UPSELLING........

If you've read my tips, you know that Beth and I lost our two new kites in the trees. Beth's kite got away from her, but my line snapped. It was only 30-pound test line. I blame the kite shop for not trying to upsell me a roll of 70-pound test line.

Upselling is selling customers the highest quality or quantity of something that meets their needs. There's a fine line between upselling and overselling. Be careful not to cross that line or you'll lose a lot of long-term sales and referrals for a few extra bucks today.

Overselling breeds resentment. When you go to a butcher for a pound of hamburger, you don't want to leave with a side of beef. And if some cunning butcher sold you a side of beef, you might get angry when you got home and couldn't fit it in your freezer.

You'd probably stop going to that butcher, and tell all your friends about your bad experience.

When I say upselling, I mean upgrading the customer from a pound of ground round at $1.99 per pound to a pound of ground sirloin at $3.99 per pound. Sirloin is a better cut of meat. And it's less fatty, so it's better for your customer. You get the point.

Or perhaps your customer is having a big cookout and doesn't want expensive ground sirloin, but really needs three pounds of ground round to feed all of his guests. That's what upselling is really about - helping your customer, not just helping yourself.

Try simply showing your customers the next option in quality or quantity that seems appropriate, explain the benefits, and let them decide if they want to upbuy. How can you help your customers to see the advantages of upbuying?

-- Phil Sasso