You’ve heard the pejorative phrase . . . ”Oh, he’s just an order taker.”

OK, we know what that means: that the person in question just takes the order and doesn’t bring anything of value to the sale.  The statement implies that a robot could do the work.

Hmmm, not so fast.  There are such things as good order-takers and bad order-takers, no? 

Haven’t we had good or bad experiences at our favorite fast-food place? 

And in some situations, maybe that’s all the customer really needs. (What! that’s sales blasphemy!)

Yes, that kind of thinking can drive executives and managers crazy.  And the response can lead to arbitrary thought processes.  I know, I worked at McDonald’s behind the counter when I was young, and I still remember our manager emphatically instructing us at the crew meeting on how to push apple pies. 

“OK, after taking every main meal order, if the customer hasn’t also ordered a dessert, I want you to you say, ‘Would you like an apple pie with that?’ No exceptions, got it?!” 

OK, sounds like a harmless, even good, strategy, right?

Well, not always.  Case in point: the hurried mom with four kids.  I remember suggesting the apple pie to her, and it resulted in an civil war-like argument between her and the kids.  Just what she wanted.  She glared at me. 

I was not being helpful nor doing my employer much good.

And then, sure enough, the addendum about the pie started becoming like a rote “toss away” line by all of us up front.   ”. . . So that will be 6- hamburgers 4 fries 4 vanilla shakes.  Wouldyoulikeanapplepiewiththat?  . . . May I help the next person, please? ”

So my point is that in certain situaitons, all that is needed is just good alert, efficient and courteous order-taking.  Nothing more. 

And nothing wrong with that.

But when does “up-selling” make sense, with the potential to have a positive influence?

Let’s take the same fast-food situation.  Perhaps what my manager should have advised was that we keep an eye out for situations where a suggestion for a  dessert might be appropriate and to then introduce the idea by using an individual appeal.   (And please, don’t dare tell me that that an $8/hr worker can’t make such a judgment.)

For example, “We just got some hot apple pies up . . . one of them might go well with your Vanilla shake don’t you think?”

See the difference?  Effective upselling can begin by being a good suggestion-maker.

But it can also go another step further, from suggestion-maker to a full-fledged advisor. 

And that happened at the fast food restaurant too, especially on the night shift.  Customers would arrive after a night out and exclaim, ”Man, I’m hungry, but I’m not really sure what I want.”  Here the customer had a “problem,” and the best of us servers would take on the “advisor” role.   We’d say something like, “Well, we have some double cheese hamburgers coming up in a minute.  And the vanilla shakes are mighty good . . . and oh yeah, we have a special on apple pies that would go well with that.”

Now there’s a critical part to the successful upsell and advisor equation.  You have to know what you are talking about.  For example, it adds credibility to be able to also say something like, ”I just tried one of our apple pies at lunch today.  Man was it good.  I myself forgot how delicious they are.”

It’s really not much different in my media replication and multimedia sales efforts today.

Sometimes it’s best to be just an order-taker.  For example, when I’m on the phone with a producer crashing toward a deadline who just needs some disc and tape copies.

Then there’s the opportunity to upsell.  For example, those times when I can suggest an eco-friendly packaging alternative.

And then there are the times when I am called upon to be an advisor.  For example, when a client is not sure how best to present their mixture of full-screen and compressed videos on a disc.

And again, being an effective advisor is knowing what I talk about.  That’s one reason I enjoy my job so much.  I learn something new every day about the technology of our exciting media field.  And the more I know about my “product,” the better salesperson I become.

I welcome your feedback below.

Feel free to contact me at dryan@videolabs.net or 301-217-0000 x104.

If you enjoyed this article, you might also enjoy reading my blog titled, “Marketing Observations from the Hospital Bed.”  http://tinyurl.com/ndh45c

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