SmallBizResource Blog -- Networking & Communications

The Seeding Of The Soft Upsell

Posted by Judy Mottl Thursday, Dec 13, 2007, 01:57 PM ET

My little guy was on a tear the other day, answering any question I posed with the additional comment of "do you want fries with that?" It was 9-year-old humor at its best and he completely cracked himself up. I admit I laughed a bit too..laughter, thankfully, is contagious.

And while he thought it was just a funny smart alecky punchline to drive me crazy with, I started thinking about what it really meant and how effective such a soft upsell sales approach can be.

I mean you pull up to McD's and order a shake and burger and then they ask "is that it?" and you say "yes," and then they hit you with it: do you want fries with that?

Obviously you didn't or you would have ordered them with the shake and burger. I mean it's not like it just slipped your mind since the scent of french fries makes a stomach growl automatically. But now you're thinking twice about the fries due to the simple fact they're questioning your ordering intelligence--they're making you rethink something you've already decided on.

The killer is most people chime back, "sure why not" and drive away a buck or two lighter for something they hadn't wanted to begin with.

Starbucks does the soft upsell well too. You order a latte and they ask if you want the biggest cup size. Then they ask if you want extra whip cream or a double dollop of caramel. All things you likely would have mentioned in placing the initial order. And you find yourself saying "sure" once again.

Go to your favorite clothing retail store and you get the soft sell right before you pay when they pose that inevitable question: "Do you have a customer care card?" If you did you'd have presented it right? If you wanted one you would have stopped by customer service on your way to the cashier. So you don't have one, but given the 10-15% discount if you get it (in exchange for some personal information much more valuable then that 10% off), you get the card. And they get to now hit you with promotions in email, phone and snail mail on a regular basis

But does such a strategy translate in the small business selling environment? Or does it come across as too manipulative? Can SMBs afford to annoy or aggravate a loyal customer with a push to pull adds-ons into the order situation? Does incentiving (is that even a word?) work on the smaller and much more personal customer level? What do you think?

Networking & Communications