Leave them below and we’ll be sure to send them his way.
Tags: Featured Merchant
