PPB October 2018

an “upsell” activity that should be considered. • Warehousing, Kitting And Fulfillment Having the ability to warehouse products and collateral materials, and provide kitting (grouping and packaging separate but related items as one unit) and fulfillment, (receiving, packaging and shipping orders) is another opportunity to upsell, and you don’t need your own facility. There are many companies that offer good service in this area, and you can hire them as a third- party vendor and still profit from the relationship. Selling The Value Of The Upsell Merely suggesting an upsell is not enough. It’s imperative to not only have the idea for the upsell, but to be prepared to answer the “why.” For example, your client is likely to ask, “Why should I consider doing that or paying extra for what you’re suggesting?” Years ago, I made a presentation to a client who was interested in purchasing 3,500 t-shirts. The art was prepared and camera-ready and the purchase order was complete, but before running out the door I asked three questions: • How are the shirts being delivered? • How are they to be packaged? • When do they need to be delivered? With these answers and looking at how the shirts were being used (they were rolling out a new product/program), we suggested they package the shirts with a cover letter in a custom mailing tube. We offered to roll and tube the garments, size and label the end of the tube, and handle the mailing. The cost to the client for the fulfillment was $1.60 each plus mailing costs. To win that upsell, we had to sell the value. In this case, the value was that we had a clean-room facility and could complete this in one day. The client was assured they would receive all 3,500 shirts (no shortages) and they would not need to hire any temp staff or take permanent staff away from their regular jobs to fulfill this task. The client saw the value and agreed to the upsell. My cost was 43 cents per piece and we realized a profit of $1.17 on each shirt. At 3,500 shirts, this job earned over $4,000 in additional profit gained by asking a few simple questions. The worst thing the client could have said to the upsell proposition was “no”—and we hear that all the time. It’s a Lonely Road, But A Profitable One Once you begin upselling, you’ll find you’re in the minority. You see, only about three percent or less of all salespeople upsell. That’s good news! If you start looking at yourself in a different light—if you’re always driving value, creativity and innovation—you will see the rewards in higher sales tickets and increased profitability. As for your clients, you will have created substantial value for them by continuing to elevate their brand and making it stand out in a very crowded marketspace. Cliff Quicksell, Jr., MAS+, serves both as a consultant and acting director of marketing for distributor iPROMOTEu. He has been in the promotional industry for more than 30 years in various capacities. Additionally, Quicksell is president of his own international speaking and consulting company, speaking, coaching and consulting on ways and methods that companies can grow, expand and prosper. He has helped and spoken to audiences in more than eight countries and has published two books and more than 900 articles on sales, marketing and creativity. He publishes a weekly blog, “30 Seconds To Greatness.” Contact him to subscribe: cliff@quicksellspeaks.com , 301-717-0615 or via his LinkedIn profile. 60 | OCTOBER 2018 | GROW