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When you take a vacation, especially a cruise, you probably want to get as far from your business as possible for the week or two of your time off. However, if you are a small business owner or entrepreneur, or especially if you are a solopreneur, your business is never truly completely out of your mind. As a coach and consultant, that was definitely true for me on our combination 26th Wedding Anniversary and my 70th birthday.
The point of a business lifestyle isn’t to always be working. It’s to sharpen your perspective wherever you are, whatever you are doing so that even while you are having fun, you are open to new insights that can benefit yourself and your business.
While my last post, “Behind the Fun Provides Business Insights,” looked at the organizational and infrastructure lessons from taking the “Behind the Fun” Tour on Carnival Miracle. This one looks at how Carnival handles upsells on their cruises. Upsells are add-on sales that you can make in your business to boost the total sale amount.
Before I cover what I saw of how the Carnival Cruise Line does their upsells, here is a list of the areas I saw Carnival Miracle creating add-on sales. Which of these examples will spark your own marketing creativity? Notice that some of the services and products Carnival offers are provided by partners, not by Carnival itself.
Spa on the Carnival Miracle Cruise
The Carnival Miracle Gym
The Casino on the Carnival Miracle
Art on the walls of the Carnival Miracle
Park West Art Auction Announcement
Pixels Professional Photography Display
Note: Park West, who runs these art auctions and presentations onboard some 140 ships worldwide, stocks the Art Gallery on the Carnival ships we’ve sailed on. The pieces in the gallery and around the ship are then available for the art auction.
Carnival Miracle Excursion Posters
Cabo San Lucas Arch
Carnival Miracle viewed from CaboMar Excursion Cruise
Dorothy Aberle in the Shopping Mall of the Carnival Miracle Cruise
Atrium Lobby Bar on the Carnival Miracle viewed from the Glass Elevator
The Coffee Shop on the Carnival Miracle
Ad banner for Nick & Nora's Steakhouse
John Aberle’s 70th Birthday Cake at dinner in the Bacchus Restaurant on the Carnival Miracle
Stations for WiFi Your Way Stations on the Carnival Miracle
Just tacking some product onto the sale isn’t a true upsell. Positioned properly, the customer will buy with minimal effort from a sales person, who merely helps your customer buy.
Everyone is limited in time, expertise and resources so the easiest and fastest way to generate add-on sales is to find joint venture partners for online businesses or strategic alliances for brick and mortar or offline businesses. You will gain their expertise saving you time and money. You may also, with the right partner, benefit from their reputation. You gain helpers who are not part of your payroll to enhance your customer’s experience.
On this cruise, the following events made the cruise more delightful:
On long days at sea with nowhere else to go, these events made the time more interesting and even educational. With up to 2,667 guests to keep pleasantly occupied and enjoying the cruise, these events add flavor and fun for your passengers (customers).
Upsells can significantly enhance your customers’ experiences with their initial purchases. While these add-on sales increase the value and even enjoyment for your customers, they improve your sales and profits. Moreover, you can develop JV partners or strategic alliances to provide some of the upsells.
By living a business lifestyle, you will just become more aware of what is happening around you wherever you are. Even a vacation, while being relaxing and enjoyable, offers you new ideas and insights that can benefit your business. Just as Carnival Miracle’s upsells grow Carnival Cruise Lines’ sales and profits, they also greatly improve the customers’ experiences. So, what approaches can you take from this article and apply to improve your own business?
Open Your Heart in Selling,
John R. Aberle
Aberle Enterprises
P.S.
Living a business lifestyle is more about being aware wherever you are, even on vacation, of ideas and insights you can apply to benefit your customers, your employees and you. Nevertheless, it is easier to find these insights when you take a vacation with a company that has it dialed in already. You can schedule your own business lifestyle vacation with Carnival Cruise LInes.
I have a strong love for small businesses, especially brick and mortar companies. After an 18-year career in sales and marketing, I started my own service company, which I grew in both sales and profits for the first five years. In my sixth year, the bottom dropped out of the printer market such that it made more sense to sell my assets and return to Southern California. There I went to work for an international small business consulting company. I spent over three years on the road with them helping small businesses to become more profitable and better managed. I then started my own company specializing in sales and marketing consulting, coaching and training. My emphasis is on heart-centered, relationship selling that empowers prospects to make their own choices.
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