Upselling is Everywhere

by: Karl Etshied

In these challenging economic times, having an RV consumer in the dealership is sometimes a luxury - and employees must maximize the potential. Thus, the art of upselling comes into play. Many who read this may consider it in some instances too pushy or aggressive for the RV customer. Clearly, it is ultimately an art form. When done correctly, your customer won't feel pushed into any decisions.

It gives those who have the opportunity to speak with the RV consumer the ability to provide the parts and accessories that will enhance their RV experience. If that's not customer service, then nothing is.

Most importantly, there is no doubt that if you are not upselling at your dealership, then you are one of the few businesses in America that has chosen not to. A key reason why consumers won't feel any attempt at an upsell is pushy or aggressive is simply that upselling is everywhere! Consumers are confronted with it every day, and the one that walks into your RV dealership has already been in several upselling situations.

For instance, we all know that if that consumer went to a fast food restaurant, they had to make the choice between regular french fries and those "ultrasized" french fries. This is the technique, which says that if the customer likes a little of a product, then they'll like a lot of it. And at the same fast food restaurant, they probably were directed to choose from numbered options, which bundled their dining choices. Yep, another upselling technique. Now, what if they chose a particular numbered lunch at the restaurant (bundling), and then were additionally asked if they wanted to upsize that particular bundle? They have suddenly been exposed to two upselling techniques in the same transaction.

Every retail store has their upselling strategies - take for instance those mega pet stores that are so popular these days. Imagine your RV customer walked into one of those stores to buy a goldfish - and the clerk just happens to walk him past the tropical fish section, past the beautiful salt-water fish that are simply too beautiful to pass up.When your customer asks that sales clerk about those fish, he'll learn they need special equipment, perhaps even a special salt-water bundled start-up kit, which just happens to be on sale.

By the time your customer has walked out of the pet store - the same store he walked into to buy a three dollar goldfish to put in a fishbowl he already owns - he has instead purchased several exotic species and a bundled salt water package.

The secret to these transactions is that the customer really wanted the products they ended up with - even though they may not have known it when they walked in the store. At the fast food place, a few more fries might be just what they were looking for and at the fish store, the move to tropical fish was something that the customer was not so much "talked into," but rather gravitated towards upon seeing the beauty of the fish. In both cases, the attendants or salespeople listened to needs, exposed their customers to bundled opportunities, and made the sale.

Can upselling be pushy? Realistically, it can, but with practice and some sound techniques, you can turn it into an art form and a customer service. As mentioned above, it won't be the first time your customers have ever experienced the profitable enterprise of the upsell.