Upselling Explained

OK, we've all thought about it haven't we? Just how the heck can I sell more, grow my business, then get more staff in to do my job and then I can retire for six months a year to my beach house in Barbados.

Well the answer is right here and it's called "Upselling".

This is the very thing that gets McDonalds customers to buy more fries, more coke, more sides, more chocolate shakes, more, more, more. Oh my god give me more now!!

The Jones family were in no-way influenced by fast food.

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So Just what is Upselling?

According to the business dictionary,  Upselling is "A sales strategy where the seller will provide opportunities to purchase related products or services, often for the sole purpose of making a larger sale. 

So just imagine that your customer comes into your salon and inside you have an array of perfumes, cosmetics, collars, beds, doggy treats and so on. Imagine also that you have a menu of services that includes the oatmeal skin treatment covered in a lime air with carrot and corriandor hyper cyclex rejuvenation technology, exclusively created just for your customers and accompanied with a diamanté club brooch.

Ok, so what do you do now?

Read your customer.

James discovered that Michael also likes doggy treats

A good salesperson will be able to quickly give customers a read and tailor their sales technique to the individual. Whether you're in wholesale or retail, a salesperson needs to let the customer's desires drive the sale.

Then what?.....

Wait for it

Wait until your customer has decided to purchase, then offer additional products. If you try to upsell an item before you close on the original item, you may scare off your customer.

Get information

If a customer is unsure of what they are looking for, take the opportunity to investigate the real benefit they’re after. Once you discover the desired benefit, be sure to offer them additional products and services they might not have thought of on their own, but that directly meet the needs or wants the customer is looking to fulfill.

Be reasonable

Consider your customer’s budget when making an upsell. As a general rule, upsold products should not increase the purchase total by more than 25 percent. Beyond that, the additional product may start to seem like a second major purchase instead of a supplement to the first.

Always add value

Perhaps most importantly: Don’t just upsell for the sake of profit or getting rid of unwanted inventory. Customers will see right through this tactic. For each upsell, have your selling points prepared. Get to know which products go well together and make a point to match well-suited items when upselling. If you can identify the perceived value in the upsell, your customers will be more likely to see it too.

Upselling is a great practice for any business. By developing complimentary products and designing your sales process with the upsell in mind, you can create an environment where additional profits can be made. When in doubt, remember the McDonald’s model: from Super-Size to cherry pies, there is potential for an upsell with every product.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article and I hope you enjoyed it.

What upselling techniques have you found success with for your company? Please leave a comment below.