Subtle Assumptive Selling

As a retail manager, I get more than my fair share of pressure to squeeze every dollar that I can from each customer that innocently wanders into my store. This is especially true during hard economic times, such as those we are experiencing right now.

For a store like the one I manage, it is all about showing and suggesting additional items to increase the dollar amount of each transaction. So I am somewhat aware, when I get the chance to be out and about, of various ways salespeople try to sell you more than what you had in mind.

For fast-food restaurants, it can be about suggesting additional items too, like: "You want some fries with that?"

But another up-sale approach is to get you to increase the size of your order, like: "You want to make that combo a large for only 59 cents more?"

So the other day I was in a particular fast-food restaurant, waiting my turn and looking over the menu to see what they were offering for a dollar. Their full-color picture menu had larger-than-life mouth-watering, re-touched photographs of their best product, with big numbers beside the photos to make ordering easy. The prices below each picture explained that you could order the sandwich for a certain amount or you could order it as a small "combo" for few dollars more. The dollar menu I was searching for was down on the bottom right of the menu board in a much smaller sized font with no fancy pictures or numbers.

Finally, there was only one person in line in front of me. As I listened the lady place her order, the exchange between her and the cashier went something like this:

"Hi, I'd like a number one combo, please."

"Will that be medium or large?"

"Uh . . . medium."

Did you catch it? It is very subtle.

The menu board prominently displays the price for the small combo. But the cashier doesn't mention the small combo at all! She cleverly and assumptively gives the patron an "either-or" choice of medium or large!

Now, I'm sure that the cashier would have sold a small combo to the customer, if the lady had said, "No, I just want the small combo," but it would be interesting to know how many people buy the medium combo when faced with the "medium or large" question, when all they really wanted was the small!

Okay, so that's it. And maybe you didn't find it interesting at all. But this is why I have this blog: So I can write some things that I find interesting, "Mostly Just For Fun!"

Starting Off The New Year . . . Terrorizing The Elderly

Today is January 1st, 2010! What better way to start off the New Year than to get back into my daily routine of taking an early morning walk?

So this morning I eagerly got up, looked outside. It was still pretty dark, very cloudy, and raining. Not at all ideal conditions for a morning stroll.

Not deterred, but rather, with greatest determination, I donned my fleece hoodie to guard against the chilly, wet, “out-there“ and set off to dodge the intermittent light showers.

I like to walk with my MP3 player and listen to music while I exercise, and this morning was no different. I enjoy the way that I can get lost in the music and the beautiful scenery and not think about the exertion that my body is having to endure. (Okay, I know that it is just walking--but that’s just where I am right now!)

Normally on my morning walk, I encounter more than a few other walkers and joggers, but today that was not the case. I didn’t mind though, because it allowed me the freedom to sing along with the music that I was listening to without worrying about who might hear my vocalizations. (If you’ve ever heard someone singing along with music that only they could hear, then you know what I mean. It can be pretty scary sounding!)

Those of you that have seen me lately know that I am a big guy. Let’s just say that at six foot, six inches tall and about 255 pounds, I’m not easily overlooked! But this is something that I don’t think about often, until something happens to remind me of that fact. Something like what happened on my walk this morning.

So here I am walking along, listening to my music, when I noticed an elderly lady and her dog approaching me on the sidewalk ahead. She was a small, thin woman who was hanging tightly onto the leash on her small dog as if she were holding back an attack dog. Though the dog was no attack dog, he could have easily overpowered the woman and pulled her down, but he seemed to know not to pull too hard.

It is my custom when I pass by a fellow walker, to smile and greet them. It just feels nice to acknowledge my comrades in fitness. So, in anticipation of that moment when I would be close enough to be heard by this sweet elderly woman, but not too late for her to respond, I put my hand in the pocket of my hoodie, and started to pull out my MP3 player to pause it, out of courtesy to her, so that I could hear her response if she answered.

But as I was pulling my hand out of my pocket, I noticed the poor lady shrinking back from me with quite a frightened look on her face! I quickly smiled and said, “Good morning!” She had no response for me.


It wasn’t until I had passed by her that I realized that I was the one who had frightened her! But by then I couldn’t very well go back and apologize to her. That would have only served to frighten her even more!

I can’t help but wonder what she was thinking, if she felt vulnerable, as I approached her on the sidewalk, when there was no one else around. Or how her fears increased exponentially as I fumbled in my hoodie pocket for my MP3 player!

Perhaps, if I had realized the impact that I was having on her at that moment, I could have done what the angel of the Lord did for the shepherds "abiding in the field," when he showed up on the scene and scared them half to death, and said something like:

“Fear not! For, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy! It’s a brand new year and I’m not here to mug you!”

May this new year bring you peace, prosperity, and love . . . and safety from terrorists . . . real or imagined!