Retailers: Increase Sales Through Upselling and Cross-Selling Techniques

“Would you like to supersize that?” Anyone who has been through a fast-food drive through has been asked a question like this.  This is a perfect example of an upselling question that can be used to increase a store’s average dollar per sale and total revenue.

Selling Complete Solutions is Good for You and Your Customer

Upselling – and its close relative, cross-selling – is the perfect way for retail sales associates to increase their average dollar per sale and for your store to increase its gross profit, but the truth is upselling is also a great way to ensure that your customers are fully satisfied with their purchases.

Think about it, when your retail sales associates get customers involved with related and unrelated add-ons or with better products, the customer’s experience improves because they either get a better product and/or have all of the accessories that they need when they get home.  The bottom line is that you need to get customers involved with complete solutions before they leave the store through suggestive selling.  So if you want to build your basket, use retail selling tips like these:

Suggestive Selling Starts Early in the Process

If your retail sales representatives wait until they get to the register to start their upselling and cross-selling activities it is likely too late.  After all, by that time the customer has already done the math for home much they will be spending in their head and may even have begun taking out their wallet.  Therefore the keys to improving retail gross margin through upselling are:

• Uncovering hidden needs through asking discovery questions – “Please tell me a little about how and where you will be using this product”
• Educating customers by using exploring statements or questions – “Let me show you how this product can work even better, OK?”
• Use top-down selling techniques so that customers know what they might be missing – “Let’s start off by looking at this model here…”
• Using an “accessories close” whenever possible – “Would you like the – insert accessory here – to go with this?”

 

Train, Observe, Measure and Give Feedback

If you want to get a head start on improving your sales associates’ ability to increase the average sale, you might want to consider taking advantage of some of the commercially available retail sales training courses that are available to you.  Then make sure that you apply the core principles of great sales management by observing your team members’ activities, measuring their results through your point-of-sale system, and then give them appropriate feedback.

Would you like to learn more about how you can increase your retail results through affordable retail training programs?  If so, contact us for a free one-hour consultation and needs assessment!

 

–          David Goodwin is the Principal of the Retail Advocacy Group.  As a 30 year veteran of the retail industry he has hired, trained, and performance managed thousands of retail sales representatives and retail managers.  You can learn more about instructor-led, e-learning, and other training solutions for retailers at www.retailertrainingservices.com.