What's at Steak...

For some reason a lot of my marketing analogies have to do with food. (Maybe that says something!)

Recently, I went to an Outback steakhouse when I was out of town. I asked my waiter for a recommendation. He said I might like the 20 oz. porterhouse. If I was really hungry they had something like a 32 oz. So I ordered the 20 oz. It was good. I was stuffed and satisfied until he brought me the check. I looked at the table next to me and watched their waiter bring them this luscious dessert.

I didn't think of dessert. I really didn't want any. But I felt jilted by the waiter for not bringing me the dessert menu or even asking me if I was interested. And I wasn't going to make a stir about dessert. I just paid my check and left.

That waiter did both himself and me a disservice. I lost out on a great dessert. The waiter lost out on a bigger tip on a bigger tab. And I left feeling strangely dissatisfied.

This is rare in the restaurant business since offering dessert is usually an integral part of wait staff training. But it happens a lot in other selling situations where a salesperson fails to ask all the right questions to complete the sale.

Takeaway: Are you asking every question and closing every sale completely? Or are you leaving out the extras that will be more satisfying to both you and your customer? How much of upselling and cross-selling do you cover in sales training?