I am writing this article right after an Efris (URA e-invoicing) training with a client.
They want me to help them file for taxes. They want us to keep filing for them their income tax so this can allow them to concentrate on other aspects of business growth and development. Hopefully, after that, they will also sign up for tax planning.
When it comes to sales, the main focus should be on upselling.
What is upselling you may wonder? It’s basically selling more and more stuff to the same client.
Let me share an ordinary example. A man walks to a shop to buy a cigarette, then they realise they don’t have sugar.
Recall, their intention to come to your shop was never to buy sugar but a cigarette however there’s sugar too which they realize they need. Then they recall there’s no escort for breakfast and end up buying bread too or a packet of Gokafoods doughnuts.
You have a client who had come to buy cigarettes for Shs 1,000 but now they have ended up spending Shs 10,000 in your shop. It’s cheaper and easier to sell to client who is already buying from you than to a totally new client.
Let me share another more profound example. Most of you know prominent businessman Mandela. He started out selling tyres. Then along the way he realized, those who buy tyres need fuel and the tyres fixed.
So he set up tyre clinics and later fuel stations. So you drive to buy tyres, have them fixed then fuel and drive off one way sorted.
Then he realised as you wait for your tyres, rather than sit there for 2-3 minutes scrolling through your phone bored doing nothing, you can walk to the supermarket and get you a bite or do some easy shopping for a home in those three minutes it takes to fix the tyre.
Now you can come to buy a tyre, have it fixed as you do some shopping at the supermarket. When the tyre fixing is done you fuel and drives off.
But what if you are hungry and need a real meal? That’s how Cafe Javas comes in. So for someone who just came to buy a tyre, now you have to have it fixed, do some shopping, or catch a meal and fuel then drive away from one way.
Same client but you keep selling them closely related items. That’s why it’s called upselling. This can’t happen to a client riding a bicycle because the domino effect starts with tyre purchase.
The golden rule of sales is before you try to sell a pen to a client ensure they use a pen then you can look to sell them a book as they will need somewhere to write probably.
It’s a waste of time trying to sell car tyres to a man who owns a bicycle and you don’t want to spend an hour trying to sell them a car tyre only to realise they own a bicycle! and
It would be like trying to sell bicycle tyres to a man that owns a car and no bicycle at all.
There’s a cost to sales. Ensure there’s a good return on investment (ROI) before going all out to try and make a sale. Also remember it’s cheaper to upsell than acquire a totally new client.
The cost of customer acquisition is way higher than the cost of upselling or customer retention. Upsell should be your biggest sales objective more so as a small business without the financial muscle to fund large-scale marketing and sales.
Jaluum Herberts Luwizza is a Speaker, Writer, and Business Columnist, He is also a Business Consultant at YOUNG TREP a Business Management and Consultancy firm that helps people start and grow profitable businesses and YTS Associates Certified Public Accountants.
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