For some reason, I have found myself having several conversations about Upselling recently.
For clarity, upselling is the process of persuading a customer to buy something additional or more expensive than their initial purchase. I know you obviously know, but this explanation is for those people who don’t 👍
So why is upselling so important. Upselling and cross-selling have multiple benefits to both your business and your customers. You get to increase your sales revenue because your team works with a more targeted sales process that helps them to reach their specific sales goals.
Done well, it can promote loyalty and trust, greatly improve ROI and referrals through existing customers. Done badly, it can have a detrimental effect to your sales conversion rates and brand integrity.
So how do you identify customer groups with the most upsell potential and what are the best sales strategies to employ?
Focus on the customer
First and foremost, not every customer in your sales funnel is the right fit for an upsell. For example, an existing customer could be more receptive to other products and services than someone who is new to your sales funnel. The simple, old adage of “it’s a lot easier to sell to existing customers than it is to acquire new ones” comes to mind. Be sure to get to know each customer’s needs and goals in as much detail as you can right at the top of your sales funnel. This will help you to identify who may benefit from upselling. The best way you can do that is to analyse your customer base and then qualify your leads or prospects. You may find that the product or service doesn’t fit into your specific objectives then those customers should be on the left (de prioritised) for now and your focus needs to be moved to the customers where it foes fit and that will bring the best return when cross-selling or upselling.
Knowing customer values and what is important to them also builds trust and will make it easier to upsell when the time comes. Remember that upselling and cross-selling benefit your business, but it also benefits your customer. They may be completely unaware of things available to them that will help them reach their personal or professional goals more quickly. Help your customer resolve a problem rather than just upselling products for the sake of it.
Timing is everything
Wait for the right time and keep it simple. Know where your customer is in their journey and use that data to choose the best time to introduce a new or upgraded product or service. Be transparent in pricing structures to build trust during the upsell and have the right information about what you are upselling and why it will help them specifically. Don’t do too much at once, and at every step be sure they know why the product or service you are upselling will specifically benefit them. Don’t come in with a generic sales pitch, know where your customer touch points are and then use that to build a relationship.
Set measurable goals
Map your customer journey and set goals together around what they want to accomplish. Active listening is key. When thinking of customer specific solutions, tailor them to the product or service you are trying to upsell. Keep in mind the overall goals within the sales team too. A centralised system where sales teams can check in with what has been done and what still needs to be accomplished can keep them focused on the end goal and motivated when they see that they a progression through the sales funnel
The bigger picture
Pitch ideas not just products. Once you know your customer and have followed their journey, you will have a better idea of what products may be good to upsell or cross-sell and why that particular product will benefit your customer, enrich their experience and meet their needs. This will help to foster loyalty and give a more tailored sales process for when they return in the future.
Keep process in mind
Research shows that data-driven sales teams are more successful. The more you upsell, the more data you will have in the future which you can feed back into the sales process to improve customer experience and conversion rates. This is where a centralised tool can be vital. The more data you gather, the better you will become at identifying who to upsell to and how best to go about it. Having that information stored in a place where the sales team and other business teams can easily access and digest it means that important data is being shared and updated regularly throughout the business. Sales teams can then use that data to strengthen sales processes and be better equipped to reach sales targets.
Visit our blog to learn more about becoming a data-driven sales team or the rise of remote working in 2020. For more information on how to streamline your sales processes take a look at our sales accelerator tool.