Instead of looking at your sales from a product perspective, walk a mile in the buyer's shoes. Consider what problem your customer is trying to solve, then provide a complete solution.

Educate Your Sales Force
If you teach your sales people to think like customers they can add value to a buyer’s visit by making all the items needed for a complete solution available. Upselling is easier because it is advantageous to the buyer as well.

Here's How It Works
I was in an auto store buying paint cleaner, car polish and wax. A salesman came out of nowhere and said, "nothing works better with Show Car Glaze than this", and handed me a buffing cloth that cost $12.

When I declined he asked what kind of car I had. When I told him ("Oh Wow, those are really nice! What color is it?"), he now had all the info he needed to press forward.

Educate The Customer
He told me, with some authority (see, he has a dark car too), that when I use the Carnauba wax atop the Show Car Glaze on a dark car, I’d get the deepest shine I ever had AND without swirl marks. Provided, of course, I use this $12 buffing cloth.

I hesitated and declined again (Maybe next time) but not without some afterthought.

Personalize
At the checkout counter, ten minutes later, I overheard someone say, ‘"Yeah, go ahead; give it to him". It was you-know-who, who immediately said:

"I asked my manager and he said I could discount this to $10 for you if you still want it." (Still?). "I guarantee it’ll give you the deepest shine you ever had. If it doesn’t; come back and ask for me. My name is Phil and I’m here everyday except Sunday and Monday. And if you use straight strokes (he gave me a product demo on the counter) instead of the Karate Kid stuff (he then made circular strokes), you’ll never have to worry about swirl marks again." Then he handed it to me.

Case Closed. Up sold. (20% over my intended purchase)

Complete Solutions Add Value To The Buyer
Phil knew I didn’t want the buffing cloth. He also knew I didn’t really want the wax, glaze, or cleaner. He knew I wanted the deepest shine I ever had and he arranged for me to get it.

The Takeaway
Upselling like this to just 1 out of every 4 buyers will increase your sales by 5%.

More importantly, when you can transform your perceived role from product vendor to solutions provider-- satisfied customers, repeat purchases and referrals are sure to follow!

The Author: Kamau Jackson is a Chicago marketing consultant who helps business owners leverage their existing assets to dramatically increase profits without increasing advertising costs. Get more info about online and offline small business marketing strategies at www.internetknowledgesolutions.com. You may reprint this article online and in print provided the links remain live and the content remains unaltered (including the "About the author" message). © 2006 Internet Knowledge Solutions.

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