Letter to the Editor: Fast-Food Cross-Sell Model's Unappetizing

To the Editor:

Dave Martin's Dec. 7 Viewpoint ["Martin on Retailing — Psychology, Fries, and True Cross-Selling"] resonated with me. I have long felt that our industry's use of simplistic, programmed pitches to sell products was ineffective and counterproductive.

Though widely copied, applying McDonald's "would you like fries with that" tactic to cross-selling financial services at the teller window reflects a lack of understanding of consumer intent and motivation, as well as purchasing dynamics.

As Mr. Martin points out, virtually 100% of customers entering McDonald's have an intent to purchase food — the offer of additional menu items is relevant and helpful. On the other hand, according to the Council on Financial Competition, 99.8% of visitors to bank branches are looking to perform a transaction on an existing account. The indiscriminate offer of a bank product has no relevance to the customer's errand, and simply reveals that the employee and the institution have no knowledge of or interest in the customer's situation; they are not looking to help the customer, but hoping to score an easy sale.

Beyond that, financial services are a considered purchase, requiring significant effort and commitment on the part of the consumer. Adding fries to a fast-food order, or getting a larger drink, is a quick and low-stakes decision, with limited ongoing consequence aside from a few extra calories. (Treating financial services like fries also trivializes the products and customer relationships.)

Many of my colleagues have argued that there's no harm in asking the equivalent of "would you like fries with that" of every customer; after all, they suggest, there's a lot of branch traffic and any hit represents incremental business. This argument ignores the fact that consumers have limited and perishable "touch capacity," and that random, inappropriate offers waste that capacity.

Also, to the extent that gratuitous offers expose lack of understanding and interest, they undermine trust and erode equity. They are the sales equivalent of forced "smile and use the customer's name three times" service programs.

Thanks to Dave Martin for reminding us that there is no substitute for true permission-based consultative selling.David Mooney
President and chief executive officer, Alliant Credit Union, Chicago