These famous words are linked to the iconic McDonald’s as there revolutionary sales tactic which dramatically increased revenue on transactions by double digit percentages overnight, but as an Ex-Yum Restaurants employee (KFC, PH, Taco Bell), I like to say that KFC was just as good and had the same tactic! I’m not here to argue who started first but both do it well, and guess what, ‘it works!’
I certainly am not going to tell you anything revolutionary or mind blowingly amazing by a new tactic, as I am simply talk about this ‘up-sell’ or ‘add on’ tactic and what you can do for your business. If you don’t have a strategy around this, then seriously you need to as it does make a difference and the success depends on the execution as well. And guess what? To execute well, you need to invest in training for your team to drive consistency!
I believe nearly every business can develop an up sell tactic for their range of products or services. The key is to find your ‘Would you like fries with that’ product.
“But I don’t have anything”, I hear you say.
“My business is different” , you cry.
“I sell services, not products!”
These are all simply excuses, I would challenge you that with a bit of brainstorming, and creativity, any business can find an add on item to offer during the sales process to increase your average ticket.
So retail is easier, I will give you that. You simply find complimentary products to suggest and then use creative language to sell it. The question “Would you like fries with that?” is a bit direct and lame. Why not, “Would you like to add delicious, hot chips today?” (we don’t eat ‘fries’ in Australia!
Back in my KFC days, we would make a challenge out of this to see how much additional product we could sell by turning it into a bit of fun with the teams. And it worked better than the plain boring talk. For example, “would you like a hot, buttered corn with your order?” was better than “would you like corn?”. Get creative, have fun…Instead of a ‘drink’ how about ‘an ice cold drink’ or a ‘hot coffee’ to play on the benefits of the product and the weather.
So what can you add….Let’s look at some examples:
Furniture stores – add pillows, leather cleaning, speedy delivery, installation, side tables etc to match the key purchase item.
Trainers – add our amazing boot camp to the PT sessions, fitness assessments, group coaching etc
Advertisers – additional banners, editorials, features etc
Trades – upgrades to premium products,
Coaches – add group coaching, books, reports, members newsletters, upgraded packages etc
There are options for nearly anything…
Here’s an offer for you, if you think you have nothing to add, send a comment and I will give you some suggestions.
The key is once it is decided, establish a process to ‘sell it’ to your clients, and train your staff how to execute it in the best way and track and measure the conversions. I agree some industries may be harder to find, but there will be something to add on.
So what are you waiting for? Develop your “fries with that” question and get selling..
Tony Ozanne
www.tonyozanne.com
