By Rosemary Ford
Staff writer
April 15, 2008 01:20 am Best Buy gift certificates at CVS? Coupons for Irving Oil at Shaw's? Cooperation is a great thing for businesses — and, they hope, for consumers as well. The trend is called cross-selling and its goes across a wide level of businesses, from Fortune 500 companies to small businesses. For big business, cross-selling can mean consolidating sales efforts. For example, without cross-selling several GE Capital Solutions sales people might be knocking on a local chief financial officer's door, selling financing packages for everything from company cars to office equipment. With cross-selling, it's more like one-stop shopping — and fewer sales visits, said GE enterprise selling leader Michael Murphy. "We are trying to make the process easier for our customers; they really don't want six or seven sales people calling them," Murphy said. "It's really, 'How do we simplify the process?' " Locally the trend has worked out well for Shaw's supermarkets. Besides selling gift certificates to noncompeting retailers, the market also offers coupons to customers giving money off a fill-up at Irving Oil. The more the customer spends on a Shaw's grocery order, the larger the discount on gas. "We approached Shaw's because we wanted to partner with a great company, and while we hoped the gas discount program would be popular with customers, we are also gratified it has connected with them emotionally," said Lars Trodson, spokesman for Irving Oil. "Customers are saying, you've really helped me meet my weekly budget." Shaw's started the program with Irving last July in a few New Hampshire stores, and it brought significant response, said spokeswoman Judy Chong. The program has since been extended to stores in parts of Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont. "Food and fuel are a great match," said Chong. "This is our most extensive and deepest relationship." Shaw's entered into this agreement as a way to appeal to customers feeling financially pinched and win their loyalty, said Chong "We are making an emotional connection with our customers," said Chong. "As a business you are always looking to build loyalty and connect with your customers." While cross-selling is not a new concept, it is a newly hot business trend, Murphy said. "It's about focusing on what the customer needs as opposed to focusing on what one has to sell," he said.
—
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.