In this post, serial entrepreneur and super coach Drew Renner takes us through some simple tricks to boost revenue through upselling - without putting customers off. When not writing blog posts for Peek, Drew is busy helping tour and attraction owners win customers through simplicity, authenticity and highly-leveraged systems, providing no-nonsense frameworks for business growth. Trust us, this guy knows his stuff. Hit it, Drew! If you’re anything like me, you hate the feeling of being ‘sold’ to. You have these awesome tours and activities for your guests. You may also have a few little ‘extras’ that you are offering, or want to offer, in order to bring in some additional revenue. But the last thing you want to be is that greasy salesman from the car lot. Here lies the issue: how do we avoid being aggressive while still presenting the options to guests? As a former owner and operator of an off-road adventures company, here are 3 simple things I have always kept in mind when it comes to increasing my upsells without being pushy or sleazy.
It should actually enhance their experience
Do your current upsell options make the experience better, or is it just more revenue for you? Think about what things you could offer that would make the experience way cooler. What things would it suck not to have? What things have guests mentioned they would love? Upsells can also be great when there are some things that you would like to add to the experience, but recognise not everyone might want. Whatever the reason, keep in mind the needs and wants of your guests.Here’s an example. With our off-road outfitter, one thing people were liable for was damage to the vehicles, including tire damage. This didn’t happen often, but when it did it was a real bummer for the guests. We decided to offer a “Tire Protection” option that they could purchase for $25. It wasn’t expensive, and it could potentially keep them from having to pay $200 for a tire. Really a no-brainer for most guests. The way we presented this offer helped them to see we had their interest in mind.
Don’t offer too many options
Too many options will overwhelm your guests. When they feel overwhelmed, they run away. And if they keep seeing all these options or offers they’ll feel like they are just being sold to. Select a few things you can offer to your guests during the booking process. I suggest no more than 3. Present them all at once. You want to make the check out process as simple and short as possible. If offers keep popping up, you will lose out on bookings because people will get annoyed and leave.
Offer what they want - even if they don’t know they want it
I kept hearing my guests say after the tour was over that they wished they had a GoPro to record their adventure. Hearing this consistent dialog told me people wanted it, but didn’t think about it when they booked their adventure. So as they were booking, I set up an add-on item in Peek Pro to offer to them the option to rent a GoPro. 15-20% of our guests chose to rent a GoPro during their booking process. Rad, right?!But wait - there’s more. Just because the remainder didn’t go for it when booking, that didn’t mean they wouldn’t want one. Having that add-on option was just planting an idea. As guests arrived and were checking in, we’d causally ask them if they had brought their GoPro so we could mount it for them.This was now the second time they’d heard about it, which started to cause them to wonder if they needed one for the trip. They’d most often reply that they forgot it or didn’t own one. We’d reply with something like, that’s a bummer... and proceed to tell them a story about how people would tell us how the wished they had a GoPro recording of the ride. Almost like magic, the guests would ask, “do you guys have one I could rent?”. In which we’d reply yes - would you like one? No pushy sales. They saw a need to have one and we helped them. As you think about what and how to offer upsells to your guests without being pushy, decide what would enhance their experience, keep the options simple, and offer them in a way that shows you have their best interest in mind. Share a story about it. When you do, people will be willing to open up their wallets knowing you have their best interest in mind.If you’re a tour or activity operators looking for other great ways to enhance your experience, check out Drew’s site at DrewRenner.com to see how you can grow both sales and profits!
Table of contents
In this post, serial entrepreneur and super coach Drew Renner takes us through some simple tricks to boost revenue through upselling - without putting customers off. When not writing blog posts for Peek, Drew is busy helping tour and attraction owners win customers through simplicity, authenticity and highly-leveraged systems, providing no-nonsense frameworks for business growth. Trust us, this guy knows his stuff. Hit it, Drew! If you’re anything like me, you hate the feeling of being ‘sold’ to. You have these awesome tours and activities for your guests. You may also have a few little ‘extras’ that you are offering, or want to offer, in order to bring in some additional revenue. But the last thing you want to be is that greasy salesman from the car lot. Here lies the issue: how do we avoid being aggressive while still presenting the options to guests? As a former owner and operator of an off-road adventures company, here are 3 simple things I have always kept in mind when it comes to increasing my upsells without being pushy or sleazy.
It should actually enhance their experience
Do your current upsell options make the experience better, or is it just more revenue for you? Think about what things you could offer that would make the experience way cooler. What things would it suck not to have? What things have guests mentioned they would love? Upsells can also be great when there are some things that you would like to add to the experience, but recognise not everyone might want. Whatever the reason, keep in mind the needs and wants of your guests.Here’s an example. With our off-road outfitter, one thing people were liable for was damage to the vehicles, including tire damage. This didn’t happen often, but when it did it was a real bummer for the guests. We decided to offer a “Tire Protection” option that they could purchase for $25. It wasn’t expensive, and it could potentially keep them from having to pay $200 for a tire. Really a no-brainer for most guests. The way we presented this offer helped them to see we had their interest in mind.
Don’t offer too many options
Too many options will overwhelm your guests. When they feel overwhelmed, they run away. And if they keep seeing all these options or offers they’ll feel like they are just being sold to. Select a few things you can offer to your guests during the booking process. I suggest no more than 3. Present them all at once. You want to make the check out process as simple and short as possible. If offers keep popping up, you will lose out on bookings because people will get annoyed and leave.
Offer what they want - even if they don’t know they want it
I kept hearing my guests say after the tour was over that they wished they had a GoPro to record their adventure. Hearing this consistent dialog told me people wanted it, but didn’t think about it when they booked their adventure. So as they were booking, I set up an add-on item in Peek Pro to offer to them the option to rent a GoPro. 15-20% of our guests chose to rent a GoPro during their booking process. Rad, right?!But wait - there’s more. Just because the remainder didn’t go for it when booking, that didn’t mean they wouldn’t want one. Having that add-on option was just planting an idea. As guests arrived and were checking in, we’d causally ask them if they had brought their GoPro so we could mount it for them.This was now the second time they’d heard about it, which started to cause them to wonder if they needed one for the trip. They’d most often reply that they forgot it or didn’t own one. We’d reply with something like, that’s a bummer... and proceed to tell them a story about how people would tell us how the wished they had a GoPro recording of the ride. Almost like magic, the guests would ask, “do you guys have one I could rent?”. In which we’d reply yes - would you like one? No pushy sales. They saw a need to have one and we helped them. As you think about what and how to offer upsells to your guests without being pushy, decide what would enhance their experience, keep the options simple, and offer them in a way that shows you have their best interest in mind. Share a story about it. When you do, people will be willing to open up their wallets knowing you have their best interest in mind.If you’re a tour or activity operators looking for other great ways to enhance your experience, check out Drew’s site at DrewRenner.com to see how you can grow both sales and profits!
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