PPB October 2018

your meal?” “Would you like an apple pie with that?” He was upselling. Today, there are 36,000 McDonald’s restaurants in 101 countries, serving 69 million people daily. Imagine if every counter teammember tried to upsell those 69 million customers? Imagine that only five percent (which I’m sure is low) said “yes.” Imagine that each upsell increased the total order by one dollar. How would that affect the bottom line? Now I know that your business is not on the scale of McDonald’s, but imagine if you were able to upsell 25 percent of every order you sold in a year. What would that mean to your bottom line? The Upsell Opportunities Packaging When selling any promotional product, always look for ways to add value with packaging. Boxes, poly-bagging, kraft bags, gift boxes, mailing tubes, tins and cans are just a few of the containers available, and all can be customized for the client in a variety of ways. Now more than ever, many of these options can be ordered with minimums as low as one piece. With low minimums you will pay a premium, but it may be worth it to target that one exceptional client. Accessories Accessorizing is another way to add value for the client and profits for you. Accessories are those little extras that add a higher perceived value to the promotional product. The ones I recommend to clients and prospects, depending on the product or program being considered, are belly bands, hang tags, razor tags, hangers, garment bags, pressing, folding, zipper pulls, rubber bands and stamped buckles. Accessorizing a custom cap can add extreme value, sales and profits. When I was CEO of supplier Headwear USA, I was always amazed at how infrequently salespeople would share additional ways to embellish a cap. For example, on a six-panel cap, there are 26 different places for customization. Here are four ideas: 1 Seam tape: Seam tape refers to those three strips of material on the inside of the cap that cover the seams; they are mostly there for cosmetic reasons. However, they can be imprinted in a variety of ways to convey a safety message, web address, phone numbers or decorated with custom accent colors. 2 Woven label: Personalizing with a custom label is a great way to further brand a cap. These labels can either be printed or woven—certainly the woven labels have a higher perceived value and cost only pennies but are worth more in your profits. 3 Under visor: This large imprint area can be used to drive home a message; for example, safety. Additionally, the printing can be tone on tone or in contrasting colors, and the cap fabric can carry one of the corporate colors of the client. The variations are limitless. 4 Sandwich: This is the underside edge of the visor. There are many ways this area can be customized. For example, carry through a safety theme by using printed or woven material with a step and repeat message or use a reflective material here for safety purposes. The possibilities are endless, inexpensive, and profitable if positioned and sold correctly. Consultative Services Too many distributors try to make their living selling stuff; rarely, if ever, do they get paid for their innovation, creativity and consulting. I’ve never understood why the most important part of the process is always given away for free; agencies charge for these services. Now some of you may say, “We’re not an agency!” While that may be true, many of the things your company does are agency-type activities, and for that reason I encourage you to reconsider your business model. There is nothing in writing prohibiting you from charging for your time for these types of activities. In fact, several of my consultant clients bill for their creative time. This is indeed Five percent of customers said yes = 3,450,000 people 3,450,000 people x 365 days a year = 12.5 million yeses annually $1 per yes = $12.5 million in additional sales If food cost is 30 percent, additional profit would be $8,750,000 —just for asking a simple question. | OCTOBER 2018 | 59 GROW