As a sales coach (and active salesperson), I tend to evaluate sales people every place I go. Recently, my husband, Shane and I were exposed to some great upselling tips in southern Georgia at a little roadside stand selling peaches, peanuts and pecans.
I wasn’t really in the buying mood, but after the sales guy gave us some free samples, their peanut/ pecan/ cashew brittle got my attention. Shane and I talked it over and agreed to get a bag for $4.99. That’s when the sales guy reappeared.
The Upsell:
Sales guy: “Did you decide on something?”
Husband: “I think we’re going to get a bag of the brittle.”
Me: “Which one do you think is better; the peanut or pecan?”
Sales guy: “Oh, I can never decide. They’re both good in different ways. If I were you, I’d get one of each.”
Husband: “Fair enough. We’ll take both.”
Sales guy: “Just to let you know, they’re $4.99 each, or 3 for $12. You should grab another bag.”
Husband: “Makes sense for just $2 more.”
Now, this was not what you would think of as a slick, polished sales guy. He was a quiet, older gentlemen (at least 65 years old) wearing an old, worn pair of overalls. But he had skills. In 10 seconds, we went from buying 1 bag of candy for $5 – to buying 3 bags for $12.
There are a couple of great upselling tips hidden in those 10 seconds. Had the sales guy jumped straight to selling us 3 bags, we would have said no. So he upsold on the different varieties – and after we were already holding 2 bags, the third bag (for only $2 more – price negotiation!) made complete sense. Upselling is easy when it’s done correctly!
More Upselling Tips: Focus on Service
Unless you are truly in a transactional sales model (like the classic McDonald’s “Do you want fries with that?”), there can be a real danger in upselling. If your goal is to wring every possible penny from your client, then you’ll find they won’t be your client for long. Aggressive upselling (or any overly aggressive selling) can be murder on meaningful client relationships. However, if your heart is truly on service, then effective upselling can be beneficial for you and your clients.
I enjoy being sold to when its done well and it fills a need. In the end, we were glad that we tried both varieties – and while we didn’t really need that extra bag of candy – for $2 extra, we felt like extra snacks for our long car ride was worth it.
And in case you were wondering, we liked the pecan brittle the most! 🙂
Until next time – go sell some stuff!
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