Have you ever given your order at a fast-food restaurant, only to be asked, “would you like to make it a combo meal?”

This question is a perfect example of an attempt to upsell. A simple sales technique that offers the customer more value and at the same time grows the size of the order. While most people are turned off by salespeople who use sleazy sales strategies to get them to buy more, it doesn’t have to be this way.

If you or your front team members are genuinely interested in doing what is best for the customer, not only is upselling the right thing to do for them, but it’s the right thing to do for your store.

It makes me think of a concept a mentor taught me around accountability, “Accountability isn’t something you do to someone; it’s what you do for someone.” If you insert the word upselling for accountability, you will be in the correct sales mindset, “Upselling isn’t something you do to someone; it’s something you do for someone.”

Upselling Defined:

A sales technique used to get a customer to spend more by buying an upgraded or premium version of what's being purchased.

Since Motorsupplyco.com exists to provide quality products at the best prices to your store, we want to make sure you and your team are equipped with strategies to prove the value of quality products like Castrol Oil.

Check out these four simple questions that you or your team members should memorize to upsell your and increase the order size.

1. “How long do you envision driving this car?”

Before you can accurately upsell someone to higher quality oil, it’s essential to know how long they plan on driving the vehicle they have in your store today. If the answer to this question is, “I am turning it in next month,” putting the highest quality oil in their car doesn’t make sense for them. However, if they say, “I plan on driving it until the wheels fall off,” the type of motor oil they put in their car means much more than they know.

Thus, providing an opportunity to educate them on why and what kind of oil they should put in their car is essential.

2. “The resale value on used cars is at an all-time high, but only for those that have been taken great care of. What kind of oil have you been using in your car?”

Using a current market trend is a great way to educate customers and create a vision for how important it is to take care of one of their most valuable investments. For example, some used cars are being traded into dealerships for as much as 98% of their purchase value! This is unheard of, so the better a customer’s car is when it’s time for them to trade in their car, the more they will get towards their next car.

“John, I see you put a low-quality motor oil in your car last time; while this isn’t the end of the world one time, I wouldn’t recommend getting in the habit of using it every time. Are you ok if we put a higher quality oil in this time to enhance the lifetime of your engine?”

Don’t get caught up in the length of this question; try getting caught up in the last sentence. “Are you ok if we put a higher quality oil in this time to enhance the lifetime of your engine?” This impact question doesn’t make the customer defensive and easy to say, “yes.” It’s almost like when you check out at the grocery store, and the clerk asks you, “would you be willing to round up to the next dollar to support kids with a terminal illness.” It makes the decision easy, and it’s the right thing to do.

4. “Some of our customers driving a similar make and model as you didn’t like coming in four times a year to get their oil changed, so they switched to a fully synthetic Castrol Edge oil that lasts longer. How does that sound to you?”

Not every customer cares about money, but almost all of them care about their time. As Bill Marris said, “Time is the one thing I can’t get back and can’t give back to you.”

If a customer will come into your store fewer times and save their time, increasing the type of service and their total bill is essential to growing your bottom-line revenue. Go ahead and offer the saving of time instead of money and see how they jump at it.