Every time I go to the grocery store, they ask me at checkout to add an extra few bucks to my bottom line bill and support their cause of the month. One of my personal life principles is that I give when I'm asked, no matter what. I'm sure Safeway loves that about me, because I end up donating sometimes $50.00 or more a month. And I do that simply because they go to the trouble to offer me the opportunity to give by asking.
My question to you is this: are you asking? Not just for the original sale at your direct sales party, but are you offering your customers the opportunity to add to their order with relevant products that will enrich their lives? If not, they're missing out and so are you.
It's really a simple process. I've outlined the finer points of good up-selling below.
Offer Ad-on's That Make Sense
Make sure you're offering relevant products to your customers as additional suggestions based on their current order. Offers of products that are not obviously related to each other not only generally fall flat, but they also annoy your customers.
Make Sure You're the Expert
Positioning yourself as the expert as you make recommendations on related items lets your customers see that you really do know a lot about your products and what might work for them. Don't just tell them what you recommend, tell them why. It is also useful to have a list of products that others have purchased along with the items they're looking for. The marketing gurus call that "social proof." As in, "If someone else bought this along with that, I should too."
Use Party Packages
When you bundle related items that go together and offer them as Party Packages, you make it easier for you guests to order more. I don't recommend that you discount these packages, just take some time to bundle together some relevant products. I wrote a whole post on Party Packages. You can read that here.
Teach Your Downline How to Up-Sell
Teach your downline the simple steps outlined in this post and share the specific language you use to up-sell with them. Also, make sure they know that up-selling won't just increase their bottom line, it also provides a higher quality of service to the guests at their direct sales parties and satisfies their customer's needs as well.
Make it your personal mission to offer every single customer at your next direct sales party the opportunity to upsell and see what happens to your direct sales party average. I'll bet you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Oh, and I'd love to know your techniques for up-selling at your direct sales parties if you want to share them below.
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Julie Anne Jones is direct sales corporate consultant, coach, and trainer, and the CEO of Julie Anne Jones, Inc. She is known for her authentic and easy-to-use scripting and specializes in specific language and tools for success in direct sales. To learn more about Julie Anne and her products and services, and to read her weekly blog posts, visit her at www.julieannejones.com.
