Hey everyone,
No matter the industry you work in or the trade services you offer, it pays to upsell. Upselling and cross-selling provide the obvious benefit of more revenue, alongside several other positives. Done honestly and ethically, upselling and cross-selling can allow you to offer your customer a more positive experience overall.
So, how can you master the art of upselling and cross-selling while retaining your customers? Read on to learn more about how you can improve the service you provide your customers while increasing your income in the process.
What is upselling?
Upselling is a sales technique that aims to get customers to upgrade their purchase or choose a more premium version of their chosen item or service. This technique is not solely based on increasing revenue, as it’s also a way to help tradespeople and retailers build stronger relationships with their customers. As well as generating additional revenue, it can also provide your customer with something extra and deliver more value for them. Often a customer relies on a professional tradesperson to guide them through difficult decisions that may ultimately affect the final look and finish of their home improvement project. Timely advice regarding all options and outcomes of a particular approach may naturally lead a customer to invest more into a higher specification finish or service. This may mean they achieve that “wow factor” they dreamt of or indeed their finished project now will last for more years than they originally envisioned. Upselling is often the result of detailed discussions at the early stage in planning a job.
What is cross-selling?
Cross-selling involves prompting a customer to purchase additional items or services to increase the overall value of the sale.
Upsell vs cross-sell
Upselling and cross-selling are both sales techniques that can help increase revenue and grow your business. However, they are slightly different. Upselling will aim to change the product or service the customer has chosen for a more premium or improved product or service.
Whereas cross-selling is more about making recommendations for related products or services that will complement what the customer has already chosen. Sometimes, cross-selling can be as simple as spotting an opportunity to carry out another service your customer may not realise they need.
How to upsell and cross-sell your business effectively
You can look for opportunities to upsell and/or cross-sell before your customers purchase your services, during purchasing and afterwards. For it to be successful though, you need to understand your customers’ needs and present the extra or more premium services and products as a win for them. It should never be forced or pushy, as you want your customers to make up their own mind.
Identify customer journey
This is something you can do during the purchase or order. You need to find out as much as possible about your customer and what they want to achieve from the service they need from you. This will allow you to identify what other services they may benefit from.
Educate the customer
If you want your customer to really consider your upselling or cross-selling techniques, you need to educate them about the advantages of your offer, as well as the risks and missed opportunities.
Don’t overwhelm your customer
The last thing you want to do is provide your customer with too much choice. Customers don’t want to spend lots of time choosing between a huge range of products and services. They simply want to see the differences side-by-side, so they can make an informed decision on the value of the services or products you’re offering.
Incentivise and reward customers
Customers like to feel like they’ve won when they make a purchase. When upselling or cross-selling, you could offer a discount on a future service or throw in a freebie to incentivise the purchase.
Please share your tips, tricks and suggestions below!
