Christmas Gift Vouchers
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Christmas Gift Vouchers
As well as being a flying instructor I'm also heavily involved in advertising for the company that I work for. I'm just wondering how Christmas gift voucher sales are going in the UK this year. We've noticed a drop in sales and so I'm wondering if this is a nationwide thing. I guess that it's still early days. How's everybody else doing?
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Too early to tell.
Last year sold about 35.
Some other clubs on a/f claimed 10.
My first job instructing in 1987, the club sold about 300.
1991 remember sharing the desk job selling about 5-10 per day last two weeks before Christmas.
The good old days!
Last year sold about 35.
Some other clubs on a/f claimed 10.
My first job instructing in 1987, the club sold about 300.
1991 remember sharing the desk job selling about 5-10 per day last two weeks before Christmas.
The good old days!
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We're only a small school. We usually sell approximately eighty or so on the run-up to Christmas. I have a vague recollection of selling a couple of hundred at a flying club back in the late '90s. As for the number that don't get used. There's a few. I'm always extra busy just before the vouchers expire. It's hard to remain enthusiastic when you know that the person's only booked in after being nagged to do so by whoever bought the voucher in the first place.
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With us, numbers down 20% a year for the last four years.
Customers definitely leaving Xmas purchases to later and later in the year.
Things not helped when other schools offer deals on Groupon-style sites for buttons and at peak sales times of the year. Can't call Xmas peak flying time!
We don't sell on price, rather we offer a true recreational flying experience: friends and family up close with aircraft.
I suspect fall in sales was due to:
A 20% price hike two-ish years ago.
A lot of competition in marketing from agencies (and we only deal with two - one UK and one Scottish) who offer crazy discounts - like 25% off when they pay us minus just 20% commission! Yes, we could buy our own flights from them and make a profit! The route to madness!
A lot of competition from hotel deals: room, b&b and dinner for two + bottle of wine for £70!! And so both can enjoy the gift - and it lasts a lot longer than a 30 min flight.
Flying may once have seemed exotic, now you can get a flight and two nights in Paris/Milan/Nice etc at off-peak times for an hour's flight.
Customers definitely leaving Xmas purchases to later and later in the year.
Things not helped when other schools offer deals on Groupon-style sites for buttons and at peak sales times of the year. Can't call Xmas peak flying time!
We don't sell on price, rather we offer a true recreational flying experience: friends and family up close with aircraft.
I suspect fall in sales was due to:
A 20% price hike two-ish years ago.
A lot of competition in marketing from agencies (and we only deal with two - one UK and one Scottish) who offer crazy discounts - like 25% off when they pay us minus just 20% commission! Yes, we could buy our own flights from them and make a profit! The route to madness!
A lot of competition from hotel deals: room, b&b and dinner for two + bottle of wine for £70!! And so both can enjoy the gift - and it lasts a lot longer than a 30 min flight.
Flying may once have seemed exotic, now you can get a flight and two nights in Paris/Milan/Nice etc at off-peak times for an hour's flight.
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About 5% don't get taken, so that use to cover the cost of advertising.
And I believe no vat to pay if the flight or service not provided, so pure profit.
Newspaper advertising waste of time.
Cheap web site brings results.
Also repeat customers buying for other relatives.
We also use one of the big voucher sellers. We cover costs. No profit but huge point of sale which we could never do.
And I believe no vat to pay if the flight or service not provided, so pure profit.
Newspaper advertising waste of time.
Cheap web site brings results.
Also repeat customers buying for other relatives.
We also use one of the big voucher sellers. We cover costs. No profit but huge point of sale which we could never do.
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Its your voucher sellers which are killing it.
I thankfully managed to get the boss to refuse them while I was working as a FI, The whole red letter day thing was a bloody con shafting the punter and the school.
It worked great for us as we pretty much had a monopoly in the area.
The voucher company's were extremely aggressive they didn't have a foot in the market in the area. The boss eventually gave in after I left. Ended up converting 100-200 hours from what once was profitable work into covering costs/slight lose for no real return.
The argument it a lose leader is a pile of bollocks. You don't convert a fraction of the agency vouchers compared to the self sold vouchers.
yes your flying hours may go down slightly but realistically you will have less work and higher conversions and more importantly more profit by having nothing to do with these agency's. They are a cancer.
I thankfully managed to get the boss to refuse them while I was working as a FI, The whole red letter day thing was a bloody con shafting the punter and the school.
It worked great for us as we pretty much had a monopoly in the area.
The voucher company's were extremely aggressive they didn't have a foot in the market in the area. The boss eventually gave in after I left. Ended up converting 100-200 hours from what once was profitable work into covering costs/slight lose for no real return.
The argument it a lose leader is a pile of bollocks. You don't convert a fraction of the agency vouchers compared to the self sold vouchers.
yes your flying hours may go down slightly but realistically you will have less work and higher conversions and more importantly more profit by having nothing to do with these agency's. They are a cancer.
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We have no problem using a voucher company.
Must admit its only one company we use.
Can't see how it kills it, as we have customers we probably wouldn't have had.
There are six companies looking for business where we operate.
What do we lose. Local rag asks us to advertise in their newspaper.
£45+vat for a 3x5 cm advert. I say no.
Then explain how many takers we might get from that...One, by past experience. Then it takes profit from several flights to pay for the advert.
We don't lose out as some continue as students, but no worse than the one's we sell direct.
I treat everyone as potential student, even if they fly on the last day the vouchers valid. Some have become students.
Today there are too many other things for people to spend their money on.
Flying no longer as a mystique it had say 30 years ago.
When I started in the late seventies I was the Airfix, Battle of Britain film generation.
Flying was seen as exciting. Today people think of Bryanair and long security queues at airports when they think of flying.
So long as the aircraft are flying by whatever means, I get paid and the aircraft remain available for aircraft hire.
Flying in general is in slow decline, still an expensive hobby.
No good as a business tool, example last night wanted to go to Bristol at 18:00.
Handling charge for a 1.1tonne aircraft £225, what a joke!
Must admit its only one company we use.
Can't see how it kills it, as we have customers we probably wouldn't have had.
There are six companies looking for business where we operate.
What do we lose. Local rag asks us to advertise in their newspaper.
£45+vat for a 3x5 cm advert. I say no.
Then explain how many takers we might get from that...One, by past experience. Then it takes profit from several flights to pay for the advert.
We don't lose out as some continue as students, but no worse than the one's we sell direct.
I treat everyone as potential student, even if they fly on the last day the vouchers valid. Some have become students.
Today there are too many other things for people to spend their money on.
Flying no longer as a mystique it had say 30 years ago.
When I started in the late seventies I was the Airfix, Battle of Britain film generation.
Flying was seen as exciting. Today people think of Bryanair and long security queues at airports when they think of flying.
So long as the aircraft are flying by whatever means, I get paid and the aircraft remain available for aircraft hire.
Flying in general is in slow decline, still an expensive hobby.
No good as a business tool, example last night wanted to go to Bristol at 18:00.
Handling charge for a 1.1tonne aircraft £225, what a joke!
Last edited by BigEndBob; 7th Dec 2014 at 20:17.
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Having read the above we are in fact benefiting from another 100+ Christmas vouchers from other companies. So in effect we're still getting a total of 200+ extra flights. All good stuff. Mind you I still think that it's a shame that people pay over the odds by going to the big companies rather than coming directly to us.
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Our web site is all we use - newspaper ads a waste of money, as you say you don't get the cost of the ad back. We're selling one or two a day at the moment, expect it to pick up nearer to the day. Our takeup is around 85%, only get about 2 students a year from vouchers, the rest just enjoy their day. We DO get personal recommendations - had one today
" I had a ride in the back of your aircraft last year and now want to buy a trial lesson for my daughter"
I'd say sales are around half of what they were 8 or so years ago.
We DO emphasise this is a proper trial lesson and as it's flown by an instructor at least the rudiments of how the a/c is flown are explained, practically everybody has a go, even if they say they weren't going to beforehand. We always seem to have happy, satisfied customers, but then who wouldn't be after flying along the glorious North Cornish coast??
TOO
" I had a ride in the back of your aircraft last year and now want to buy a trial lesson for my daughter"
I'd say sales are around half of what they were 8 or so years ago.
We DO emphasise this is a proper trial lesson and as it's flown by an instructor at least the rudiments of how the a/c is flown are explained, practically everybody has a go, even if they say they weren't going to beforehand. We always seem to have happy, satisfied customers, but then who wouldn't be after flying along the glorious North Cornish coast??
TOO
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Sales are down due to the competition on the internet over the last few years, and the general dilution of experience activities on the net (many other types of experience available).
We experience a 10% no show rate, and whilst I don't know about the VAT certainly it is taxable income. So not quite all pure profit!
We do not use the Red letter Days Into the Blue etc type companies as the deal is so poor and the thinking is if none of us used them we will all benefit.
Somebody earlier said the "good old days" and I believe they are well and truly behind us in this business. The secret is in the web site, search engine optimisation, marketing and all that good stuff - but then that is no secret!
Happy Christmas!
We experience a 10% no show rate, and whilst I don't know about the VAT certainly it is taxable income. So not quite all pure profit!
We do not use the Red letter Days Into the Blue etc type companies as the deal is so poor and the thinking is if none of us used them we will all benefit.
Somebody earlier said the "good old days" and I believe they are well and truly behind us in this business. The secret is in the web site, search engine optimisation, marketing and all that good stuff - but then that is no secret!
Happy Christmas!
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The internet is definitely the way forward, along with word of mouth.
I've been successfully using Facebook for the last couple of years. It definitely works, plus it keeps our current customers engaged with what we have to offer.
As for sales this Christmas...we're now up to sixty gift vouchers.
I've been successfully using Facebook for the last couple of years. It definitely works, plus it keeps our current customers engaged with what we have to offer.
As for sales this Christmas...we're now up to sixty gift vouchers.
