Add
On Sales
By Ed Rigsbee, CSP
(776 words)
There is a reason why
McDonald’s enjoyed total revenues of $23.5 billion in 2008. Could it be
that there are more than 31,000 McDonald’s restaurants around the world
in 118 countries? That is partly the reason, however I believe the fact
that they sell 9 million pounds of their delicious French fries per day is
an even more important element.
What they really do well
is ask, “Would you like fries with that?” McDonald’s world wide
excels at add on sales. I realize that others have also gotten on the
“add on sales” band wagon, yet McDonald’s consistently performs year
after year.
What
Would it Take?
What would it take for
you to create this kind of culture in your organization? You might be
finding yourself a bit resistant, thinking that the MacDonald’s
employees are mindless robots; and you might be right. However, they
consistently perform. What would it take for your organization to perform
at the level McDonald’s expects? Could the roadblocks be ego, intellect,
and perception?
The
Ego Roadblock
In my experience
professional service corporations and chic retailers are the worst
offenders in the area of letting ego get in the way of add on sales.
I’ll ask you this. ”Do you want to hold on to your costly erroneous
beliefs or do you want to increase revenues? When you let your ego get in
your way, revenues will decrease.
The
Intellect Roadblock
“I’ll do it my way
because I know better.” This is the battle cry for intellects. In
solving complex problems this is fine, however it is not acceptable is
selling more of your products and/or services. Intellects are infatuated
with features as opposed to being conscious of benefits. Intellects love
to hear themselves talk about the technical side of anything and
everything. Guess what? Your customers really do not care. They just want
to know how your product or service will make their lives better—and,
that it is a good value.
The
Perception Roadblock
The perception roadblock
to add on sales is one that will definitely need a brain adjustment.
Business owners and the employees that sell for them too often feel it is
an imposition on their customer to offer something additional. Somehow
these folks got their head screwed on cockeyed and they really do need
some help. When one truly cares about their customer, client, or patient;
it is incumbent on them to offer every bit of value your/their
organization has to offer.
One might say that
McDonald’s is making people fat and unhealthy by offering supersizing or
just “fries with that.” I do not think so. McDonalds is not cramming
the food down the throats of their dining patrons but simply offering more
value. Customers make choices. What you need to do is to simply offer your
customers more choices and more value.
Success
in Simplicity
McDonald’s, I believe,
is successful because of simplicity. They do not rattle off 20 additional
dining options but rather one or two. If you were to adapt this idea of
simplicity to your organization, it might be done by just offering one
single item to every customer as an add on, or possible having just one
specific and different customized add on offering for every individual
product or service. Needless to say, the multi-item approach is much more
difficult to implement.
Why
Else Don’t They Offer?
I have found that the
primary reason you and your employees do not offer add on sales is because
of a lack of training. I bet you thought I was going to say laziness. In
my two decades of experience in work with organizations as a consultant, I
have identified lack of training as the culprit much more often than
apathy or sloth.
A
Simple Solution
Your simple solution to
increasing add on sales in your organization is daily training. Try this
for a month and see if I’m not completely correct. At the start of every
day, spend two to three minutes explaining to all the persons in your
organization, why a particular product or service helps your customers’
lives to be better and suggest that they suggest it to customers that day.
At the end of a month you have trained your entire company, on how to
offer 20 new and or different, add on products or services. And your
employees have consciously participated in that training.
Yes, it will take you,
the leader, a bit of pre-planning time but, my gosh—isn’t that your
job anyway? Do this rigorously for one month and I guarantee you that
you’ll be pleased with the results. It is the little things that make
the difference.
Copyright
© 2010 Ed Rigsbee
#
# # # #
Ed
Rigsbee, Certified Speaking Professional, travels internationally to
deliver keynote presentations and workshops on effective and profitable alliance
and partnering relationships. In addition to serving as the president of Rigsbee Research
Consulting Group, Ed also serves as the CEO and Executive Director of a (501 c
3) public, non-profit
charity. Ed has authored three books and over 1,500 articles to help organizations to take full advantage of their potential.
While Ed has been fumbling, bumbling, and stumbling his way through the
organizational mazes of for-profits and non-profits for over four decades,
he has been an observer, researcher, and
teacher; helping organizations of all sizes to build successful internal
and external collaborative relationships. Contact
Ed, get additional (no charge) resources, sign up for his
complimentary weekly Effective
Executive eLetter, or to view Ed’s videos, please visit www.Rigsbee.com
|
