Bumps, Up Sells and Cross Sells

By Mark P.D. Wheatley

Committed To Your Business Success

The information contained in this article is very powerful and can assist you to increase your profits, but Ideas are worthless without implementation, so think about what I’m saying and write down the steps required to implement it in your business, or practice to increase your sales and profitability.

Then send me a testimonial detailing how much money you’ve made as a result of implementing this simple but often overlooked concept.

I think it’s appropriate I cover something else before we get started.

There are three ways to grow a business 1. Increase the number of clients/customers 2. Increase the unit of sale or average transaction size 3. Increase the frequency of purchase, the amount of times your clients/customers buy from you in a year.

Many companies concentrate too much on the 1st way and neglect the 2nd and 3rd.

If you are trying to acquire new customers generally this is expensive and we all know it’s far easier to sell to people when you have an existing relationship and there are no lead acquisition costs with that type of sale.

What’s often missed is the maths; if you increase all of the three ways by a mere 10% you’ll increase revenue by 33%.

Anyway Bumps or Up Sells and Cross Sells are methods you can use to increase the unit of sale, the second way to grow a business. They are introduced into the sales process when there is a strong indication to buy or when a sale has taken place. Timing is everything.

What Are Bumps or UP Sells and Cross Sells?

A Bump is an additional offer to a purchaser after they have made a purchasing decision.

A Cross Sell is offering additional items to compliment (across the range) the main purchase.

An Up Sell is offering a different alternative up the product or service range, (up the range) again when the purchaser has shown signs of making a commitment.

Let me give you some examples:

1. A Bump

Say you’ve just bought your new washing machine or TV you’ve made the purchase and the sales person says…….. “Would you like that covered by our extended parts and labour warranty, covering you up to three years?”

The warranty is the ‘bump.’ An additional item after initial sale is made.

2. Cross Sales

Let me give you an example of cross selling, you’re in your local restaurant, glass of wine in hand and you’ve just ordered your steak and chips and vegetables and the waitress offers you onion rings and mushrooms, tempting isn’t it?

Or recently when I was with my wife buying a dress and the sales lady said; ‘what you need is a bag like this to go with it, let me show you this nice bag with all these brown elephants on it, they go with the dress,’ latter on she mentioned the beads and she asked about my wife’s shoes, then I stopped her and said I’m impressed where did you learn your sales technique?

She proceeded to tell me all about her career in sales and that when she started out, how her boss impressed upon her the importance of showing the customer everything, you see she explained; ‘ladies talk and like to tell each other where they bought things and you’ve got to give them every opportunity to buy everything you sell, so they tell more of their friends.

In fact you’re doing them a disservice by not making them aware of what’s available.

Now if everyone bought one more item over the course of a year what would that mean to your businesses profits?

3. Up-Sell

Say you’re buying a computer, after you have settled on a particular PC, the salesperson might offer you a bigger hard drive, a faster processor……..the bigger model, so instead of buying the £800 PC you end up buying the £1000 PC.

In our computer example if the gross profit is say 25% the additional £200 in sales value has made £50 additional profit per sale. If the store sold 1000 units a year and 30% of all customers bought the bigger unit that would add £15,000 to the annual profits, just from that one technique.

So as with all these examples, all you’ve done is change what you say; with no more investment in staff or advertising or anything and it can make a big difference to the bottom line. This is a hidden marketing asset in your business if you’re not using these techniques.

It’s leaving money on the table.

Another important factor about these techniques from a profit point of view is; usually the bumps up sells and cross sells have no or a low cost of delivery associated with them.

The van is already delivering the furniture carrying the mirror and the lamp stand does not cost anything more.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this article, if you want to know more about the subject or have any questions relating to growing your business, you can call me on 01623 720022 during normal business hours or click this link to let me know when it’s a good time to talk.

How successful do you want to be?

Sincerely

Mark Wheatley

P.S. Please let me know in a testimonial if you’ve implement any of these ideas and what money you’re made as a result of this communication or other involvement with me.

Mark Wheatley is a business growth and marketing expert who specialises in growing small to medium sized businesses through low risk marketing strategies and improving sales skills.