ON THE MOVE
educate your prospects as to all their options, includ- ing the more expensive ones, you are failing to properly serve them.
Regarding add-ons, as long as the add-on is a le- gitimate value with definite appeal and high perceived value, and as long as the offer is alluring, you can and should apply this technique.
Consider making at least three distinct up-sell/add- on sales offers with any given transaction. Whether they buy your first add-on or not, go ahead and make the second one. And whether they bite on that or not, make the third. Your better auto dealerships and clothiers are very good at this. Most other businesses aren’t. Yes, you do have to use judgment — you don’t want to go too far. But you certainly want to go far enough. Again, it takes planning, training, and tracking to make it work well, but it is worth it because even with weak execu- tion, this works. As you have no doubt come to realize, and volumi- nous research verifies, up-selling and add-on selling are among the most neglected yet predictably effec- tive techniques you can use to instantly improve the average size and profitability of every sales transaction. Experiment! Find the right combinations. The results will pleasantly astonish you. You really can add 30 per- cent to your bottom line with this one technique. You could also add a lot more! Jim Ackerman is a renowned marketing speaker, mar- keting coach, columnist and author of the new book, How To Market Your Crap When the Economy Is In the Toilet … 12 Vital Strategies for Unclogging the American Economy, One Business at a Time. For more information about Jim’s speaking services go to marketingspeakerjimackerman. com. For information about his coaching program go to
principlecenteredmarketingcoach.com. Or to buy
his
book, go to
marketyourcrap.com. Jim has helped compa- nies large and small get dramatic increases in return for their marketing and advertising buck. For a FREE, more detailed report and CD on Up-selling and Add-on selling, send an e-mail with your name and company name to
mail@ascendmarketing.com. Paul Furse has helped hundreds of small business
clients, from tire stores to eye doctors, on improving volume, profitability, cash flow, and morale. Under his leadership, the Regional Service Center of one of the largest financial service companies quadrupled its vol- ume, repeatedly set production records, and achieved the lowest cost-per-new account ratio
After that he served as a Small Business Analyst with one of the world’s largest consulting firms, and he is an entrepreneur who has built and operated several small businesses of his own. For a free Marketing Fitness Check-up, send an e-mail with your contact information to
paulfurse@ascendmarketing.com. ■
54 Mobile Electronics February | March 2011 ELEMENTS OF
YOUR UP-SELL and ADD-ON SELLING SYSTEMS
Like any marketing principle, strategy or technique, this one will bring you maximum profits only when you systemize it. Here’s what you need to systemize your up- selling processes…
1]
Determine a collection of up-sell and add-on offers. (Revisit these at a regular interval to keep them fresh, relevant and compelling to prospects and customers.) What products make sense for every purchase? Remember to look at the right numbers, as outlined earlier, in setting your prices for these offers! Are you going to require a minimum purchase amount to qualify for the add-on offer? What companion products will make sense for the customer to add on to their purchase? What products make sense for every purchase?
2]
Secure or prepare the materials you will need to support these efforts. Brochures, feature/benefit sheets, in-store signage, etc. Develop scripts for you and your people to use in the various up-selling and add-on situations, and role play these in regular sales meetings. (Revisit and revise these as necessary.) Everybody asks, “Will that be all today?” But that’s not an up-sell. McDonald’s struck it rich asking “Would you like a hot apple turnover or fries with that?”
3] 4]
Initiate incentives for your personnel to execute your up- selling and add-on sales program.
Engage in training to introduce the program, convince your people of its importance to your company, and teach them how to do it. (Don’t worry if you don’t think you know how to do it yourself. Teach them how anyway to the best of your ability. This is such a powerful principle, even weak execution will generally yield profitable results — and you’ll all get better at it as you go along.) Spend some time explaining to your employees how the add-on prod- ucts and services you offer really add value and benefit to your customers’ lives. You do not want a hit and miss effort or you will find it works for a while and then your people will get out of the habit of doing it — as will you!
5] in the nation.
Install a tracking system to determine your pre-up-Selling unit of sale and then track the increase in sales and prof- its you will experience as you implement and improve your up-selling and add-on efforts.
Finally, at the core of any up-sell or add-on sales system is the principle of ASKING. You must ask questions to learn about the prospects real needs and wants, and then ask them specifically to buy specific items. Then you can expect to get a YES.
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