GrowthANSWERS » “Would You Like Fries With That?” How this simple phrase – coupled with your Direct Response Marketing program

October 19, 2008

“Would You Like Fries With That?” How this simple phrase – coupled with your Direct Response Marketing program – can power your sales!

BY TODD SCHNICK – www.intrepid-llc.com

Do you know how many times I have pulled up to a drive-thru window with the sole intention of buying a single burger? My intentions are sincere. Honest. Fries are high in carbs. Salty. Lots of reasons to avoid them. I think to myself, this time I will avoid that bad, bad food.

But then that pesky sales person in the first window says those magic words that get me every time. You’ve heard them – uttering that phrase sprinkled with mystical pixie dust that turns me into soft goo every time…

“Would you like fries with that?”

“Yes,” Todd says quickly and matter of factly, as if it was his intention all along.

Seems ridiculously simple, doesn’t it? But this little sales technique is so powerful, so common sense, that every business utilizes it, right?

Wrong. You’d be surprised how many businesses – both large and small – don’t ask the equivalent of “would you like fries with that” for their products or services.

Can you apply a similar technique to your business? Yes you can. Can you engage your direct response marketing program to execute it for you? Again, yes you can.

How?

Remember, the advantage of direct response marketing is that it is direct. It can be targeted with precision – unlike mass media. If you have an existing database of customers – you know precisely what they have bought from you – and why. (And if you don’t – you’d better…)

The teenager sitting in the drive-thru window at the burger joint knows you just bought a burger. They also know there isn’t anything better with a burger than fries. And even if you don’t think you want fries, it’s hard to resist. Even harder when someone asks. You need to apply the same principle to your business.

Utilizing this database, you can build your business by cross-selling. What is cross-selling? Cross-selling is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “that of selling an additional product or service to an existing customer”.

The teenage kid asking you if you wanted fries was engaging you in the most basic form of cross-selling. Another classic example is selling vacuum cleaners. If you are selling new vacuum cleaners, you are a fool not to sell your customer an additional supply of vacuum bags.

The beauty of cross-selling is that you are actually providing your customer better support and service, since the products or services you are cross-selling are helping that customer better fulfill their needs – or solve their problem. Sometimes, you are merely asking them to consider something they haven’t thought about before, or didn’t know was an option.

Now, how can you retool your direct response marketing program to do this? Well, what direct marketing tactics are you employing? Direct mail? One-to-one marketing? Telemarketing? Email marketing? All of the above?

You sell widgets. You have a database of the customers who have purchased widgets from you. You also sell whatzits – which nicely compliment widgets and make them much more efficient and effective.

Your customer base would benefit from adding the whatzits to their widgets. Send them direct mail (or a coordinated one-to-one campaign, or an e-zine article, or call them thru your telemarketing program) and explain how whatzits improve the efficiency of their widgets and will help them further grow their business.

Make the call to action simple and easy – just as easy as ordering fries – and not only will you better serve your customer – you will make additional sales and grow your own business.

If you liked that post, then try these...

GrowthANSWERS' Don Rigby Makes The AJC! by editorga on February 7th, 2009
Business owners are being tested for courage.

Three Things You Can Do NOW To Be Intrepid Marketers by editorga on January 2nd, 2009
I wonder why some people are so afraid to market their business.

October eMERGE! - The Journal of GrowthANSWERS by editorga on October 8th, 2008
Closing the Loyalty Gap In a recent interview with Strategy magazine, I stressed the importance of having loyal customers.

October 19, 2008

“Would You Like Fries With That?” How this simple phrase – coupled with your Direct Response Marketing program – can power your sales!

If you liked that post, then try these...

No Comments »

Leave a comment