Currently, I am still on my travels and I thought I would share some of the things I’ve experienced while visiting different places along the way. I am hoping that it will give you ideas about how to make more money with your business.
First of all, what I've noticed is that there are a lot of people who are making extra sales without making extra bookings.
Let me explain... We are in a campervan traveling right up the coast of Western Australia and then in land and across WA into the Northern Territory to Darwin. While we've been travelling I have been taking notice of the people who runs
campsites. I have seen some really great examples of how they upsell... and devise products and services that their market will spend more on.
You would think that with camping, there's not much that you can upsell, but I’ve noticed that some of the sites we've been on are taking their products and services to a higher level and consequently their profits too. For example; you start with a basic campsite (a patch of grass), which is for a tent - there's no upsell on that. But you can have a camper van or a caravan, on that same patch of grass and the people in the vans pay extra for it. If you want power and water with your patch of grass you pay extra.
Believe it or not, you can have an ensuite
on your patch of grass! These are cabins that are
built behind patch of grass. By paying more you get a hot shower, a toilet and other things so that you don't have to use the communal facilities. Who knew a piece of grass with an ensuite!
While we've been traveling, it's been getting hotter and hotter. Now in the middle of WA, it’s up to 40 degrees today. We traded in the van for a cabin that has a bed, a shower, a bathroom, and air conditioning. But we could have also upgraded further to a deluxe cabin with views of the lake. Those cabins have “Lake Views” from big verandas and more.
The owners / operators of these sites have found loads of ways to upsell different things, from internet connection to meals, to merchandise to one or two bedrooms, to sunset cruises on the lakes to fishing lures... Every upsell is an incremental increase in profits.
What I want you to think about in your businesses is: What can you do so that you can
upsell?
If you asked most people about what they could upsell on a campsite, they would probably
come up with nothing. But these guys have thought deeply then worked hard to create these extra revenue streams because of the difficulties in the industry caused by covid. It has meant lean times because of no international visitors.
They've realized though that if they cannot attract more visitors, they can increase spend per head by thinking about what else will people pay for.
If you think that it won’t make such a difference, it does. In most cases that money drops
straight to the bottom line because your fixed costs stay the same. The cost of getting the
person into your business is already taken care of because they're already there, your staff are already present, your utilities are paid for and so on. Upselling something gives you the chance to increase your bottom line without attracting more customers.
If you want to increase your profits, one way to do it is to keep inventing products and services and increasing prices until you find that top limit and most of the time you won't.
By the way, when we arrived in this place, we tried to get the top-of-the-range cabins that are on the lake... but they were all sold out. That means people are willing to pay more and more...and these guys haven’t found the top limit yet.
HOW TO CONTACT US
I hope this blog has been useful for your business. If you want to talk to me about coaching you around your business or marketing, please go to our contact us page. We’ll give you some tips on how to upsell and increase your sales!
Want to know more about marketing your restaurant? Book in for a quick, no-obligation chat with Howard by clicking the button below.
All Rights Reserved | Restaurant Profits