Do You Want Fries With That?

The concept of up-selling (trying to sell the customer more than just what they asked for), has been around for a long while.  Whether it’s the waitress asking, “Do you want fries with that?”, or the appliance vendor asking if you want the matching stand for the plasma TV, offering more to the customer than they intended to purchase is very much a part of doing business.
How does this idea relate to employment?
Though the concept is sometimes over looked, there is more to life than work.  Happy and fulfilled individuals make better, more motivated and productive employees.  Productive employees make for happier employers.   Therefore it is necessary for both job seekers and employers to up-sell what they bring to the relationship!
If you’re an employer recruiting for an important position, you want your final candidates to believe that the complete compensation package you’re offering them is generous and competitive.  In your efforts to find the right candidates, you might present options to the applicants that convey interest in not just their relevant skills and experience, but the quality of their overall lives.  In doing so you’ll provide more impetus for them to prove what they can do for you.  Small, flexible, relatively inexpensive benefits like free or discounted health club memberships, variable lunch periods, free healthy snacks like fresh fruit, telecommuting, and discounts to events or parks all add perceived value to what you offer prospective hires.  Ensuring prompt attention to ergonomic needs, seeking employee input, openly sharing information and other little things that make the candidate/employee feel like their contributions matter, not just to the bottom line but to the quality of their lives.
Demonstrating openness and interest in what the candidate truly offers goes a long way to improving morale and motivation for everyone.  What else can you do for your candidates than just offer them a job? How can you up-sell to your applicants?
If you’re a job seeker, it is incumbent upon you to let the employer know just how much you bring to the table, how much value you can add to their company/department.  Your ability to convey your understanding of the employer’s needs, the position you’re applying for, and your ability to ID areas of growth, expansion, improvement, and quality, all work towards convincing the employer you are the right candidate.  In your interviews and cover letters can you state your industry knowledge, list of contacts, the overall and specific relevance of your experience in a way that says to the employer: “You really need me!,”  thereby telling the employer that they are getting more than just a good employee?  Have you done enough research of the prospective employer to know about contributions you can make outside traditional job duties?  I certainly hope so!  Is the company involved with community or fundraising events?  Do they sponsor a softball team or participate in bowling leagues, marathons, sporting or charitable events?  The more an applicant knows about the full spectrum of an employer’s activities, the better s/he can address the additional contributions they can make to the employer.  Beyond computer programming, spreadsheets or PowerPoint presentations, what else that you do well can benefit the employer?
Employer or job seeker, the ability to address these questions can go a long way to solidifying your relationship, and the perspective of value that each brings to the other.
Do you want fries with that?
Make mine a side of garlic fries, if you please!  Thank you very much!
Interested in other tips and ideas on how to attract and retain employees, or demonstrate your worthiness to employers?  Please visit:  hanklondon.com