So, I had two very interesting consumer experiences over the weekend. My first experience was with a used-car salesman (ok, a certified pre-owned car salesman) as I participated in that great American pastime, purchasing a car. I’ll have to write about that experience in another blog post, because three days later, it is still playing out. My other consumer experience occured while I was on the phone with the help desk for my Internet Service Provider. That’s the story for today.

It seems that my personal blog and website was hacked over the weekend. The site was down for about 48 hours, while my ISP, Network Solutions and WordPress, my blog platform, tried to figure out how to correct the problem. My site was not the only site affected. In fact, hundreds of sites were hacked. Users like me, were unable to log into their websites. What appeared was an incomprehensible error message that looked like this:

Fortunately in the end, the good guys prevailed (Yay!), and life for hundreds of bloggers returned to normal.

What was fascinating about this whole experience was the conversation I had with an eager technical support person at Network Solutions. I had submitted an electronic trouble ticket through their website. Within a few minutes, I received a standard email reply saying that the greatest minds on earth (well, that’s a bit of an exaggeration but you get the idea) were working to solve my problem. The email went on to say that if I had any additional questions, I could call a toll-free number and speak to a technical support representative. That’s what I decided to do, and the conversation went something like this:

“Hello, my name is Aaron (not his real name). How may I help you?”

I gave him my name and trouble ticket number and asked if he could give me an update on when my website would be fixed.

Aaron replied, “Let me check on that for you sir. Just a moment, please.”

After a few minutes, Aaron came back on the line and he explained that WordPress blogs hosted by Network Solutions were under attack. He assured me that the top people from both Network Solutions and WordPress (he really did say that) were on the problem and attempting to find a solution.

I sat in silence for a few seconds and then said, “Can you give me a timeframe? Do you have any idea when the problem might be solved?”

“No sir, I can’t. But, the very top people at WordPress and Network Solutions are working on this. I don’t have any more information for you at this time.”

More silence, and then I replied, “So, there isn’t anything you can do? I guess I just have to wait?”

“Yes sir,” Aaron replied. And then he said, “May I tell you about a special offer?”

More silence from me as I sat somewhat dumbfounded by all of this.

“We have a special on website hosting,” Aaron dutifully droned. “You can save 25 percent on hosting with a 1-year contract and can get 50 percent off two or more domain names.”

More silence from me.

And then I finally said, “I think I’d like to get the website you are currently hosting for me working, before I add any more.”

“Yes sir,” Aaron replied, and then added, “Is there anything else I can do for you today?”

“Apparently not.”

As a marketing professional, I love the idea of upselling. It’s a tool that when used effectively, can create more profits and higher revenues for your company. And if coupled with the right strategy or incentives, can make the customer truly feel they are receiving additional value. Understanding the customer and the psychology behind buying additional items is essential to effective upselling.

The art of the up-sell is a sales strategy ,and in most cases should be left to sales people, not technical support people. I wasn’t calling to inquire about additional services. I was calling to find out why the services I already purchased weren’t working. Needless to say, the timing of poor Aaron’s sales pitch left a lot to be desired. And it wasn’t his fault either. He was just doing as he was directed to do. But I certainly wasn’t in the mood at the time to consider purchasing more products.

In the end, it all worked out. They got my site working (yes, some of the top minds in the WordPress community actually did work on the solution). And now it’s a funny story and an object lesson – the art of the up-sell is based on understanding your customer’s psychology and motivation. And the timing of the up-sell pitch is, as they say, everthing.

If you have questions about your sales and marketing strategy, give us a call. We’d love to talk to you about it, and we promise not to sell you, or up-sell you anything – until the timing is right.

Oh, and I’ll be writing about my car purchasing experience soon too. That story is also still playing out, and it’s a doozy!

Topics: customer service, Up-selling