The Fine Art of Upsell: It Never Hurts to Ask

photo credit: monpetitoiseau*

One of the workers at the gas station/mini mart near my house is wasting her talents. For the sake of writing flow, I’m going to call her Sally. I want to tell Sally that she is wasting her talents working there, but I’m not sure how she’d take it. You see, Sally is a master of upselling. She should absolutely be working a hardcore sales job paid on commission. And not some slimy used-car type thing either. Sally is the real deal.

Every time she is working I see her pull of some feat of salesmanship and today she was at the top of her game. There were two people in front of me in line and one behind me. The first guy had a bag of chips and a Vitamin Water. Here’s how it went:

Sally (ringing up the Vitamin Water): You know, these are two for $3.
Baseball Cap: Oh really, hang on. I’ll go grab another.

One bottle of Vitamin Water costs $1.69. With the upsell, Sally nearly doubled the sale while making Baseball Cap sure he had been presented with a deal not to be missed. Then it was time for the girl in front of me to check out. She had two bottles of water and two bags of Skittles.

Sally (holding up the Skittles): These are three for 99 cents right now.
Ponytail: Oh really, hang on. I’ll go grab another.

In this case, Sally probably only gave the store a few extra cents. But that can add up fast when you consider that she does this with every customer.

So now it was my turn. I had a small bag of chips and a hot dog. Cue air conditioning:

Sally: You know, you can get a 32 ounce fountain drink with this and get the whole thing for $3.
Me: Oh really, hang on. I’ll go grab a drink.

Yup. She got me. Even though I had soda at home and I was heading straight there, it was like she’d hypnotized me.

So what’s Sally’s secret?

I think it’s a combination of two things. First, she knows the product. Either on purpose or just because she works a lot, Sally knows what is on sale and what can be paired with what to become a bargain for the customer and a boon for the store. I’d say that since she isn’t the store owner, this is just an innate talent she’s putting to use.

Sally’s second secret is that she puts you on the spot. It’s not that she’s pushy. Just the opposite, actually. She’s friendly and just smoothly slips in what is, on the surface, a helpful way for customers to get something more for a little less. This sort of buy-one-get-one-free mentality really appeals to American’s for some reason. I’m not sure if it’s because so many of us live paycheck-to-paycheck or just because we are constantly inundated with positive “on sale now!” advertising. But we are always eager for a bargain.

So what lessons can you, as a blogger or a freelancer, learn from Sally? Here are three to get you started:

1. Know your product and your customer so your upsell seems like natural helpfulness and not tacked-on profit-mongering.
2. Make sure your upsells aren’t a rip-off. You might get someone to purchase by putting them on the spot, but they won’t be back. Sallys aren’t scammers, they know the best way to sell a little more while still benefiting the customer.
3. Don’t be pushy. Say your piece and if the customer declines let it go. There are other customers and you don’t need to beg for the sale. It will only turn off that customer and any others within earshot.

Salesmanship like Sally’s doesn’t come naturally to all of us. Some of us need to remind ourselves to upsell, practice our delivery and make sure we aren’t too pushy. The thing is, it doesn’t matter where you work or what you are selling, there is always an upsell opportunity waiting to be found. It’s just a matter of learning the lessons I listed above and knowing that it never hurts to ask.

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