One-Woman Show Jessica Chandler Used Groupon to Take the Sculpt Pod International

Since Groupon was founded in 2008, we’ve helped over a million merchants connect with communities through effective local business marketing campaigns. Recently we sat down with Jessica Chandler, Owner & Founder of Sculpt Pod Inc, to hear one such success story.

Founded in Frisco, Texas in 2015, Sculpt Pod Inc supplies med spas and clinics with a piece of equipment known as the Sculpt Pod, a device resembling a space-age tanning bed. The Sculpt Pod delivers a patent-protected three-step treatment: infrared heat and LED light, all-organic hot cream, and whole-body vibration. Benefits include weight loss, cellulite removal, skin tightening, breakdown of scar tissue, improved circulation, and more.

When starting her business, Jessica initially built a team of about 30 employees before deciding she was better off on her own. As a one-woman show, she’s spread the Sculpt Pod throughout the country and even into Canada. Her secret? Choose your clients carefully, keep them close, and market your brand with Groupon.

Taking Sculpt Pod Across The Country — And Across The Border

What motivated you to start Sculpt Pod?

I was personally motivated to pursue weight loss after I had my third son. Nothing gave me the results I wanted, so I set out to create a solution myself. With the Sculpt Pod, I combined three steps into one machine that accomplishes weight loss and inch loss on your lunch break. It is instant gratification for anyone whose metabolism has come to a halt. Not to mention all of the health benefits such as decreasing inflammation that The Sculpt Pod does.

My first company grew to thirty employees in the first year, but it’s hard to find loyal employees, so now I figure that if you want something done right, you really do have to do it yourself. I handle everything — the purchase agreements, the Groupon agreements, the social media and marketing, shipping the product from the manufacturer… I’m a one-woman show, I wear every hat.

The great thing about that is it gives me the opportunity to have a personal business relationship with every partner location. I’m always in communication with them, making sure they are well taken care of.

Who is your typical client, and why do they choose Sculpt Pod?

The customers who use the Sculpt Pod are men and women of all ages, since weight loss appeals to everyone. They’re mostly med spa visitors and chiropractic patients. As for my clients, we have 34 or 35 locations right now, which I’d say are about 90% med spas, 5% chiropractic clinics, and 5% people currently in the process of starting their own business.

The reason they want to partner with Sculpt Pod is, typically, a spa will spend thousands of dollars on equipment, and then the supplier will sell that very same equipment to a nearby competitor. This forces them to compete to undercut each other, and in the end they don’t get the returns they were expecting.

I’m very careful to protect the locations I partner with by not selling to nearby competitors, I don’t want them undercutting each other. The number of Sculpt Pods I put in an area depends on the state, the density, etc. When someone reaches out about getting the Sculpt Pod, I run the mileage between them and the nearest locations that already have it, to make sure they won’t be in direct competition.

The Sculpt Pod also comes with a marketing package that includes Groupon deals, Instagram promotions, signage, and marketing materials. The revenue from the Groupon deal is shared between Sculpt Pod and the client where it’s located. What all of this does is, it provides them with instant customers, as well as guidance for how to market this equipment they just bought.

What does Groupon provide your business that you couldn’t do on your own?

Definitely the marketing, and the algorithms and all that. Our Groupon deals have reached over 87 million people, which is the sort of exposure that would definitely not be possible for a one-woman show otherwise. This sort of marketing would be especially expensive if I outsourced it to a firm.

How has this relationship with Groupon impacted your business?

We’ve gone from 5 locations to 34 locations across the country, and we’re looking at expanding into Florida, maybe New York since it only has one. It’s also helped launch us into international territories. We have a location in Canada with a client that found us through Groupon, and we’ve had interest from Australia. People reach out to us after finding Sculpt Pod while visiting the U.S.

Since our current campaign launched in May of 2018, we’ve sold over 15,000 Groupons and earned over $800,000. It’s more than just the revenue, though. I’m also leveraging my brand to provide my clients an immediate stream of new customers. I’m nurturing my ongoing relationships with them. And I’m building my brand by collecting reviews from all these different locations.