Page 39 - GBC fall 2015

THE ART OF
UPSELLING ANd
dOWNSELLING
WHAT IS UPSELLING?
The previous scenarios are all examples of upselling and most businesses do this to increase sales and increase profit. In tough times, upselling is even more important.
Upselling is simply the process of asking for another sale after someone has made a purchase. This simple sales technique is visible everywhere from McDonalds to car dealerships and should be a part of every golf course as well.
The first challenge is to convince your team that they are really in the sales business. They need to appreciate that “life is sales.” We all want to be more persuasive with those in our life and that includes the customers at your golf course. The main reason that we do not sell more is that we do not ask. It seems that we are more order takers than sales people. To be successful you have to sell more, it’s as simple as that.
YOUR STAFF MUST ASK
You will find that your team does not want to ask. Many sales people do not like to ask, they prefer to hint instead. The power of the upsell is that we ask for a specific sale after a customer has made a purchase. The main reason we do not ask is that we are afraid the customer will say “no.”
It seems that we take this as a personal rejection and then we feel bad so we do not ask again. We can help our staff get over this fear of rejection by making the request simple and encourage consistent use of the upsell so that it becomes a part of their daily routine.
“The main reason we do not ask is that we are afraid the customer will say ‘no.’”
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