How to Upsell and Cross-Sell
Every day we get cross-sold and u-sold
Are you making the most of every upsell and cross-sell opportunity to help you and your business navigate through these turbulent times?
The sixth member of our household, our dog Brody, was officially reprimanded yesterday by a jockey who was spooked by Brody’s barking and sudden appearance at the gate.
The poor rider got off the saddle and luckily he was unharmed. Time for a “Beware of Dog” sign in case of further incidents, at least then we are warning of potential danger.
Now Brody is a lovable beast, but at nearly four feet tall on his hind legs, he can be quite the menace to anyone who enters the facility. That night I searched the internet for a suitable sign and found a great company that specializes in house signs of all designs, shapes and sizes.
I chose a classic “Beware of Dog” sign and put it in my shopping cart. Happy with my purchase and eager to get the job done so I can watch the rugby on TV, although being an English fan I wish I hadn’t bothered.
A “Buy another sign get £5 off” message popped up. I thought why isn’t that a great deal so I took a look at a similar sign saying “Beware of Children” which I thought was funny.
About to click the “buy now” button and another message popped up. “For an extra £2.99 you can have this polished brass sign.” Hmm, I thought it would look nice on the front door.
Happens all the time. I had been sold, then casually sold. And I loved every minute of it, as I didn’t have the first idea about house signs – I had never bought one in my life, so I took the advice I was given.
Every day we are bombarded with up-selling and cross-selling. today it happened to me 3 more times
At Asda, the smell of freshly baked bread hit me as I passed the bakery section. I took a fresh bread. I’m sure they exude odors into the atmosphere to increase the pungency. Smart supermarkets.
On Amazon I was told that people who bought this book like me also bought this book and if you buy both together you can save £2.99. Negotiate.
Even when I took my free Youth Hostel Association membership this morning over the phone, the guy encouraged me to process a Gift Aid application. Just like that, if I were to renew my membership next year, I would get some valuable relief. It was not only a brilliant upsell, but also a great test close. Better man.
Are you making the most of every upsell and cross-sell opportunity to help you and your business navigate through these turbulent times?
How do up-sell and cross-sell work?
Built into all of human DNA is the need to make careful decisions, and when we buy things, we are wary of giving the right verdict. Some people take a long time to decide and weigh the options carefully first. And that is also good.
I’m talking about a negotiating tactic called Nibbling, which involves reaching a final agreement on the negotiation, shaking hands, and walking out the door…but just before leaving, he asks for one more concession. Because the deal has been made, the decisions have been made, people breathe a sigh of relief and will easily give in to one more demand. Also works.
The same theory works when we cross-sell and up-sell. The big decision has been made. In other words, they like your company, you, and the product and want to buy, so adding something else isn’t a big extra decision.
After all, our job as salespeople is to serve the customer. It comes from the Norwegian word Selje – to serve – so we should be proud to serve you. We know our products and services and we should be able to share our experience with our customers.
By the way, everyone within an organization that comes into contact with customers is a salesperson in turbulent times. That’s a fact and a weapon to help you navigate through these turbulent times and keep your job at the same time.
What prevents us from cross-selling and up-selling?
Our mentality that is what prevents us. For years I’ve been watching customer service people, sales people, and the only thing stopping them from cross-selling and up-selling is the fear that the customer will say no. This is very understandable.
This is why websites are great for cross selling and upselling. A website does not have feelings that you see.
A really effective way to get around this mindset is to use affirmations. Write on separate pieces of paper the following positive affirmations:
- Serving customers is good and healthy.
- Customers want to know about our products and services.
- Clients want my experience
- Clients can say no and that’s fine with me.
- Put these cards somewhere where you can easily see them and look at them once a day for 21 days. 21 days is when habits are formed and the mindset changes. Come on try it. Works.
It’s been 3 weeks and I want to cross-sell and upsell, but what’s the difference?
Not really much, as it doesn’t really matter, but for the detailed folks, here’s the difference.
Cross selling is where you suggest additional products that complement the one the customer wants to buy, so my additional signal for a £5 discount is cross selling. Another example is when your client is busy saving for their annual vacation using a monthly savings account and you suggest travel insurance. One complements the other.
Upselling is fun. This is where you have a really good understanding of your product or service and suggest an update to improve the product. Getting my polished brass sign was an upsell.
Another example happened to me the other day. When renewing my private health insurance with BUPA, the smart person on the phone suggests that I upgrade to the best product because it covers up to 20 of the new cancer drugs I’ve heard about in the press. Now, if something terrible happened to you, Mr. Archer, you’d want access to these, wouldn’t you? Sucker punched me which did it and a cute little “yes tag” at the end. I have to say that what impressed me the most was BUPA on the phone, proud that their product is the most expensive on the market. Good workout I guess.
Ok, I understand the difference, but how do I do it?
This part needs a bit of preparation. First, increase the sale
You simply have to know your product or service very well and especially what it can do for your customer. Think about your WIIFM (what benefits me) so you can match each feature to a particular benefit for your customer. Then just suggest the upgrade with a good reason why it would benefit them and wait for their reaction. Remember that customers can say no and that’s okay.
If you want to be smart, you can ask them a question or two to find out a little more about their needs. McDonalds doesn’t do this when they ask you if you want a full-size burger simply because self-service isn’t the best time to ask questions. But imagine if you were asked “How hungry are you today?” “Hungry” you reply. “Wow, so you’d like to enlarge that, wouldn’t you?”
Now that would be smart.
Make a list of all the features of your product or service. Next to this list, write down the customer benefits of adding these features, practice these links in front of the mirror so you can describe them clearly, and just ask the next customer. Remember to stay quiet after you have asked. And remember that it’s okay for them to say no.
Here are some cross-selling ideas for you.
Cross-selling requires a bit more preparation than can be done on a large piece of paper and this is a really cool thing to do.
The trick to cross-selling is knowing how each of your products is linked, how they complement each other, and the words you can use to create this association.
Take your large sheet of paper and draw a grid
Each letter represents a product or service that you have available. Go to product A first in the vertical column. Go to the empty box where A meets B and write in this box how product B complements product A. For example, if product A was a home loan and product B was a life insurance plan, you could write links as:
- “Pay your loan in case of your eternal death”
- “It helps you sleep at night knowing that your family can live in the house if you die without the mortgage hanging over their heads”
- “It costs very little to make sure your mortgage is paid on your early death”
Then move on to where A meets C. Product C could be permanent health insurance. Here your associations could be:
- “Which ensures that you can maintain your monthly mortgage payments if you are away from work for an extended period due to illness.”
- “Ideal to protect your mortgage payments which will prevent it from being repossessed”
Review the entire grid system and note any associations. Some won’t join and that’s quite normal, but most can and will. Practice the words you want to use. Say them with confidence and enthusiasm and you’ll be surprised how many customers will say yes. And remember that they are allowed to say no, that’s okay.
In most circumstances, you have the opportunity to ask a few questions to find out the client’s needs before launching your binding statements. However, we have found that people who are new to cross-selling need to do small things first, build confidence and achieve some success, and then move on to asking questions.
What are your next steps?
- Rank your beliefs when it comes to cross-selling. Set up some affirmations on the card and look at them every day for 21 days.
- Familiarize yourself with the features of each product and the benefits customers gain from adding each feature.
- Draw your product matrix on a large sheet of paper and tape it somewhere on the wall so you can glance at it whenever you want.
- Then simply ask your customers to take the additional product or upgrade what they already bought in their minds.
- And remember that customers can say no.
Just don’t continually pester them if they say “no.” Our job is to serve them and if they don’t want it, we must accept it as others will want to buy the additional feature or additional product.
And I bought the “Beware of Children” sign? No, Claire didn’t let me, she thought she was giving the wrong signal about our children; Too bad you got £5 off if you bought two together and for an extra £2.99 that polished brass would look good on the wall. ..and there was free shipping…