July, 1976. I was a 90lb, 15 year old, long haired  kid, wearing a paper hat and apron, being told by an extremely large man named Ralph (with a bad toupee), to repeat these words..."Do you want slaw with that?"  "Say it with feeling boy," he said.

I had, up to that moment, lived a relatively sheltered life and had never witnessed a man speak with a chicken bone protruding from the side of his mouth like the stem of a lollipop. Hoping to prolong this display of talent I said, "Why should I ask...If they wanted slaw they would have asked for it." He smiled, adjusted his hair, and proceeded to teach me a lesson I still use today. "It doesn't matter if it's chicken or Cadillacs son, if you ever expect to sell anything, you've got to ask for it."

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Desperately hoping that, if I learned this lesson well, he would teach me the 'hands free chicken bone speech trick', I settled in behind the drive-through microphone and got to work. To my delight, I was able to 'up-sell' nearly every customer. After mastering Cole Slaw, I moved on to apple pie, then tater-tots. I was drunk with power. I truly believe that if I had asked "Would you like a bucket of nuclear waste with that 3 piece combo?", people would have gladly paid me for it. I was influencing what other people did. And the only tools I needed were my voice and attitude.

Up-selling can be the difference between merely surviving, and truly succeeding. Anyone can open a Rent to Own store and get customers. But it takes talent to be truly successful. Often times, the difference between surviving and succeeding is only a few percentage points. Up-selling, convincing a customer to add-on items, will provide that margin.

Think of it this way. If your average agreement is $19.99/week and you convince just 25% of your customers to add-on an item for only $5.00, you will  increase your BOR and revenue by over 6%. Up-selling as many as 75% of your customers is possible with an organized, well executed plan.

Make a list
For every category you rent, make a 'complete room list'. For example, a complete living room group consists of...

• Sofa

• Love Seat

• Chair

• Recliner

• Cocktail Table

• 2 End tables

• Sofa Table

• 2 Lamps

• Curio Cabinet

• Pictures

• etc

Place your list next to the computer and never, ever fail to ask for the add-on. When a customer rents any of the items on a room list, suggest adding other items. "For only a few dollars more, you can add an entire set of tables"... "Wouldn't it be nice to come home to comfortable recliner with your new living room suite?".

Note to software designers: An automatic pop-up that suggests add-ons based on category rented would be a fabulous addition.

Make a contest out of it. Keep track of add-ons per associate and recognize those that excel. Have them share their approach with others.

Although I have yet to master the 'hands free chicken bone speech trick', I can testify to the power of suggestive selling. Your customers will be happier with their rental, and you will increase revenue between 6% and 18% without increasing expenses.