What can you super-size?

Key Takeaways:· Sometimes you have to dig to find out what your customers really want from your product or service. · You can add massive value to your customers, with minimal impact to your operational costs. · Suggestive selling works: When McDoanald’s had their employees ask “Would you like to super-size that?” they increased sales by 25% with one campaign.

Working for a chain of movie theaters in Texas, David Wallerstein noticed that movie-goers resisted buying more than one soda or bag of popcorn. Two-for-one deals, matinee specials, nothing worked to spur more sales.

Then Wallerstein hit on an idea: bigger portions. Much bigger, in fact. People gladly bought larger portions, rather than buying two at a time, which made them feel piggish. And he found they would pay a lot more. Thus was born the two-quart bucket of popcorn – and Wallerstein’s hiring by McDonald’s where he championed the idea of super-sized portions – which made a super-sized impact on McDonald’s sales.

Cut Corners the Right Way

Key Takeaways:· Look at your workflow and think hard about how you can save time or resources and still maintain a high level of service. · Recent technological advances like computerized mapping might have money-saving applications for your business. · Go green. Finding ways to save energy is good for business, and good for the planet!

If you’re running a delivery business, you just drive around and deliver packages, right? Not so fast. It’s true that you must cover the distance to reach every destination, but maybe there’s a better way.

Case in point, United Parcel Service. By pre-mapping routes and instructing its drivers to make right turns only – along with other “package-flow technology” changes – UPS was able to trim 28.5 million miles off delivery routes and save 3 million gallons of fuel.

Saved UPSmore than$10 million