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Toy Story Mania
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Sales and Marketing Upsell Strategies From Our Trip to Disneyland

March 12, 2011 Jennifer Bourn

Last week Bourn Creative was closed while we took a trip with my parents to the Happiest Place on Earth — Disneyland! This photo is a picture of all of us getting ready to jump on the Toy Story Mania ride in California Adventure. While we explored the two theme parks and enjoyed the fabulous Grand Californian hotel, we definitely noticed a few things about Disney’s sales and marketing upsell strategies…

They key to making the sale is when and where the offer is made! For example, would you buy Toy Story toys and clothes in Fantasy Land where the princesses reign supreme? Not a chance! But guess what, when we walked out of the Toy Story Mania ride into the Toy Story store, we definitely bought a Lego Buzz Lightyear and a bucket of Little Green Men!

This is Disney’s secret to making more sales and getting you to part with more of your hard-earned cash… offer the right upsell at the right time at the right place.

For example:

  • Star Wars gear is available for sale outside Space Mountain and the Jedi Training Show area
  • Princess accessories, dresses, and makeovers are available in Fantasy Land and princess headquarters.
  • Buzz Lightyear and Toy Story toys and gear are available in dedicated stores at the exit of both the Toy Story Mania ride and the Buzz Lightyear ride
  • Adventure and safari gear is available in Adventure Land, with Pirate gear just outside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, and jungle animals across from the Jungle Cruise.

By offering an upsell that ties in perfectly with the experience you just had on a ride or at a show and the high of emotions you’re feeling at that exact moment, Disney uses your emotions to get you to pull out your wallet and fork over the cash. Of course the sales of Star Wars lightsabers are the highest right outside Space Mountain and the Jedi Training Show! My daughter Natalie was picked to go through the Jedi Training and fight Darth Vader on stage and we definitely bought both kids lightsabers for $14.95 each to take home after that!

This smart marketing approach got us thinking about our own marketing upsell strategies and your marketing upsell strategies too. I’ll bet you could increase your sales and conversions by simply reworking or tweaking your upsell process a bit. So take a look at your offers, products, promotions, and upsells, and evaluate their effectiveness. Ask yourself:

  1. Am I offering this at the right time
  2. Am I offering this to the right people
  3. Am I offering this is the right place

Look at ways you could improve your process to make saying YES easier and more natural for your audience. Look at areas that you may be missing an opportunity to make an offer. Are there places in your sales funnel or marketing process that could really benefit from the addition of an offer? After the sale or completion of a project, is there an item you can offer as a follow up to offer even more value?

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Category: Marketing & Sales Strategy Tags: Sales And Prospecting, Systems And Processes, Work-Life Balance

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About Jennifer Bourn

Creative Director · Digital Strategist · WordPress Evangelist

As founder of Bourn Creative, Jennifer is an award-winning designer who has been working in the branding and design trenches since 1997. Today she consults on brand development, website strategy, and content strategy, works closely with clients on graphic design and web design projects with WordPress as her platform of choice.

When not immersed in client projects, Jennifer manages the Bourn Creative brand and our internal systems and processes. She speaks often on podcasts, summits, and at live events, and writes not only for our blog, but for several other websites, sharing her expertise on freelancing, client services, agency growth, blogging, marketing, and branding. Jennifer also co-organizes the Sacramento WordPress Meetup and is lead organizer for WordCamp Sacramento.

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