The power of suggestive selling

From Adam Khoo's book, "Secrets of Building Multi-million Dollar Businesses":

Boosting Your Customer’s Average Dollar Purchase

One day, a young Indian guy moves to a big city and goes to a mega store looking for a job. The manager asks, "Do you have any sales experience?" The young man says, "Yes, I was a salesman in my home town."

Liking what he heard, the manager gave the young man a chance. "You start tomorrow. I'll come down after we close and see how you did, but let me give you a few sales tips. If a customer comes looking, say, for a can of paint, you might suggest that he also buy a roller paint brush, or paint thinner. Do you get the idea?," the manager asked.

"Yes indeed," the young man said. His first day on the job was tough but he got through it. After the store was closed, the manager came to check up on him.

The manager asks, “How many sales did you make today?

The young man says, "One"

The manager sighs, "Just one? Our sales people average 25 to 40 sales a day. How much was the sale for?"

The young man says, "$220,117.20."

The manager exclaims, "What? $220,117.20? What did you sell him?"

The young man replied, "First I sold him a small fish hook. Then I sold him a medium fishhook. Then I sold him a larger fishhook. Then I sold him a new fishing rod. Then I asked him where he was going fishing, and he said down at the ocean, so I told him he was going to need a boat, so we went down to the boat department, and I sold him that twin engine Sunseeker Predator 68.

Then he said he didn't think his Subaru would pull it, so I Took him down to the automotive department and sold him that 4- Wheel Drive Land Rover."

The manager says "You mean a guy came in here to buy a fish hook and you sold him a boat and truck?!"

The young man said, "No, no, he came in here to buy a box of sanitary pads for his wife and I said, "Well, since your weekend's already screwed up, you might as well go fishing."