Value added

While buying helium-filled balloons for a birthday party, the clerk at the fabulous party store wanted to know if we wanted to high-flight the balloons. She explained that the balloons only last about 8 hours, but if she put in the high-flight gel, they would last about two days. The cost was only 12 cents extra per balloon. Of course, we did it.

Two lessons from this.

Number one, this was a classic upsell: we were buying a product, and she talked us into spending a little more than we thought we would for a better value. It's the same concept as :"Do you want to upgrade that to a combo meal." It is something that you can do in your investigative business as well. Rather than have a client wait for a full report, ask your client if he or she wants interim reports at a small extra charge. Or if working a domestic case, offer to add one extra surveillance session at a special reduced price. Look at your services and see what you can upsell to your clients.

But my thought about the balloon lady, and your business, is to just include such extras for free. Did the balloon lady in the party store really make that much extra money by squirting a gel into balloons? Did the gel really cost that much extra? I doubt it. I think the store's policy should be to just include the gel at no extra charge, but to be sure to tell me that they are adding that value for free so that I feel good about the special treatment I receive.

And I think you should do that in your agency as well. Pick something that may not cost you much, or anything, to do, and provide it for free, making sure your client knows you are doing it for free. They will feel special and appreciate the way you do business.

A great marketing tactic....and it may not even actually cost you 12 cents.

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