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If Jiffy Lube Can Upsell, Why Can’t You?
Integrators should take lessons from service providers who sell customers more than they expected.
I took my car to a Jiffy Lube recently for a $29 oil change.
My husband warned me: Don't listen to them, they'll try to sell you a bunch of extra stuff.
I left the place having spent about $125.
Was I resentful? Not really. The items that "needed" fixing were in fact vital, if small, things: bad bulb in the license-place nook; bad bulb on the left blinker; and some other thing that also would have gotten me pulled over by an overzealous cop.
I don't know how much bulbs cost. I don't know how challenging it is to replace them myself. I do know that the last time I tried to replace my own windshield wiper, I had a heck of a time. So now I pay the guy an extra $20 or so and he swaps it out in about two minutes.
I did leave the place wondering about other service-oriented companies that ding you for an unexpected $100 or $200 extra, every time you (or they) come calling: rental car companies (insurance with that? GPS? Upgrade for $10 a day?), lawncare companies (extra-special super-duper weed killer?), furniture resellers (Scotchguard?) … and so on and so on.
So why doesn't our industry do that?
Security providers do a nice job of getting in the house with promises of a $250 installation, and then walking away with twice that amount, thanks to extra sensors, keyfobs, and other add-ons.
But I haven't met many home systems integrators that have an upsell strategy like that.
Regardless of what your customer buys, or what service they have ordered … there is always more that you can sell: better cables, line conditioners, new batteries, remote-control tweaks, calibration, and so on.
Do you have a checklist of upsells, the appropriate inventory on your van, and tools on your technicians?
My husband warned me: Don't listen to them, they'll try to sell you a bunch of extra stuff.
I left the place having spent about $125.
Was I resentful? Not really. The items that "needed" fixing were in fact vital, if small, things: bad bulb in the license-place nook; bad bulb on the left blinker; and some other thing that also would have gotten me pulled over by an overzealous cop.
I don't know how much bulbs cost. I don't know how challenging it is to replace them myself. I do know that the last time I tried to replace my own windshield wiper, I had a heck of a time. So now I pay the guy an extra $20 or so and he swaps it out in about two minutes.
I did leave the place wondering about other service-oriented companies that ding you for an unexpected $100 or $200 extra, every time you (or they) come calling: rental car companies (insurance with that? GPS? Upgrade for $10 a day?), lawncare companies (extra-special super-duper weed killer?), furniture resellers (Scotchguard?) … and so on and so on.
So why doesn't our industry do that?
Security providers do a nice job of getting in the house with promises of a $250 installation, and then walking away with twice that amount, thanks to extra sensors, keyfobs, and other add-ons.
But I haven't met many home systems integrators that have an upsell strategy like that.
Regardless of what your customer buys, or what service they have ordered … there is always more that you can sell: better cables, line conditioners, new batteries, remote-control tweaks, calibration, and so on.
Do you have a checklist of upsells, the appropriate inventory on your van, and tools on your technicians?
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About the Author
Julie Jacobson, Editor-at-large, CE Pro
Julie Jacobson is co-founder of EH Publishing and currently spends most of her time writing for CE Pro, mostly in the areas of home automation, networked A/V and the business of home systems integration. She majored in Economics at the University of Michigan, earned an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin, and has never taken a journalism class in her life. Julie is a washed-up Ultimate Frisbee player with the scars to prove it. Follow her on Twitter @juliejacobson.
1 Comments (displayed in order by date/time)
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You are dead on Julie! Our industry, either through complacency, fear or arrogance has forgotten the art of upselling and accessorizing. We think that they don’t need or we are afraid to collect or we are too undisciplined to write a change order and add it on. Sales managers need to empower their installers to offer these products and services by spiffing them and the lead sales person the job. Installation managers need to have these items on the trucks for that impulse sale. If everyone is of the mindset that everyone in the company is in sales then a company can see true top line and bottom line growth because many of these items are among the most profitable in the company. Boy, the things you learn after the fact. Don’t leave money on table boys and girls