Avoiding the Upsell
Recently I’ve been trying to utilize systems in my personal and professional life to conserve time, energy and money. I’ve realized that pre-planning purchases is my key to avoiding the upsell and preventing unintentional spending.
This past weekend I attempted to order my groceries online, however after getting all my groceries picked out I went to the checkout to discover I couldn’t pick them up until 6pm on Sunday. Due to an empty fridge and cupboard, this wasn’t going to work so off to the grocery I went.
Immediately after entering, I was struck by this article – Avoiding the Upsell. Armed with my grocery list and determined to stick to it, I was surprised to see how many shoppers were walking around sipping on their Starbucks, purchased at the in-store kiosk.
“Did they have that on their list?” I wondered.
I knew I didn’t have a Venti Caramel Frappacchino with whipped topping on my list so I kept walking. (Writing this I can’t help but to have a craving, which will be quenched by yet another glass of ice water…)
It’s tax season in the States, and upon reviewing my business expenditures for last year I was taken back (and honestly a little bit disgusted) by the amount of money I spent on extras. There were far too many programs, tools, and little this’s and thats which were purchased on a whim, without a forethought, and in the end never used.
To be totally honest, almost all were the result of email marketing induced Shiny Object Syndrome.
This year I am committed to making no purchases without forethought. Unless I have a program or tool on my shopping list and am specifically shopping for it, it will have to wait. And the same goes for items at the grocery.
I can’t even tell you how many mornings I’ve been driving back from daycare drop-off and have thought, “Mmmm, I’m going to pick up a coffee on my way home.” More often than not, however, I already had a full pot of coffee waiting at home, and rather than paying $3-4 for the cup, an even larger cup would have cost just pennies on the dollar.
In a recent episode of the Positive Productivity podcast, episode #53, “Raising Your Zero”, I discuss how my business coach challenged me to raise my financial comfort zone, both personally and professional. For years I had been satisfied knowing my bank accounts were not in the red, and being in the black was good enough.
Friends, $0.34 is not good enough. In the black will not sustain us should an emergency arise where we are unable to work for a length of time.
We need to be smart about our spending and “raising our zero” from one month to the next so that we’re not satisfied with the balance in our account unless it is $X. This means foregoing the shiny objects which show up in our inbox and are on display at the grocery.
What systems are completely necessary to help you grow your business at this time? What do you have already and which, if any do you need to purchase? If the item does not qualify on the “need to purchase” list, then quickly push delete and keep on moving. No added bonuses or upsells will feel better than having your zero constantly raised as you build resistance to all the shiny objects surrounding you.
TIME FOR FEEDBACK
How do you avoid upsells and Shiny Object Syndrome? Do you have a system in place others may benefit from? Please comment below!
