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 SAVVY
SELLING - JUNE
27, 2007
Using
Accessories to Upsell
by Michelle
Nichols
EXECUTIVE
OVERVIEW
To
boost your sales and profits
with existing customers, consider
adding a few extras to your
product lines or services
I misplaced my digital camera
recently, so I stopped by an
electronics store to buy a replacement
and asked for the smallest,
slimmest camera available. Done.
Then I headed to the accessories
aisle for a camera case and
dithered over the choices of
leather vs. fabric and black
vs. red. My husband, ever the
engineer, observed, "Do
you realize you spent less than
two minutes picking out a digital
camera and over five minutes
picking out a case for it?"
Ah, accessories. Salespeople
like accessories because they
are great profit producers,
often increasing the size of
an average sale. Most customers
will competitively shop for
base products, like my camera,
but will buy accessories on
a whim. Thus they will pay higher
margins on accessories than
base products.
Survey Your Line and
Your Customers
If you sell products, accessories
or extras can mean all types
of services—installation,
training, maintenance, or customization
(see BusinessWeek.com, 4/6/07,
"Video: Making and Marketing
Custom Products"). And
if you sell services, accessories
can mean many types of products.
For example, if you sell accounting
services, you might also consider
selling computers, special paper,
and specialized software.
Start the process of determining
what you can use to "upsell"
by listing everything you sell.
Don't laugh—on several
occasions when I've done this
exercise with clients, they
forgot entire product lines.
Then brainstorm what accessories
would be good fits for your
customers.
To winnow the resulting list,
look at it from your customer's
point of view. Which ones would
they benefit most from if they
could buy them from you at the
same time they're buying your
standard product line? Now go
out and ask your customers,
"What would make your life
easier if you could buy it from
us?" You might get some
great ideas you hadn't considered.
When you share your list of
ideas with them, they might
also get some ideas for future
purchases from you, too.
You can ask for their opinions
in person, by phone, or over
the Internet using Survey Monkey
or some other service. However
you query your customers, remember
to keep it simple (no more than
10 easy questions) and give
them a reward for participating—like
a free book, gift card, or coupon
toward their next purchase.
To maximize profits, it is better
to have a few base offerings
and more accessories rather
than the other way around. As
a business model, think of a
successful take-out deli. It
will usually offer a few entrees
and many different side dishes.
Outsourcing and Following
Through
If you're worried about offering
too many accessories, bear in
mind that there are companies
that sell only accessories.
For example, in August, 2005,
Sheri Schmelzer, from Boulder,
Colo., started a company called
Jibbitz to sell decorations
for the very popular Crocs shoes.
The outfit was purchased by
Crocs (CROX) 14 months later
for more than $10 million. But
don't forget: If you sell only
accessories, you risk competition
from companies that include
those products as part of their
core offerings..
Worried about losing your focus?
Let's say you do a great job
selling wine and you're worried
about offering glassware. Don't
despair. You can hire someone
who already has that expertise,
subcontract out the accessories
to another vendor, or establish
a referral system where you
get rewarded for sending business
to a trusted business partner.
All three paths can help you
maintain your expertise and
increase your sales, profits,
and service to your clients.
One last word on accessories:
make sure your employees understand
their importance. For example,
I recently tried to buy a $50
gift card from a restaurant.
The cashier wouldn't sell it
to me because, while they had
the gift cards, they were out
of the envelopes the cards went
in. Aargh!
In Steel Magnolias Clairee
Belcher, played by Olympia Dukakis,
says, "The difference between
humans and animals is our ability
to accessorize." In sales,
accessories are a great way
to increase your sales and profits
without increasing the number
of customers you serve. Happy
selling!
Michelle
Nichols is a professional sales
speaker and consultant based
in Reno, Nevada. She is also
the Savvy
Selling podcast host for
BusinessWeek. She welcomes your
questions and comments. You
can visit her web site at www.savvyselling.com
or contact her at michelle.nichols@savvyselling.com.
Her toll-free number is (877)
352-9684 and direct line is
(775) 303-8201.
Copyright
2007. All rights reserved.
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