Kevin Powell, Channel Head – Trade at Sherwin Williams, extols the virtues of upselling and cross selling and argues that merchants could be doing more to maximise the value of sales.
It would seem that, when it comes to upselling and cross selling, the vast majority of merchants are missing a trick — for example, in a survey carried out amongst independent merchants, a staggering 93% admitted that their sales team never even try to up sell. When asked why this should be, the answers were surprising with over 40% claiming not to see the value.
Yet the old adage that the best way to increase sales is to get your existing customers to buy more from you certainly holds true. Indeed, according to sales research, it’s 70% easier to make a sale to an existing customer than a new one.
The easiest way to increase sales is to sell more to existing customers — cross selling. Similarly, the best way to increase margin is to sell higher margin products to those current customers — upselling. Furthermore, the products that work best are for both up- and cross selling are usually quick to understand, easy to buy and sell, offer real benefits, and have great brand credibility.
With fantastic brand values that make them the professional’s choice, Purdy’s range of brushes and rollers are the ones that decorators know and trust. Every brush is hand-made and signed by the person who made it, whilst they are designed with features that ensure they deliver a flawless, professional finish every time and boost productivity on the job.
Small details like filaments that self-flag throughout the life of the brush, and the Purdy ‘no filament loss guarantee’ are there to help make the difference when it comes to encouraging a tradesman to trade up to a superior brush.
Of course, good POS is vital, especially if it offers the chance for customers to get up close and personal with the product and see the quality for themselves. Adding to this is the confidence that comes through good product knowledge and training. All of Purdy’s POS aims to educate and inform users, for instance matching specific brushes to relevant paint choices and to promote the best products to achieve the most professional finish.
For example, Purdy’s Monarch Elite is linked with emulsions to demonstrate how this thicker stocked brush picks up more paint, while the Purdy Sprig is paired with water-based trim paints to showcase how thinner filaments have less drag when laying off to achieve a smoother finish.
By selling a Purdy brush instead of a generic, unbranded brush, merchants can make more profitable sales on products and can be confident that they will be giving their customers the quality results they need. Merchants will also be provided with all of the tech backup and support they need to make those sales.
Part of the Sherwin Williams group, Purdy has been manufacturing premium handcrafted painting and decorating tools for more than 85 years. For more information, go to https://www.purdy.co.uk/media/1108/purdy_product-guide_2019_final.pdf to download the company’s latest product guide.
