|
|
Add-On to Add Up
How to encourage shoppers to buy more |
|
Written by Bernice Klassen
|
When customers walk into your shop, they probably aren’t simply window-shopping, as is the case in most retail environments. It’s likely they’ve come to buy a gift, either for a loved one, or for themselves, and have full intentions to spend money. With just a little extra training and effort, you can capitalize on these shoppers and increase your sales with a simple suggestion. What are you and your salespeople doing to encourage adds-ons such as cards, balloons, plush and containers? Motivating customers to spend more on a transaction is a win-win for both parties – you increase your average sale and clients walk away even more satisfied.
Many business track add-on sales using a term like IPT (items per transaction) or IPS (items per sale). The IPT and IPS are easy to monitor in many businesses but not so simple in the floral industry, as many add-ons, such as greeting cards, chocolates and containers, are included in the actual order and not separately documented. If you have the ability to do an IPT calculation, it’s a great place to start. Some cash register systems have this function, but others aren’t equipped and you may need to do this manually or set up your own system. You need to find a method that works for you so you can monitor your add-on sales and find out which are particularly effective with your customers. Crunch the numbers on your add-on products to demonstrate to your staff the power of upselling. You could provide your staff with the following example as a little incentive: A $3 balloon (cost $1) equals $2 extra in profit. If you sell 20 balloons per day and you are open for business 20 days a month, that would be $800 profit per month or $9,600 in a year.
One of the first ways to improve on add-ons is to adjust your selling language. Other businesses do this all the time. How often do you ask if the customer would like a balloon or a box of chocolates with that? Try saying: “So that will be $40 for the flowers and $5 for the balloon for a total of $45.” We tend to second-guess our customer, thinking they won’t pay the extra $5 with the expectation that it will be included in the total cost. This change in thinking requires a brainstorming session with all staff, first to get them on board and devoted to your strategy and then to come up with better ways to truly make them add-ons. Be open to opportunities that present themselves to you. Listen to which occasion the customer is buying the flowers for and suggest an extra item that complements them. Keep in mind that no matter how great your ideas are, if they are not executed correctly, they are lost opportunities.
So how do you get employees to “buy in” to the idea? Take each add-on product and come up with words that would be appropriate to use in selling.
A few examples:
Cards: “I’d love to include a beautifully worded card with lovely prints that would complement your bouquet perfectly for only an extra $3. How does that sound?”
Vases: “To ensure she has just the right vase for your selection may I add one of our $25 vases?”
Chocolates: “Does she have a sweet tooth? These $10 chocolates would go great with your selection!”
Plush animals: “Have you seen our new stuffed kittens? They are just adorable! Would you like to include one with your purchase?”
You are selling feelings, not just a product, when interacting with customers, so make sure you use an interested, smooth and friendly tone. Avoid the dull and boring “would you like fries with that?” type of delivery and appeal to the senses. Phrases such as “wouldn’t she be impressed with,” “wouldn’t it be great if,” and “she would feel so special if” evoke emotions like love, joy and support.
Another idea you could try in your shop is to present the customer with a coupon if their purchase meets a dollar point. For instance, if they purchase $50 worth of product (before taxes and delivery, of course) they will receive a coupon for $10 to use on your next purchase of $50. These work extremely well when you have repeat customers, which should be one of your goals in your overall yearly strategy plan. Customers will look around your store for items to add on to their purchase to meet the requirements for the coupon. When you are at the cash register, you can say, “You are only $5 away from receiving the free $10 coupon. What can we add to your purchase so you get that incentive?” It’s considered a better promotion than such concepts as a punch card that gets customers a free arrangement after purchasing 10 arrangements because you can put parameters on the coupon. Perhaps it may only be used in March, when sales are slower, in July, when you can get more profit margins on your product, or during a busy week when you can better afford to give away the dollar incentives. These coupons become part of your promotional dollars and a promotion is deemed a success when 35 per cent of the coupons given out are actually used. So if you distribute 100 coupons for $10 – a value of $1,000 – and 35 per cent of customers return them to you, that’s $350 in discounts. Make sure you are not running some other promotion during the same week of the return coupons to decrease your profit margin even further.
Whatever concept you decide to go with, once you have the product on hand and staff on board, make add-ons second nature in your daily selling presentation. Write down different approaches for staff to utilize during selling on the phone or in the store. If you are comfortable with role-playing to bring attention to the actual interaction, do so. Make it clear that advising customers of the current promotion is part of the company mandate and will directly
reflect on their performance review; i.e., wage increases and hours they are scheduled. It is not in your business interests to schedule employees who are unwilling to promote you or your product. You could initiate a friendly competition between staff members to see who can move the most add-ons in a week or even in a month. It’s a little extra incentive for your staff to improve on their selling skills and make you more money.
Use different items as promotional items for that week to entice customers to add to their purchase. Perhaps you choose to “feature” a product, leaving the item at the original retail price but opting to draw more attention to it through signage and selling interaction. Another idea is to “promote” the item by adjusting the retail by a percentage with purchase or a direct retail reduction. By suggesting a one-week promotion, you evoke a level of urgency in purchasing during the promotional period.
Add-ons are a simple and effective way to increase your average sale without spending extra money – the shopper is already in your store and values your products and your business enough to make an initial purchase. If you take the time to listen to the customer and suggest an item that will make their gift or purchase even better, then the benefits of adding on will no doubt add up. Your customer will walk away a little more satisfied and your cash register will be just a little bit fuller.
|
|
|
