Mike Cooper
If given the opportunity, would you agree to accept mentorship from a clown to help improve your business? You might be saying no to yourself right now, but this specific clown turned a small burger joint into the largest fast food brand in the world, all from one small question.
“Would you like fries with that,” is asked more than a million times a day in North America. Health opinions aside, this one question helped make the first fast food restaurant franchise a huge success and has since been replicated by others in the same industry, as well as others that are completely unrelated.
No joking around, the clown knew that one particular question was going to be a key part of their success, and a similar question might be the key to your success as well.
The fact remains that most small businesses still forget to ask for the ‘up-sell’ and leave potential money sitting on the table. There seems to be a fear, by business owners or employees, of suggesting the customer purchase more than what they came in for.
In reality the extra money made on an up-sell comes easier, faster, and cheaper than trying to get another new customer in the door. Any good business coach will tell you that.
However, with an up-sell there is also a fine line you do not want to cross. You don’t want the customer feeling like they were sold something they really didn’t want. You want the client to leave feeling satisfied with their purchase, that they acquired more features they will enjoy using, and they received the best value possible.
When the client is standing at the till, wallet in hand, they are already purchasing what they want, which is why they are coming to you. The suggested up-sell simply helps bring that experience to the next level.
The first system you should put in place for up-selling is setting up your products and prices to allow for it. You will usually find most businesses have mastered up-selling their products in three different options or package levels.
Using a restaurant and its selection of wine as example, there should be an entry level section. Your first section simply up sells wine with a meal. Kind of like, “Would you like fries with that?”
The second section of wine is the up-sell target; this is the level you’re hoping to sell the most of and because of your purchasing power it hopefully has the best profit margin. Here you’re going to add more value for the price paid and the customer should see the value of this over the entry level product. This is where you would put your house wine or featured wines. Showcase them and their value over the first section.
The third section of wine is usually something that 99% of your customers won’t buy. This is that crazy expensive bottle that people look at and wonder who could afford that, or dream of one day buying it to celebrate something important with friends.
So why inventory or offer a wine that only sells 1% of the time?
Simple. It will help sell the second section. When people compare all three sections they will perceive the first section as too cheap, the third section as being too expensive, and the second section holding the best value. Don’t worry about that third section of wine though, every once and a while you get the customer who is celebrating something big or just wants to show off to someone and will pay top dollar for that wine!
Once the wine has been purchased you move on to the next round of up-selling. In a restaurant environment this would most likely be dessert after the meal. In an electronic store it would most likely be the extended warranty.
The most important part of up-selling though is not selling the product, but rather offering it as a reasonable request in a non-offending way. It seems reasonable to offer dessert after dinner right? However, if the person offering it comes off as to pushy or won’t walk away without the sale, the up-sell now becomes a turn off.
A worst case scenario would be lying to make the up-sell, as I experienced from a car dealership. The salesman was trying to up-sell me to the next package on the vehicle I wanted by telling me lies that were just not true on the package I wanted. A little research online and I was able to catch him on his lies as he tried to back pedal. Needless to say he didn’t get the sale and I bought the same vehicle somewhere else.
So remember to be honest, have integrity, be authentic, and always consider the up-sell!
Mike Cooper is the owner of Black Mountain Media.
Send Mike a note at: mike@blackmountainmedia.ca
See what Black Mountain does at: www.blackmountainmedia.ca
You can also call: 778-214-0519