Do You Want Cords With That?

It's a sales tactic that we've all heard time and time again and the simple answer why, is that it works.

About 25 years ago, McDonald's began training their employees to ask customers if they want any additional items, calling them out by name. Fries were a natural winner, because let's be honest, who doesn't want fries with their burger. This classic example of cross selling has been estimated to add 40% to McDonald's total revenue, all with a simple question.

Why does this matter to computer hardware resellers? With attention at an all-time low it makes sense to give your partners the opportunity to buy as many of the solutions that they need before they are on to the next thing. This not only strengthens your relationship as a vendor creating a one stop shop for your partner, but also adds to your top line revenue.

How to tactfully do it? The last thing that anyone wants when rushing to put together a complex BOM is to add more to their ever growing to do list. Especially when the project in question brings attention to parts higher up the value chain. Identifying these opportunities is easy if you understand where power cords attach to other products and the scope of the overall project. The easiest "attach" is to a PDU (power distribution unit) without a cord there is no way to light up the rack. The next biggest opportunity usually exists where any data cable is being sold (category or fiber) as this typically signifies that an "inside the rack" solution is being propagated and deployed.

Don't most appliances come with a power cord? Most absolutely do, the better question is - is the cord in the box the right one for your customer's deployment? Are they concerned about the cord's color to call out topography or dual power redundancy? Is the length absolutely perfect? Is uptime a concern, and if so, would a locking cord be an inexpensive fix to outages?

More complex questions and getting the correct solution into your partner's deployment all start with knowing when to ask, "Do you want cords with that?"

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