How Do You Value-Add Your Business By Offering Extra | Professional Selling Skills

Recently, I was sitting with a client in a “chain” restaurant. Our waitress was well mannered, knowledgeable, and po- lite. We enjoyed our salad, a fantastic steak, and a glass of wine. We were all quite satisfied. At the end of the meal, as our waitress cleared away the empty plates, she asked, “Any room for dessert?” While the option was there, we did not (and could not) take her up on her kind offer. We paid and left.

What was missing, both for us as customers and for her as a service provider?

Yes, dessert was the key element that was missing—not because it was not offered—but because the offer came too late in the dinner. Since we had not been thinking about dessert or mulling over in our minds the wonderful flavors of a soufflé, it was easy to say no.

The Art of Offering

For professionals, offering additional services to your client is similar to offering dessert. There is an art to success.

Successful restaurants, and professional service firms, offer dessert early in your dining experience. Some have desserts tantalizingly displayed on a cart that you must walk by as you go to your table. Capture my imagination and you will capture my willingness to engage you further. By sowing the “seeds of a need” early in the relationship, I am more likely to expand the engagement beyond the initial service needed.

On the other hand, if dessert is not offered, we would all be disappointed. We would think something is missing from our experience. Your clients feel the same way. Have you ever had a client say, with an edge, “I didn’t know you did that”? Imagine your disappointment when you later learn the client has done his estate planning with another professional, when he could have done it with you.

Dessert = Extra

But why is dessert so important? Because this is where higher levels of profit for you and the client exist but are rarely tapped. In any fine restaurant, the chef will tell you that higher profit is made from dessert than the entrée. It is cheaper to prepare and sells at a premium price. The analogy is equally important in any professional services firm. Often, in the first year of a new engagement, little (if any) profit is made; however, if dessert (additional value-added service) is offered early in the relationship, the client is already pre-sold and a premium price may be asked.

Summary

Your clients are looking for “one-stop” shopping. Offering dessert is a way of maximizing profitability, enhancing relationships, and ensuring that your clients are left with a “good taste” in their mouths. Bon appetit!