5. Mona the Upselling Queen

Nearly ten years ago, there was a little boutique in Darlington run by a woman called Mona. 

I only ever went in for one thing… 

…and somehow always came out with a full outfit. 

Shoes, necklace, sometimes a bag — every time. 

But I never felt sold to. I felt amazing. 

In this episode, I’m sharing what Mona did (without even knowing she was doing it) and why most business owners are leaving money on the table by stopping too early. 

We talk about: 

•  why the first sale is often just the start 
•  how to “finish the outfit” in your own business 
•  simple ways to help your customers buy more (without being pushy) 
•  and the easiest form of upselling that most people completely overlook 

If you’ve ever worried about being “too salesy”… this one will shift how you see it.
 
Love, Claire xx

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:09

Welcome to the Girls Mean Business Podcast, where we share business and marketing tips, advice and trade secrets to help you raise your game and build your brilliant business. Get more clarity, more customers, and more sales. Here to show you how your host, Claire Mitchell.

SPEAKER_01 0:30

Hello, it's Claire from the Girls Meme Business. Now, if you've been around for a while, you might actually remember this story from my old podcast that finished nearly 10 years ago. It's the story of Mona, the dress shop owner who was a queen of upselling. So let's just revisit that because I was looking in my wardrobe the other day and I found a couple of my Mona dresses. I can't fit them these days, but it all came back to me. And like I said, it must be nearly 10 years ago now, which feels ridiculous. But I can still picture her and her shop exactly. She had this little boutique in the designer street in Darlington where all the post shops are. Not a chain, just one shop, really nicely done. And she was tiny. She came up to about my chest, just a tiny little thing, but a really strong Mediterranean accent, and just this energy, this presence. You'd walk in and she was straight away, she was there going, Claire! And I'm sure she did this with all of her customers. And I only used to go a few times a year because most of the time I didn't need anything like that. I didn't need any post dresses. I was working from home, I was wearing my hoodies and my jeans, and I wasn't dressing up. But sometimes, a few times a year, I had something where I needed to dress up, something like a speaking gig or an event I was running. And when that happened, I'd go and see Mona. And I never ever came out of there with just what I went in for. Never. I'd go in thinking, right, I just need a dress, that's all I need. And she'd be straight over, Claire, come here. I've got the perfect dress for you. And she always did. But then it would start. She'd say, try on these shoes, try these shoes on. Oh my goodness, look at your legs in those shoes. And she'd say, The neckline, it's missing something. I've got the perfect necklace. Then she'd say, Claire, you need a bag. Look at this bag, it goes with everything. And honestly, before I knew it, I'd gone from one dress to a full outfit every single time, spending three or four times more than I intended to. And I'd walk back to the car and think, What just happened? But I also felt amazing because that's the thing. I never felt pushed, I never even felt like she talked me into something. I just felt like better. Like I looked better, like it all worked together. And that's why I think I've still got those dresses now. And the other thing that she used to do, which I'd completely forgotten about until I saw those dresses, was that she'd message me on Facebook. Now she wasn't a social media person at all. She would occasionally post some new stock on there, just take photos. But what she was really good at was messaging. So every so often I'd get a message pop through and it'd say, Claire, I have the most gorgeous dress and it's made for you. It is made for you in capital letters. You will find a reason to wear it. And just like that, and I'd be like, Oh, go on then. And off I'd go down to the shop because she wasn't sending it to everybody, she was thinking of me. And I'd go down there and it would all happen again. There'd be the dress. Oh, I'd need the shoes, I'd need the necklace, I'd need the bag, or the scarf, or whatever it was. And I think this is why she was so good because she never just sold you the thing that you asked for, because she knew that she could make you look and feel even better, and she'd finish the whole thing for you. She'd make sure that you would go in with an idea, and she would then finish that idea. That's the only way I can explain it, really. So you go in for a dress, and she'd finish it with the shoes, the necklace, the bag, the earrings. I've bought earrings, oh my goodness, everything. And because she got the first bit right, you trusted her with the rest. And obviously, you know me, there's a business lesson in here. I think loads of us could take some lessons from Mona actually, because I see this such a lot in business. When people stop too early, they just sell the one thing that the customer asked for, and that's it. But quite often, that's not the only thing that your customer needs, it's just the start of it. So just think about Mona. You know, think about what else they might need to make them feel better or to finish this off. So if you've got an online shop, look at what Amazon does. It says, People who bought this also bought this, and sometimes you think, Oh, yeah, actually, I do need that as well. But lots of online shops these days have the ability to add suggested products or suggested services. Where when somebody puts something in their basket, it'll say, Would you also like to add this to your order? You can do that. Or if you've got a physical shop, then really you just need to think like Mona because that moment where somebody comes in and says, Could I have this please? you've got the option always to say, Do you need anything else to go with that? Or even suggest things. You know, would you like a card? Would you like the earrings to go with that? Would you like this? Would you like that? Because if you don't suggest to them, then they might not think of it themselves. So if you can suggest and say, Well, this goes very well with that, they can only say no. And even if you're a therapist, you don't have to just sell them the one session, you can sell them the thing that keeps them going afterwards, and that might be multiple sessions or a package or a bundle, or it might be your book, or it might be your meditations, or it might be an online class that will help them to keep going whether at home. And again, if you're a coach, it's not just the first thing they buy, it's what actually helps them to follow through and get the results. So, in my case, when you buy something from me, usually I will say, Would you like this? Because it will help you implement it quicker. So it might be some cheat sheets or a custom GPT wizard or another little class or a workbook. So you've always got the option to help them more. So the result of this for you is that you make more money from one sale, which is brilliant because that means you didn't have to go out and sell it again. So the more you can sell to a customer in one transaction, the better. I'm sure Mona had her money head on. Of course, she was trying to sell as much as possible, but you never felt like that. You never felt like you were being sold to. You always felt like she was just finishing you off, you know, making you look even better and feel even better. She just did it naturally. She didn't call it upselling. I'm sure she didn't have some kind of plan. She just did it. She just thought, what else does she need to make this work properly? And then she showed me and she made sure you felt like a million dollars. That was it. Now, Mona's shop closed during COVID, which is such a shame. But I still think about her, and I think that you could think about her more often too. Because the question is always, where am I stopping too early? Where am I just selling the dress and not finishing this off? That's all you have to do. Just be more Mona. I'll see you on the next one. Bye for now.

SPEAKER_00 7:14

That's it from the Girls Mean Business Podcast. Join us for even more stab tips, advice, interviews, and trade secrets to help you get more confidence, more clarity, more customers, and more sales. Connect with us on Facebook at facebook.com forward slash the girls mean business. And check out our website at www.thegirlsmeanbusiness.com. See you next time.