Want to Upsell More Effectively? Try This Bike Shop’s Tactic — It Worked on Josh!

A few months ago, we embarked on a family adventure to a little goat farm about an hour away from our house. Supposedly, we made the trip for Bennett, but I think Marah had almost as much fun as he did petting the goats and playing with the farm’s Flemish giant rabbits. On our way home, we stopped for a smoothie in Durham, North Carolina — and a sign caught my eye.

“Pedego Electric Bikes,” it read. Rows of bikes filled the sidewalk outside of the shop and glinted in the sun. I couldn’t resist; I had to walk over and check them out!

Right away, a staff member showed up to greet me. His name was Aaron, and over the next hour or so, he and the rest of the Pedego team blew me away with their customer service. Not only did Aaron answer every single question I had about electric bikes, but he also went above and beyond to help us entertain Bennett during the sales process.

Bennett was toddling all over the shop, touching every bike he could reach and digging into the Burt’s Bees samples near the register. Aaron gave him a football and a keychain to play with while he showed me Pedego’s mountain, cruiser-style, and road bikes.

I picked out The Avenue for myself, a City Commuter for Marah, and a SUNLITE Child Carrier for Bennett — who suddenly needed a diaper change. The Pedego team didn’t bat an eye. They whipped out a mat and let us change him right there in the back of the shop.

While we checked out, the team even invited Bennet into their bike service area. The little guy loves tools, and within a few minutes, he was “helping” Aaron put together his new bike carrier. It was adorable! Marah and I left the shop with huge smiles on our faces.

On the way out the door, it hit me: I’d just happily spent thousands of dollars on bikes I didn’t strictly need — all because Aaron and the Pedego team made it so easy. Their customer service was impeccable! I love supporting small businesses anyway, but in this case, I was particularly happy to do it because the whole team seemed to love their work. Later on, I called Aaron up to ask about his customer service philosophy.

“We want everyone who comes in to feel comfortable and not overwhelmed,” he explained. “We have so many different styles and options for our bikes it can be overwhelming [if you’re not part of the bike industry]. The last thing we want is for someone to feel like they’re swimming in the deep end of the pool.” Aaron added that he wanted to “make the experience as fun as possible” for Bennett, just like he did for us.

Aaron also explained that the Durham Pedego is a locally owned franchise of the larger Pedego Electric Bikes brand. It has 215 stores across the country that rent, sell, and service electric bikes — and I definitely recommend checking out a shop near you for excellent customer service.

Working with Aaron reminded me just how important that service can be. If you struggle to upsell patients in your clinic or push products, take a look at your team. Are they on Aaron’s level? If not, put in the work to get them there. It could earn you thousands of extra dollars in revenue.