better business blog

Tips and stories to add value to you and your organisation

Sales Secrets Part 3

20 November 2016

So there I was at a leading roadside burger and nugget establishment. Tired after a long drive, hungry and thirsty. I took a moment to peruse their menu from the comfort of my car, surely a neat touch that all restaurants should adopt, and chose a beef patty in a bun with skinny chips and a nutritiously challenging milkshake. I hoped it contained real strawberries, although we are out of season for soft fruit, so maybe I was being a little over-optimistic.

The maitre’d acknowledged my presence, bade me an excellent evening and passed me across to one of their waiting waiting staff. She was polite and courteous and solicitously enquired after my food and beverage requirements.

And then a curious thing happened: She asked me if I would like to go large. I think she meant either ‘make it larger’ or ‘increase my order size,’ but I’m not here to quibble about good diction.

Surprised and intrigued I immediately agreed and so large I went! Or maybe bigger, you can choose the option that fits more comfortably in your ears.

The food, when it came, was the same size as in the menu photos which was a shame …clearly large in this context didn’t mean bigger chips, just more of them. However, I was happy with my purchases and eschewing the offer of a delightful window seat inside the restaurant, preferred to dine en voiture, as we say at all the best French restaurants.

Later that same week I was still marvelling at how the restaurant had smoothly levered more money from me and so conducted a little research. It turns out that, according to commonly held wisdom, it is 7 times cheaper to sell more to an existing customer than to find and win a new one. It also seems to be the case that by offering existing customers new products, extensions to existing services, special deals for new projects and simply selling them 10 instead of 8 (insert word, e.g. doughnuts) we can all increase our total sales income by something in the region of 20%.

Going larger, bigger, wider, deeper or longer is sales secret No.3 this week.

Imagine I’ve just purchased your flagship product. Would that be the last time we speak, or would you contact me again to offer me something new and interesting?

Next week: Sales Secret No.4