Do you want fries with that?
ost drycleaners
believe that the selling of their services can be accomplished
by anyone who will work at their counter for minimum wage. They
sincerely believe that writing a receipt and making change are
the only qualifications necessary. And that no real
“selling” needs to be done.
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Known to marketers as the “Do you
want fries with that?” strategy, that phrase helped
McDonald’s supersize its sales by nearly 40 percent.
Basically, you sell a service and then add onto the sale by
getting the customer to buy another service.
First you have to accept the concept that
if somebody bought from you a minute ago or even a year ago,
they are your best prospect for additional sales. On average,
upselling can increase a cleaner’s sales by 32 percent.
Although these are easy sales to make,
since they come after the hard work of first attracting the
customer to your store, drycleaners often drop the ball. They
don’t train their counter sales force to take the
initiative necessary to sell more services to a customer who is
already buying.
Sales experts say supersizing sales is
easier if a business breaks down the process into four basic
steps.
First, assess your business offerings.
What services does your company sell and what should it offer
to various customers? For example, when Dupont first introduced
their new water repellant, Zepel, about 20 years ago, I bought
into it.
I trained my counter people to offer
water-repellency with any garment that was stained. I applied
it to a white silk tie and kept a medicine bottle, with an
eyedropper, of Coke under the counter. Counter people were
taught to demonstrate the stain repellant, Zepel, to as many
customers as would listen. A small commission was paid for each
job they sold.
My sales of water-repellency went from
about $50 per week, to $1,000 a week within two weeks of
initiating this campaign.
Obviously, counter personnel need to be
taught how to sell additional services and they need to be
given an incentive to do so.
Next, the people selling your
company’s services have to have a firm grasp of add-ons
and when they’re applicable. They have to evaluate the
customer’s needs.
Third, educate the customer by explaining
what the additional services are and why it would be a
beneficial purchase. Demonstrating the effects, as in the Zepel
example above, is a very effective way to do this. Wall charts
or brochures that quickly and easily explain additional
services would also be an effective way to supersize your
sales.
Finally, ask for the sale. This can be in
person, at the counter, a phone call or, even, by direct mail.
Not everyone will take you up on your
offer, but enough will to substantially increase your sales.
And if a customer says “no,” don’t take it as
a “no” to all future offers. Keep asking unless a
customer expressly says that he or she would prefer not to know
all of your services. Most cleaners, and their counter people,
are so afraid of the word “no” that they never even
ask. And, of course, they never make the sale.
Upselling is more likely to be accepted if
you target the offer to the most likely prospects. For
instance, if a customer complains that every time they wear a
particular tie, or blouse, or dress, it gets stained, this is a
perfect candidate for water (stain) repellency. Consider all of
the services you offer and how each can be tied to another for
increased sales.
I suggest you think of it more as customer
service. You are not just trying to convince someone to
“buy” another service; you’re offering them a
chance to “benefit” from the other services you
offer.
Most counter personnel fail to expand
sales because they aren’t given any incentive to do so.
They’re paid by the hour or are salaried with no
additional bonus for increasing sales. So why should they build
sales?
No businessperson in his right mind would
hire a sales representative and not tie their pay to the amount
of sales they produce. For some reason I’ve never
fathomed, drycleaners don’t think of, nor treat, their
counter people like salespeople.
While supersizing sales is a good way to
immediately boost both sales and profits, the practice can
produce longer-term benefits. Most customers actually
appreciate being informed of additional services and this then
becomes a way to strengthen your bond with the customer.
Dennis McCrory is president of The Golomb
Group Inc., a firm that designs marketing programs for
drycleaners. Contact him at The Golomb Group Inc., 7664 Plaza
Ct., Willowbrook, IL 60527 Tele: (800) 679-5856
E-mail: dennismccrory@golombgroup.com
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