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Make Larger Average
Purchases
In
other
words,
increase
the
average transactional value of their
purchases. Or more simply, get them
to spend more money when they buy
something from you.
This just happens to be the
quickest and easiest way there is to
increase your profits. One of the
things that continually amazes me, is
the number of businesses that have
extensive and expensive plans in
place to acquire more customers.
Yet, very few have paid much
attention to this highly profitable, and
highly leveragable step of increasing
the size of the order… getting more
money from each of your customers
every time they buy from you.
If you think for a minute, about
how easy this is and how profitable it
can be, you’ll see why it’s such a
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powerful concept. And, you’ll also see
why nearly every fast-food restaurant
has embraced, has mastered, and
requires that every person who takes
orders, understands, and is proficient
in the use of the “up-sell” and “cross-
selling” principles.
Think back about your own fast-
food restaurant experience. You drive
up to the speaker and place your
order… a sandwich and a drink. And
then what happens? A voice comes
back over the speaker and asks if
you’d like an apple pie, or fries with
your order.
That’s an example of cross-selling.
Selling
an
additional
product
in
addition to, or beyond the initial
purchase.
Or, they might suggest that you
“super-size”
or
“giant-size”
your
order. That’s an example of an up-
sell… increasing the size of the initial
order.
In any case, if you take them up on
their suggestion, what they’ve done is
just
increase
their
profits
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substantially, since they made an
additional sale, but had no acquisition
or marketing costs.
You see, they realize, that a certain
percentage of their customers will
say, “yes.” And the only reason they
say, “yes,” is because a suggestion
was made to them. So they play the
numbers game.
And the result? Well, by being
aware of what their customers might
want, but not ask for on their own,
and then by asking questions or
making suggestions, they bring in a
substantial number of dollars. And
other than the actual cost of the
product, those dollars are pure profit.
Here’s another technique fast food
restaurants frequently use. It’s called
“bundling,” or “packaging.”
It’s
where
they
combine
a
sandwich, a drink and fries, then
throw in a couple of “bonus” items,
like maybe a cookie and a toy. They
put it all together in one package, and
give it a name like, “Happy Meal.”
They’ll charge you less for that
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package than what each of those
items purchased separately would
have cost, but the total dollar amount
you spend will be higher.
And, since there were no marketing
costs involved, other than the cost of
the items, themselves, it’s pure profit,
and it goes straight to their bottom
line.
Now, what does that have to do
with you, and your business?
Well, you may not be in the fast
food business, but the same principles
can still apply. Just ask yourself this
question: “What additional products or
services do you have that would be
natural complements to what your
customers initially buy from you?”
Well, you know the answer to that
and I won’t go into all the details here.
But for instance, if you have the type
of business that offers more than one
product to your customers you have a
tremendous advantage to capitalize
on the up-selling, cross-selling and
bundling techniques.
Some types of businesses, such as
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insurance companies that may offer
only one product or service can also
benefit from these strategies by
packaging certain policies that cover
multiple
family
members,
adding
riders,
or
including
other
complementary
services
that
go
beyond
the
actual
policies
themselves.
Do these things seem like common
sense to you? Well, they probably do.
But as I mentioned before, it’s
surprising how few businesses make
effective use these three simple
principles.
Think about it. In reality, you have
an obligation to your customers… the
people who trust you to provide them
good quality products and services,
give them sound advice and who hand
over their hard-earned money to
you… to make sure they get the very
best value, the best use and the most
enjoyment
from
their
original
purchase.
And if you have additional items,
either products or services, that can
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enhance their value, their use or their
enjoyment, then your obligation is to
do everything that’s reasonable and
ethical, to see that they at least have
the option of taking advantage of
those items.
Again, it’s playing the numbers
game. Some will take advantage of
your offer, and some won’t. But at
least, you will have given them the
opportunity, and you will have fulfilled
your obligation to them.
You haven’t made the decision for
them. You’ve given them a choice,
and you’ve let them decide.
If you come across as sincere,
they’ll not see you as being pushy, but
they’ll realize that you are really
trying to do them a favor… to help
them get more value, more use, and
more benefit from their decision and
their purchase.
And they’ll come back to do
business with you again, and again,
and will refer others to you, as well.
Up-selling,
cross-selling
and
bundling… these are only three of
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more than a dozen immediate, profit-
producing methods you can use to
skyrocket your business to the next
level.
If you do nothing more than find a
way
to
incorporate
these
three
techniques in your business (which
you should be able to do within the
next twenty-four hours), you’ll blast
your profits completely through the
roof.
Think about it… increasing your
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