Would you like Fries with that?

Are you familiar with this line:

“Would you like fries with that?”

The cashiers are trained to ask you if you want fries with your order.

They might also ask you if you want a salad or a side dish to go with your meal.

Fast food upsells are probably some of the best you’ll ever see in the world. In fact if you followed the upsell “rules” used by fast food restaurants, you’ll be stunned by the results.

Let’s look at these rules.

First and foremost when you buy a burger at a fast food restaurant…

Have they ever asked you to buy another burger?

Or, when you bought fries… have they ever asked you to buy another order of fries?

Of course not!

They know that won’t work.

(Yes, there are exceptions to the rule in other niches. Think 2+1 razor blade offers or whatnot.)

Because “more of the same” doesn’t just mean more of the same type of product.

It goes beyond that.

When people say “more of the same” they mean more of the same value proposition. As in, do your customers feel like you’re trying to sell the same value proposition to them?

Because when some marketers present their upsells, the upsells are often pitched as being the same thing as the product the customer just bought. In their mind, the customer will feel that buying the upsell will just confuse them. Because they already have something to solve their problem. Why would they want to buy something else?

The key here is to look at where the main offer and the upsell overlap in content. Then, compare where they are different.

After which you focus on how the upsell complements the primary offer in your copy.

But, this is just step one.

You see, just focusing on the differences is not enough.

You have to sell how the differences in the upsell improve the results they’re getting from the base offer.

Now here are 2 simple ways to do this:

1-Highlight how the upsell will get them results faster. Emphasis on the word “faster” here. You must not make it look like the upsell is needed to get the results promised in the base purchase… unless you wish to really annoy your buyers.

The buyer must already have an idea that the core offer they just bought will get them the results they want.

The upsell will just make that happen faster.

2-Show them how the upsell will make it easier for them to get the results they want. This one is a bit harder to pull off. Why? Because it’s easy to fall into the trap of making it look like you just took the upsell out of the main offer and now you’re selling it separately.

When you do this, focus on showing them how the upsell will make it easier to get their results. In this case, things like workbooks, checklists and tools work best in this regard. They help keep the buyer focused while also lowering the amount of work the customer has to put in.

Now as I said above…

It’s already Upsell 101 at this point not to sell more of the same thing your customers already bought.

But that doesn’t mean it’s any easier to avoid this mistake.

Just remember, if the value proposition the customer is buying into is the same… then they’re going to ask you why you’re selling them the upsell.

To Your Success!

Steve.

Master Online Entrepreneur