BizSugar.com › Sales › Eight sales strategies for startups

Walk into any McDonald's, order a Quarter Pounder, and the clerk will invariably ask, "Do you want fries with that?" Each affirmative answer adds $1 or more to that particular sale. If just a fraction of McDonald's' 54 million daily customers say yes to that question, that's millions of extra dollars in the burger biggie's pocket.

The same strategy is important for start-ups. You haven't yet built a large customer base, so you need to coax as much money as possible from each person who does show up. It's the old story: A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

The issue at this stage isn't market share but wallet share. Boost the dollar value of your average sale, and you boost your cash flow and bottom line. Here's how you can bring in more of those sales.