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Interview Patty

Building Customer Trust

Upsells And Upgrades

Today, I arrived at the counter of a rental car company that I don’t normally use. They happened to have a far better deal than my usual company was offering for that date and location. I was greeted immediately, and the counter person found my reservation immediately. Other rental counters looked far more chaotic, and I was congratulating myself on a wise choice.
Some of the goodwill earned from the prompt service was dissipated by an unusually hard sell for insurance upgrades. The woman behind the counter made about five attempts to get me past “decline.” Finally, she grudgingly moved on.

I could have lived with that, but her next upsell attempt put me off this company for good. “You know you rented a compact car, right?” I agreed that I probably had. “That’s like a Nissan Versa, with hand-crank windows…” I nodded, having no clue what that model looked like but assumed it would meet my basic transportation needs to get to and from the conference where I was speaking.

“That’s OK?” she asked, with a dubious tone in her voice and a raised eyebrow. The implication seemed to be that I had chosen a terrible piece of junk, and all normal people would upgrade to something a bit larger and better equipped. I agreed that it was OK, though now I was wondering if this dog of a vehicle had air conditioning or if I’d have to crank the windows down for ventilation.

I signed a form in about fifteen places, no doubt absolving them from carpal tunnel lawsuits if I injured myself cranking manual windows.

When I got to the cars, the attendant gave me the keys and directed me to a row and number. The row I checked had a shiny, full-size Chevy Impala in the spot, so I assumed I had misunderstood the directions. I clicked the unlock button to see if I could spot my Versa in another aisle, and, to my surprise, the Impala’s lights flickered. The car proved to be spacious and comfortable with, of course, no window cranks.

At that point, I realized that the counter person knew I’d be getting a bigger car than I reserved, and was hoping to upsell me into it. My frugality (and general irritation at upsells) got me the same vehicle for free.

Was this person operating on company policy or her own initiative? Was she rewarded for successful upsells? Who knows?

But imagine a different customer experience scenario. What if she had said, “Mr. Dooley, I see this is the first time you’ve rented with us. We really appreciate your business, and I’d like to upgrade you to a premium car. Would that be OK?”

Instead of thinking this company was a bunch of sleazy operators trying to squeeze a few extra bucks out of me, I’d have been impressed. I wouldn’t have known they were out of their (mythical?) hand-crank Nissans, and I would no doubt have given them a stellar review.

A Reciprocity Miss

Offering me the nicer car at the same price would have invoked the principle of reciprocity, which happens when one person gives something to another person with no conditions or quid pro quo. That basic psychological principle, once triggered, would make it far more likely that I would recommend this company to others and rent from them again.

Sadly, most likely because of company policy or incentives, the representative chose to gamble on a phony upsell. Instead of creating a lasting positive impression and the possibility of both repeat business and referrals, she created a lasting feeling of distrust.

I ended up with the same car, at the same price, but a very different opinion of the company.

Look at your business, do you have the opportunity to surprise customers without adding extra cost? You have one chance to make a first impression, be sure to make that opportunity count!

Source: forbes

Patty Block, President and Founder of The Block Group, established her company to advocate for women-owned businesses, helping them position their companies for strategic growth. Charting the course for impactful, sustainable, profitable businesses, the beacon is control: of your strategic direction, your money, your time, your staffing, and your ability to bring in business. The Block Group brings together the people, resources and ideas that build results.

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