Marketing
Upsell And Cross-Sell Your Way To Success



If you want to make more sales in your business and increase your profits then you need to implement these sales strategies into your strategy: cross-selling and upselling.


What is upselling and cross-selling?


Upselling means selling a more expensive product or service to your client based on their requirements. Cross-selling means offering a complimentary product to one already being purchased. This could be a tie-clip with a tie or a back-up hard drive with a laptop. This is how you can implement these into your sales strategies:


Speak to your customer


If you run a physical shop you can speak directly to your client and get to know what their needs are so that you can offer the prime solution for them. For example, if they’re purchasing a shirt for a special occasion then you can offer one that may be a bit more expensive but won’t wrinkle as much.


Have appropriate inventory


The items you sell must be priced well. For example, you don’t want to have one pair of shoes that cost R50 and another pair that costs R5 000. This would make upselling and cross-selling difficult. It’s better to have goods that are similarly priced like R50, R100, and R150. For example, if you sell shoes, you may also stock socks or shoe-shining equipment.


Follow the 25% rule


When considering to upsell or cross-sell a product to your customer, it shouldn’t be for more than a quarter of the price of what they’re already purchasing. If you offer something that’s a lot more expensive than what the client already requested, you can lose the sale.


Don’t be pushy


When offering the upsell or cross-sell don’t be pushy. If the client says ‘no’ then politely move on with the sale and don’t visibly show your disappointment. 


Know your products


It’s important to know the features of all the products you have in your shop so that you can offer the best option to your client. You’ll also be able to answer their questions quickly and professionally, which will increase their trust in you. Furthermore, it’s important to educate your salespeople about the features so that they can offer the best service to your customers.


Sell the benefits


It’s important to focus on the benefits, especially when you do an upsell. The reason for this is that people are more focused on the benefits of a product to their needs than they are focused on the features of the product.


For example, instead of focusing on the megapixel count of the camera, it’s better to let the customer know how good the image will be when they take the photo and what size they can output the image when they’re finished taking it.


Use peer or expert opinions


If you have bought anything on an e-commerce site, you may have seen below the item you wish to purchase a line that says ‘people who have purchased this have also purchased this’. Customers also trust the opinion of fellow customers more than you as the seller.


Offer bundles


If you have products or services which work well in a bundle, then you can offer these to your customer. By highlighting the benefits of purchasing the bundle now rather than the two products individually would encourage people to make a greater purchase. 


By incorporating these points into your sales strategies, you’ll be well on your way to making greater sales.

  • marketing
  • sales
  • small business
  • sales strategy
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