How fast food can help you sell more add-ons

We’ve all been there. ‘Would you like fries with that?’ The effortless genius of the McDonald’s upsell means they sell more meals than they do burgers. This is a fact that hasn’t been lost on JudgeService founder and MD Neil Addley, who says the same logic can be used to improve your rate of upsales.

And rather than being a drag on customer satisfaction, the statistics show a smart upsales strategy actually helps build customer loyalty. “Service plans are the best example of this. We asked customers if they were made aware of the service plan saving package during the sales process.

“Of the 14% who said no, they were shopping at a retailer with a Net Promoter Score (the key customer loyalty metric) of 55.5%. The 86% who answered yes were using a retailer with a promoter score of 85.3% – that’s a massive 30-point difference.

“To explain this, you need to put yourself in the customer’s position. They are spending, say, £25k on a new car: you as a retailer are giving them the opportunity to look after their new baby, in an affordable and efficient way. Customers appreciate this opportunity, rather than seeing it as a negative.”

All upsells are good sales

Neil’s research didn’t just look at service plans. There’s a positive 13% difference in promoter score for those offered GAP insurance. 25% of customers were not offered cosmetic repair insurance – with those retailers suffering a promoter score deficit of over 13%.

As for extended warranties, there is 12% uplift in promoter score for those who were offered an extended warranty – surprisingly, almost 24% of customers say were not offered the chance to take one up.

There’s a 30% difference in promoter score satisfaction between those who were offered paint protection, and those who weren’t.

Complete wheel protection is perhaps the most striking stat: around 11% of customers were not offered it, but the difference in promoter score from those who were is a massive 50%. We Brits don’t only love our large alloy wheels, but it seems we also like looking after them.

Symbiotic sales and aftersales

“There’s a common saying that sales sell the first car, service sells the second. But we looked at the correlation between the promoter score and servicing.

“We discovered that those with a high promoter score have a 70% chance of customers using the retailer to service their vehicle, and recommend the dealership to their family or friends.

“For those with a low promoter score, it’s just 10%. It is a striking corelation from low to high.

“We believe it shows that sales actually sell the first service, because customers are more willing to go back to the retailer for routine maintenance. It also demonstrates that by upselling, you are looking after the customer, which is received positively: it’s genuinely virtuous.”

It turns out meal deals are the real deal after all; time to bring some of that fast food focus into your own retailer.