Hope you had a great holiday week.
All eyes are on retail this time of year and many of you make your living in sales in one industry or another. So I wanted to share a tip with you on how to increase your sales by 15-20% at no additional cost to sell!
The Second Sale is in fact the easiest money you can get from a customer, yet 96% of sales people never attempt it!
The Second sale is the most often missed opportunity in almost every sales transaction. Understand that you never get ALL the money from any one customer, no matter what they tell you. Most sales people never ask for the second purchase because they are selling scared and/or haven’t done the math.
Now you have to start over from scratch with another buyer. But it was easier to make a second sale—another product or extra product—to the person that just bought. The rapport has already been built, the client is already comfortable with you and they trust you as the expert and people use second money to validate their original decisions. This is deep closing psychology here, but it validates why you almost never seen anyone with one package or why a grocery store has 34,000 products or why candy and gossip magazines work at check out.
Offering customers additional options by saturating them with products and services increases their loyalty and expands revenue at higher margins. Think about how Starbucks uses food—yogurt, baked goods, sandwiches and even tea—to follow its coffee offerings. Or how Apple has almost endless lists of products and services from headphones to adapters to Apple TV to external drives. These services, accessories and additional items help them create cult-like followings.
Unfortunately most second sales are initiated by the customer and are not a result of the calculated efforts made by the company or salesperson. Salespeople often incorrectly presume the customer is spent out. They aren’t trained on how to successfully pull off the second sale.
Timing is critical in being successful and most people fail because they attempt it before the first decision has been made. To accomplish the second sale you must first fully acknowledge the customer’s decision to purchase the first item. When you say, “Congratulations on the great decision you have made today, I am certain you will love this product,” you are now at the point where you have not finalized the sale but have begun the process of closing the transaction. This is the time to introduce the optional second sale. For example, “John, I would like to suggest that you add product x, y or z to your purchase today as it will complement and support what you have decided on. And it’s just a matter of time before you will need these items anyway. Can I add that for you?”
If you don’t believe that your products and services are great, then quit selling them completely. If you believe in the products and services you offer, then educate, compensate, track and train yourself and your sales people on how to offer these techniques easily and seamlessly.
Be great,
GC
