In an earlier blog post, we discussed how small businesses could use “up-selling techniques” to boost sales without spending any extra money on marketing. Retailers use up-selling to encourage customers to spend more money. But what if your business is not in retail? You can still use up-selling to benefit your business. Just think about how you can apply it to your specific sector. Here are some ideas:
What is upselling?
Upselling is the practice of offering potential customers a more expensive or upgraded version () than what they have chosen.
Upselling can also be used to offer customers add-ons, such as extended warranties or premium support. To increase the profit on each sale.
Upselling and cross selling are often used in eCommerce to increase average order values, improve customer experience, maximize profits, and boost the average order value.
Upgrade or bundle services
Combining two products will help you to show your clients your range of services, and make an extra sale. If you are a design agency and a client wants a logo redesign, why not offer them new stationery with your design or a brand new website at a flat rate?
Upgrades also open the door for you to form new partnerships, which expand your offerings. It is very likely that if the client wants to create a new site, they will also need to hire someone to write its words. In exchange for a commission, you could agree to refer your clients to copywriters and vice-versa.
Audit or Service
By analyzing what your client has, you can try to determine what their future needs will be. If you are an IT consultant, then you can offer your clients an annual computer system service to check if:
- Hardware is still in good condition
- Software programs that suit their needs
- The security systems are updated.
You will be asked for advice by existing customers, who have come to trust you. They may ask how you can fix any flaws or weaknesses that you’ve found.
Warranty or Service Contract
Many of you will sigh when I mention the “extended warranty”, the face of upselling that has become unacceptable. Offering your clients a rolling contract for service can help reassure them, and make them feel closer to you. For a small, regular fee you can drop everything to solve their problem if they are in trouble. This is a huge relief for the bosses of many firms and a way to show off your expertise.
Offers that are time-limited
You could offer a discount to a client who hires you to complete a task. You can encourage people to act fast by telling them that the offer is about to expire. Let’s say a mechanic offers a 10% discount for a vehicle service a month following an MOT.
You can also offer promotions that are timed to your client’s needs. A beauty therapist might offer a discounted price on a set of treatments just before Christmas to coincide with work and family events. A personal trainer can offer a discount on a block session before summer vacations when people are looking to look their best at the beach.
Focus on Benefits, Not Features
If you want to convince your customers to upgrade their software, don’t focus on the new features. Instead, focus on the new benefits .
Does buying new software, hardware or storage space justify the extra cost? Perhaps yes. No.
What about these relatable benefits?
- Upgraded cloud storage allows you to capture more family memories.
- Faster upload and download speeds can help you save valuable time each day.
- Find higher-quality leads to earn more every month
Upgrades can be a great way to help your customers understand the benefits.
Solve problems
Upsells should ease the pain points of your customers. Find out what your customers’ pain points are, and then offer different upselling options that will help them.
Customers may be frustrated by the fact that they are running out of storage space in their cloud. This can cause a lot of problems with workflow efficiency, and it’s difficult to decide what should be kept and what should go. Upgraded cloud storage could be your solution.
When a sales representative tries to convince a family that they need more data on their plan, even though they are never close to hitting their maximum limit, this is an example of a bad upsell. This upsell doesn’t offer any benefits or ease pain points — it’s just poking for more money
Keep your clients informed
You’re likely to be known by many of your clients for specific products they purchase from you. It’s likely that you’ll be remembered as the company who does X. So, it’s a great idea to keep your clients informed about what services and products you provide. Consider sending out an email newsletter to inform your clients about new services, products and projects.
Remember that your client relationship comes first. You should never put your relationship with clients at risk to increase sales. If you’re genuinely interested in going the extra mile to help your customers, your upselling strategy will work.
Listen to your customers
Listening to your customers is the key to creating a successful upselling strategy, whether you are running a brick and mortar or online business.
You can directly address any recurring issues that you see, either face-to-face, or online, or through your review sites or platforms.
Solving customer problems can help you to build stronger relationships with customers and to improve your brand’s reputation. You’ll also receive direct feedback about how to improve your marketing and selling techniques and learn which methods customers prefer.
Protect yourself with Insurance
Any business should have insurance to manage risk. It can protect assets and employees, and recover any financial strains that may be incurred by an unfortunate incident.
Business insurance from BizInsure can cover the common and unfortunate risks your business faces when growing. It may be beneficial to evaluate the most vulnerable parts of your business in order to determine which areas could benefit from coverage. It is a safety net that can be beneficial when adversity hits, such as an accident or natural disaster.
This can be achieved by conducting a thorough risk assessment to identify potential threats.
