You can blame the fast-food giants – they started it. “It” is the, “Would you like fries with that?” era. They figured it out first, so they get the credit. They made a specific suggestion and got super results.
Times have changed, but the facts haven’t. What spurred the initial push was a survey that pointed out that 80% of single item purchasers said “yes” when asked if they would like another specific item. Businesses across the world caught on, but many have gotten lazy as time moves forward.
How many of your customers buy one or two items? I bet it’s more than you think. You can’t just ask, “Did you find everything today?” or “Is there anything else I can get you?” These aren’t enough. You have to train employees to identify the next step. Make specific, relevant, suggestions based on your customer’s needs. In order to do this, managers need to make the investment to train employees who face off with customers about the choices available.
Most customers don’t know what their choices are. It’s not their job to know – it’s yours, as the business, to be the expert. An example of this is a hardware store. You can actually go in and buy a toilet. Now, if you’ve ever replaced a toilet you know there’s at least another five or six parts that you must have to complete the job. Probably another 10 to do it right. The money’s not made off the toilet, it’s the additional stuff that has the higher margin. If I get out of the store with just a toilet, they have just lost a lot of potential revenue. I was in the store, I needed to spend the money. I didn’t know that, so I left. Another store got the chance to sell me the high margin stuff. (If you’re the manager/owner of a hardware store in the East Bay, don’t snicker – there’s a good chance that I bought my toilet from you…)
If you have a large selection of items or departments, appoint a subject expert or two for each. Rotate them between departments every month or two. Pretty soon, everyone will have gained the knowledge they need to make confident recommendations. Spend five minutes every day brainstorming with your employees about what items a customer may also need if they buy a certain product. Have a contest to see who can successfully identify the most “add-ons” for a particular item. Don’t just do this for a day or two – this needs to be a change in your culture, not just a program or promotion.
This isn’t rocket science. You will be amazed at how your sales revenue and ultimately profits grow, and keep growing for years to come.
For more information, please visit our web site, www.service-quality.com
