Plus how to sell Add-Ons
Do not miss the opportunities to make money on products and services that enhance my use of the things I buy from you. Items and services that make your products and service serve me better and solve my problems, needs and wants.
Saturday afternoon, about a half hour before a Penn State football game I wanted to watch, my wife Jan comes home from shopping and tells me, “I have a flat tire on the front of my car.” Having been married to her for over 42 years, I know what she did not say was what I needed to do. Go get it fixed.
So out to the garage I went, found my small electric pump and put enough air in the tire to get it across the street to the Firestone store. By the way, a business I do not like to frequent. I like to buy from mom and pop businesses, but sometimes I am like most others and spend my money where it is most convenient. In this case, right across the street from my home. They informed me it would be 2 hours or so and asked if I was going to wait. I told them I would leave the car and they said they would call me when it was ready.
Four hours later and about fifteen minutes before they closed I called them, asked if my tire was fixed and they said, “Oh, yes. We forgot to call you.” “No kidding,” I replied and sarcastically added, “Great service.”
I quickly walked over, paid them for the work and drove off. Because of the configuration of the roads around the shopping center in our neighborhood it is much easier and faster to drive back to my house by going out the far end of the shopping center. As I turned to enter the highway, I noticed the state police had a road block set up stopping every vehicle. My savings of time for going out the far end of the parking lot was now gone and I waited my turn to be addressed by the police officer, with my license and registration in hand.
I pulled up and rolled down my window. He asked to see my license and registration while informing me this was a routine block and told me to stay in my car and he would be right back. Upon his return he said, “Mr. Janet everything seems to be in order except do you know your state inspection was due last month?”
Now, it was my fault I did not have the inspection done, but I quickly turned the blame to Firestone. After all my car was in their service bay for over four hours. Why didn’t they look and see that I needed the car inspected? I mean that is their business to sell me all they can. To sell me add-on service and products. Inspecting cars is one way they make a ton of money. As the officer handed me my ticket I saw I was fined $25 plus $121 court cost. A total of $146.
I now was not only blaming Firestone, I was and still am a very angry ex-customer. From now on, as far as auto service is concerned, I will not take advantage of the convenience of Firestone being right across the street.
When we used to pump gas in front of our tire business we would always check the customers oil and while under the hood we checked for cracked belts, oil leaks, the need for a new air cleaner, etc. We even got down and checked under their vehicles for leaks and checked their tail pipes and mufflers and tire wear. We made lots of loyal customers and many, many add-on sales.
Are your eyes wide open looking for the problems, needs and wants you can solve for your customers? Are your eyes wide open looking for opportunities to make sales and profits and gain and retain customers?
Aggressive Action # 29
from “How to Take Customers Away from your Competition” by Bob Janet
Most products have related items you can sell along with them that make you extra profits. They are called add-ons because salespeople try to sell them after the products are sold. Most salespeople fail to sell add-ons because it is very difficult to sell the related items after you have closed the sale. The customer is no longer in the mind-set to continue buying. You will sell more add-on items if you stop thinking of them as add-ons after the sale. It is much easier to sell related items during the sale than to get the customer to spend more money after they have purchased the main item.
Add-On/Related Items Close
from “How to Take Customers Away from your Competition” by Bob Janet
The Add-On Selling Close is started at the very beginning of the sale and used throughout the sale. The prospect comes to see you, or you go to see him/her, and the first thing you do is pull out a sales order sheet and write the date on it. Every time you talk about your product/service and you have an add-on item or service to sell with it, you write it down along with the product/service you are selling.
Bob Janet – Sales consultant/trainer, speaker, author of “Join The Profit Club” combines 40 plus years as owner/operator of professional, retail, manufacturing and service businesses with his unique teaching and storytelling ability to motivate, educate and inspire business professionals of all levels and all industries for increased sales & profits. Contact Bob at 800-286-1203, or e-mail Bob@BobJanet.com.
