Increasing Your Profits With Suggestive Selling

By Thomas Ford

Suggestive selling, sometimes referred to as “add-on selling,” is a sales technique where employees encourage customers to include additional items on their purchase using positive and encouraging phrasing. According to Investopedia.com, the idea behind this technique is that it takes minimal effort compared to the potential additional revenue, simply because the “getting the shopper to buy” part of the process is already done. Once a shopper is committed to an initial purchase, an additional sale that is a fraction of the original purchase is much more likely…especially if you employ suggestive selling.

Suggestive selling is done in almost every industry. Let’s take a look at some common establishments that utilize suggestive selling to boost profits:

• McDonald’s – “How many apple pies can I add to your order?”
• Foot Locker – “We sell the perfect basketball socks to match those shoes!”
• Buffalo Wild Wings – “Which Coca-Cola soft drink can I get for you today?”

That is a small sampling of some everyday, common businesses where you may remember encountering suggestive selling.

A big part of the suggestive selling practice is the underlying tone and verbiage of your message. When happily suggesting in a manner that encourages the shopper to say “yes,” you’re more likely to gain the additional add-on sale. Let’s look at some examples.

Scenario 1: Customer is purchasing winter gloves; salesperson is trying to sell the matching scarf.
o Salesperson: “Would you be interested in our scarves?”
o Customer: “No, thank you, just the gloves.”

OR

o Salesperson: “We have a lovely scarf that matches those gloves. Would you like me to get it for you?”
o Customer: “Yes, please!” (The customer is thinking you are incredibly thoughtful, because the phrasing made it sound like you’re getting the scarf just for this customer.)

Scenario 2: Shopper is purchasing a vacuum cleaner, which qualifies for free shipping. Salesperson is trying to add on a vacuum filter as an upsell.
o Salesperson: “Would you like to add the spare vacuum filter to your order? It’s only $17.95.”
o Customer: “No, thank you, I think I’ll be OK without it.”

OR

o Salesperson: “Since your order qualifies for free shipping, why not add on an additional vacuum filter for $17.95? If you were to purchase it later, you would pay shipping on it, so buying it now is like getting it for half price!”
o Customer: “Yes, that would be wonderful!” (as the customer thinks how awesome it is that you, a salesperson, are trying to help them save money and get the best deal)

Scenario 3: This is my personal favorite, because it’s an experiment I conducted at my very first job, the McDonald’s drive-thru! At the time (circa 2000), McDonald’s offered value meals in three sizes: medium at no additional charge, large for a 39-cent up-charge, and super-size for a 59-cent up-charge. One day, my manager told me that she had incorrectly ordered supplies for the store, and we were overrun with Large cups and Large fry boxes. Without hesitation, a light bulb went off in my head: Let’s encourage customers to buy these items and get rid of our overstock.
o Instead of asking customers “Would you like to super-size any of those meals?” (which rarely worked), I began asking “Would you like that value meal large or super-sized” – not even giving the customers an option of medium. Most of those customers took the smallest portion option I offered, thus taking the “large” upgrade for 39 cents!

As you can see, a lot of positive phrasing comes from how offers are positioned to customers. When a salesperson is able to explain the deal and demonstrate the benefit, customers are much more likely to add on. Another thing to remember is if there isn’t a clear benefit to the add-on, for example (as in the McDonald’s scenario) you can then word your offer to the customer in a suggestive manner. In the above situation, I didn’t even offer the medium value meals, I only offered upgrades. The same idea could work for a retailer who offers extended warranties. Instead of asking, “Would you like to buy the five- or 10-year warranty?” you should ask “Which warranty coverage would you like on this purchase; five years for $25.99, or  10 years for $49.99?”

Give suggestive selling a shot. I bet you’ll notice an uptick in your profits, especially if you’re strategically planning your offer.

Image by Flickr user guillebot (Creative Commons)

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 21st, 2012 at 9:00 am and is filed under Business Development, Sales Process, sales process, Small Business, small business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.


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