A goal of any business is to drive revenue and translate it to money in the bank. What if we told you it’s possible to not only drive revenue, but also increase the amount of revenue you’re already driving without adding any extra work to your daily operations? We’re not pulling your leg; it’s possible.
Use a combination of pre-sales, upsales, and cross-sales to boost your club. Here’s what we mean by each one.
1. Pre-Sales
Imagine it’s hours before you open and your mind is at ease because you have thousands of dollars in pre-sold inventory. On top of that, your worries about cancelations are a thing of the past since your reservations aren’t simply guaranteed, but purchased in advance.
This is not a dream; this is reality, and it’s easier than you think. All you need is to quantify your inventory (table reservations, cover charges, events, etc), make that inventory available to purchase in advance, get the word out about the pre-sale items, and measure the results against your pre-defined goals. Now, you have revenue coming in before you even open your door.
2. Upsales
Most people think of upselling as obnoxious salespeople convincing customers of things they don’t need. However, when presented correctly, upselling is a value-add to your guests’ lives…that also happens to boost your club’s results. In fact, studies show the majority of guests appreciate upselling when it’s focused on their needs. It’s perceived by the guest as a premium, highly personalized level of service which enables them to stay longer, spend more, and come back often.
Perhaps a guest’s behavior in line alludes he will spend a lot in your club – upsell him to a VIP table. Perhaps you can identify a guest has visited your club every week for the past month – offer a free VIP table and upsell him to bottle service. There are technology services available that track most of this information for individual guests, including number of visits, average spend, and favorite liquor types. A VIP guest will appreciate the attentiveness of a server saying, “I noticed you ordered a bottle of Belvedere last time you were here. May I start you out with that and another bottle of your choice?” Now you have his attention, have made him feel important, and have likely sold him on a second bottle before he even finished his first.
3. Cross-Sales
Cross-selling is the act of suggesting a complimentary product to the one your customer just purchased. This can happen both when your guest is at your club and before he/she arrives (think enhanced pre-sale).
Most clubs already use the concept of cross-selling when consumers are already in their venue, such as suggesting the customer purchases a round of shots to go with his/her already purchased drink. However, most aren’t realizing the opportunity of digital cross-selling. Let’s look at an example of a guest purchasing a ticket for your event online:
• Your guest goes online to pre-purchase a ticket for your event
• He fills out the necessary form fields and hits the submit button to process his payment
• He gets to a confirmation landing page thanking him for his purchase and recommending him to also pre-purchase a VIP table for the night and a limousine for his transportation
• He pre-purchases both the VIP table and the limousine, putting extra guaranteed money in the bank
Cross-selling the VIP table and limousine (particularly if you create a partnership with a limousine company) on the confirmation page enables you to earn more revenue than you would have without the suggestion. Now you not only have revenue from three different areas of your club, but you have <em>guaranteed</em> revenue from three different areas.
Using these three types of sales tactics is simple to implement and the payout is huge. Don’t sell yourself short by only doing the basic sales inside your venue. Identify items that you can pre-sell, upsell, and cross-sell, and watch your profit soar.
Whitney Johnson is the global director of marketing for BookBottles. Contact her at whitney.johnson@bookbottles.com.
