When your employees interact with guests, this is the perfect opportunity to promote your products and encourage consumers to purchase complimentary items.

ALAMEDA, CA, USA, May 17, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- In the world of business, the phrase “There’s no second chance to make a good first impression” rings true for most business owners. Similarly, you may not get a second chance to upsell your products or package deals. When your front line personnel, such as servers or clerks, interact with guests, this is the perfect opportunity to promote your products and encourage consumers to purchase complimentary items. Asking needs based questions allows customer facing staff to make suggestions for an additional purchase.

Another companion skill to the upsell is the concept of the cross-sell. This amounts to recommending to consumers complementary items to their original purchase. Whereas an upsell may mean making the small order of fries a large order of fries, cross-selling is also suggesting matching earrings with the necklace or taking a whole pie to go. In any of these scenarios, the end result is a boost to the company bottom line.

As part of any new employee orientation and training, upselling should be a key proficiency taught to the trainee. There is a certain skill to making the upsell and cross-sell suggestions to consumers both helpful and casual. Customers tend to shy away from pushy salespeople and gravitate towards the employee they feel has their best interest at heart. As the upsell occurs, the associate should provide a pleasant experience while still offering them a deal that cannot be resisted. And in fact, it should be the case the patron does come away with a better value with their additional purchase.

According to Michael Ugino, co-founder and CMO of sellbrite, in his article 9 Ideas for How to Upsell Your Customers and Increase Sales, “upsells account for 70-95% of sales and renewals for retailers that offer them and are 68% more affordable than onboarding new customers. Think about it. By simply asking a customer to increase their cart value, your sales increase and you save money that would have otherwise been spent on customer acquisition tactics.”

One way companies can be certain that their employees are effectively upselling their products is by way of a mystery shopping program. According to Vicki Dempsey, Vice President of Jancyn Evaluation Shops, “Whether the product being sold is a meal, a mattress, or an additional part for a tool, every line of business benefits from an effective upsell. Usage of a mystery shopping program such as ours provides feedback as to which employees are, or are not, effectively trained to upsell at each and every customer encounter.” Mystery shopping programs can be custom designed to the specific needs of the business and can address concerns pertinent to the brand values. It is a method to make sure that the employees are communicating effectively with customers and successfully upselling targeted products.

At Erik’s DeliCafe, with restaurants in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, Director of Operations Dan Witting uses the Jancyn mystery shop program to learn if employees are offering delicious sides or desserts as patrons place their orders. Dan confirms, “asking ‘anything else’ is not the same as describing our famous carrot cake or family recipe soups to accompany the meal. The shop report gives us that information and much more.”

With a mystery shopping program, companies can identify those employees that may be in need to additional training and as well as be used to reward exceptionally well performing employees. It can also provide crucial insight from the consumer angle and provide data that will allow business owners to continue to refine their sales techniques. States Dempsey, “The only effective upsell is the one that results in additional sales, while at the same time enhancing consumer satisfaction and value. If both of these occur, it’s a win-win.”

About Jancyn: Since 1980 Jancyn has offered best practices in mystery shopping for customer satisfaction and employee performance feedback programs. An Elite member of the MSPA-Americas, our understanding of your survey feedback requirements comes from cutting edge technical techniques and tools and real insight into your business goals.

Vicki Dempsey
Jancyn
+1 408-267-2600 ext. 300
vicki@jancyn.com
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