“How To Double Your Sales Without Adding A Single New Customer”

There are really only a few ways to dramatically increase profits from a retail store. Let’s list them;

Increase the average sale per customer-per visit.

Increase the number of times a customer buys from you.

Increase the number of new customers.

We are going to concentrate on # 1. Some of this may be familiar to you. But the way these sales are made are what makes these methods effective.

Let’s say you are selling an item for less than $20. Right after they said to ring it up….what if you asked “How many people do you know who would appreciate getting one of these as a gift from you?” You will be very surprised the number of times the customer says ““Well, my mom would sure like one….and my aunt Sally”.

Then you just say “Should I include them?”.

In our store, about a third of the time, they say “Yes”.

In our store we sell expensive electric heaters and also air purifiers. Each costs $495. When we are showing a heater, and the customer says “OK, I’ll take it”, I ask; “Would you like one for your basement rec room too? There is a $25 discount on each heater if you buy two or more at the same time.”

Here’s why this works so well………………..

Giving $25 off the one they just bought and the second one they buy...is far stronger than just saying “I’ll give you $50 off the second heater”.

The customer doesn’t want to lose the $25 on the one they just bought.

I do the same thing with air purifiers. One for upstairs...one for downstairs. I don’t do it with vacuum cleaners.

Anyway, about 15% of the buyers take two.

This “Sell two instead of one”” idea works far better if they are financing the purchase.

Many of our high end purchases are “Six months same-as-cash”. Here’s the verbage;

“If you think you’ll be getting a second one within the next six months, why not just get it now so you can get the discount. We can just add it to the amount financed?”.

Half the time, they say “OK”” to that. So we have figured out that offering Six months-same-as-cash is profitable for this reason alone.

What works at least as well, is selling a second high end product (not two of the same product). It’s called Cross-Selling.

Where did I learn this? The first retailer I worked for was Julius Toth. I’ve mentioned him before. His average sale was over $1,000...selling vacuum cleaners, sewing machines, clocks, ceiling fans, and air purifiers out of a tiny store in a lower class neighborhood. I was one of 4 salespeople working there, and none of us could top a $500 average. This was in the early 1980’s.

Julius would routinely sell a $700 vacuum cleaner (back when an in-home salesperson was selling a vacuum for about the same price),,,and after he offered terms, would say these magic words… “Sometime in the next year, will you be getting any ceiling fans? A sewing machine? Maybe an air purifier?”

The customer would innocently say “Yeah, we might come back to get a couple of ceiling fans for the house. How much are your grandfather clocks?”

Julius (and later Claude) took this to mean that they wanted to buy these items...just not now. So we would demonstrate the next thing they wanted…..and just extend the payment terms.

“Sir, if you add the air purifier, the monthly payment will remain the same (or go down). We can just tack it on to the end of the payments, if you like. OK?” More often than not, they would say “OK”.

Here’s how that worked. We would quote the payment for 6 monthly payments...then after we showed the second product, we quoted the payment for 12 monthly payments. That’s why “They wouldn’t have to start paying for the second product for six months”.

It worked so well, that Julius would routinely amaze us with $1,500-$2,000 tickets.

I’m going to confess something here. I rarely go past the second product. I’m always afraid I’ll overwhelm them with too many offers. It’s a personal choice. Julius had no problems with 3 different offers.

Another key here is that you want the second item to be slightly lower priced than the first one. If you are selling a product for $700 and one for $600...it’s better if you can add the $600 sale to the $700 sale, and not the reverse. I’ve noticed it’s easier to sell the second item if the price is slightly less than the price of the first.

I also include the “you get a $25 discount on each if you get an heater with your vacuum cleaner” (or air cleaner with your vacuum, etc.)

Remember, this works best if there is financing, although it’s not essential….and it is stronger if there is a discount, or something free, if they buy the two items at the same time.

A little over a year ago, I told the story of how I went into a furniture store for end tables and walked out with $24,000 in high end furniture.

I’ve printed out that story, and included it separately, for your convenience. Enjoy.

Anyway, a key thing the salesman said...after we spent several thousand dollars already was… “What room will you be furnishing next?” (or word to that effect). He kept asking that until we furnished the entire home. How could you adapt that idea to what you sell?

The other thing that my furniture selling expert said (after we just bought an expensive bedroom suite, I really liked) was “Now that we got something for you, what can we get for Cheryl?” HA! I laughed out loud when he said it, and recognized it as a brilliant sales technique.

If you have a store credit card program, or financing from a finance company, it’s far easier to sell “future needs” right now...instead of hoping to get that business later.

This idea alone accounts for a 40% bump in sales at our store. And with a few...very sharp retailer store owners...it can double store profits.

Remember, you aren’t paying anything to advertise that second high end sale. It’s all gravy.

Let’s talk about the next way to maximize a customer’s sale….by using add-ons.

Now, I’m not taking about adding a $6 sale to a $500 sale, and thinking you sold an add-on. I’’m talking about adding a $50-300 sale to a $500 sale that was just made. The figures may change depending on what you sell...but the ratios remain the same.

Selling an all-inclusive service program may be the ideal product. You would sell it at the register after the initial sale was made. Gold Member Bernie Holmstock has such a program. I’m trying to get him to offer it to our Gold Members. He showed it to me, and it’s a real money maker. You may see it in a few months. Bernie?

An article sold at the counter doesn’t have to be a trinket...or a pack of chewing gum. We sell an air cleaner-humidifier at our counter. It’s made by THERMAX. It’s called the Mini-Mite. (a stupid name, as it tells nothing about the product). It costs me $26 and we sell it for $69. An easy sale to someone who just spent $500 or more with us. We sell several a week with no effort at all. If you are interested, THERMAX’S phone number is 1-888-764-3700. No need to mention my name. I get no kickback. I just think it’s an easy product to sell, with an attractive box. And when you fill it with water (water is the filter), customers ask what it is…..all day long. It sets on our counter.

We may offer a $69 set of attachments to a vacuum cleaner (at the counter). The set costs us $12. It’s an impulse item that is easy to sell. See? Counter items don’t have to be cheap. Onward!......

Upselling is another way to increase profits.

We sell vacuum cleaners. If the customer tells me that they don’t want to pay more than $500 (or really any figure) for a vacuum cleaner….I usually show tem one at the “Top” price they mentioned...and show one at a price 20-50% more than their top price. I show them at the same time. And don’t try to “push” the more expensive one.

“I have a model at the $500 you mentioned and one at $699. I just want to see the difference. I think you would be happy with either one. OK?”. They always say “OK” because they are thinking that they may get the one for $500. But in most instances, if the higher priced model really has features they want….they will go with it.

The other reasons I like to show at least two different models (but never more than three. I don’t want this turning into a tour) are as follows;

It gives the shopper a feeling that they have “comparative shopped” so they are less likely to keep shopping.

The decision becomes more “Which should we get, Honey” rather than “Should we buy it?” . So your closing percentage will go up.

They are very likely to buy the more expensive model...because they have the ““safety net” of buying the lower priced model. And the better model isn’t twice as much money (a serious mistake to make on your part).

And the very best way to profit from your current customer is to continually mail them high end offer for your newest...greatest...different...stuff.

And now an E-Mail from a non-member…..