Teaching Your Team to Upsell

Most showroom sales professionals sell in the same manner as they buy. If your sales professional is a value buyer, he or she is likely to be a value seller. Conversely, if your team member trades up for the purchases that are most important, he or she is likely to recommend top-of-the-line products to customers.

 

Most owners want their team to upsell, because higher-priced merchandise typically delivers higher margins. Sales professionals may not be as enthusiastic. They often gravitate to what's easiest to sell or the lines they know are most reliable without regard to margin and profitability. 

 

Your team may not upsell because they don't up-buy, or so they believe. In a recent blog, Retail Doctor Bob Phelps explains that almost everyone up-buys. McDonald's understood the value of upselling and was able to scale its business by asking one simple question "Would you like fries with that?", which has not only contributed to the growth of McDonald's across the world, but also has become an iconic catchphrase on its own. 

 

The key is to explain to your team that they up-buy every day. How many members of your team have an iPhone? Those who do may not realize that they spent $700 to $800 when they could have purchased a Samsung or other model with comparable benefits for $100. Does your team stop at Starbucks on the way to the showroom? That's an up-buy too. A stop at 7-11 or Dunkin Donuts would be half the cost. The sound you hear is opportunity knocking.

 

The difference between your employees purchasing a phone at 700 to 800 percent more than a competitor or a cup of coffee at two to three times the cost of somewhere else without a corresponding increase in taste, value or convenience is because using an iPhone has cache and going to Starbucks makes them feel good. When customers come to your showroom instead of visiting a lower-priced competitor or shopping online, they do so in order to feel good. How would your team respond to the question, "Don't our customers deserve to have an iPhone experience at our showroom?" You can deliver that experience by providing the best quality products that fit their budgets. Michael Silverstein, in his book Trading Up: The New American Luxury, found that consumers will spend 300 percent more for products they are emotionally connected to.

 

Taking note of the cars customers drive to the showroom, the clothing and jewelry they wear, the handbag that they carry, where they vacation, their hobbies, etc., will provide a window into the customer's willingness to up-buy. If your customers up-buy on major purchases, why would they want to settle for less than the best on the two most important rooms in their home?  What prevents your team from asking, "Would you like steam with your new shower?"