How To Empty Your Customer’s Wallet And Get a 5-Star Review For Your Service!
[Part 2]
3-minute read
Let's analyze Up-selling and how to get it right...
Up-selling = Persuade your customer to buy something additional to his first purchase or upgrade to a better package.
There are some traps here.
Here is where you need to pay attention when you craft an up-selling strategy:
1) Don't give more than 2 options at the same time.
2) Remove any distractions.
3) Up-selling can work with the value-ladder approach.
4) The success rate of your upsells depends on how well you know your customer's wants.
5) Don't overdo it because you will destroy your customer's experience. (Remember that people hate to be sold but love to buy.)
No #1: Don't give more than 2 options at the same time.
When you ask a business owner “what can you do to solve problem [X]?”
They have a tendency to reply with "we can do everything". We can do this and that and that...
They are not specific and they give too many options. Don’t do that.
Think of it this way...
If you visit a boutique store because you want to buy a t-shirt, I can upsell you a better quality t-shit.
I will harm my sale if I show you 5 different t-shirts and expect you to choose.
Multiple choices work against you here. The customer will be confused and probably won't buy anything.
Once someone buys the first product/service you offer, keep your upselling choices to 1 or max 2.
The reason to add the second choice can be sometimes a cancelation for the choice itself.
Ex: You bought product [A] for $10. I give you 2 choices as an upsell at the same time.
Product [B]: $7
Product [C]: $30
There is a high chance you won't spend $30 when the first product you bought costs $10.
And this is fine because what we really want in this case is to make product [B] seem cheap and valuable for $7.
No#2: Remove any distractions.
When you present an upsell choice, you need to keep in mind your customer’s best interest and remove any distractions from the presentation.
This applies both online and offline.
When I am inside your online store and added something to the cart, you can present me your upselling choice that will probably support the product I want to buy.
Don’t show me a bar which says...
"This is what other people bought" because this is a distraction. Your customers are going to play and buy nothing.
Remember that online, I am one click away to get out of your store. Offline it's harder.
Let’s see the offline version…
Inside a retail store, your salesperson must grab and guide the customer’s attention to the upselling product.
At that point, the salesperson knows what the customer wants and must present 1-2 choices.
Salespeople speak the "question language"!
The more questions they ask, the more they get to know their customer’s wants.
No#3: Up-selling can work with the value-ladder approach.
The value ladder simply is:
You buy product A for $5, then I sell you product B for 9$, then product C for $15.
The price increases as you climb the ladder. The starting price can be something for free to get you on the door.
The value ladder itself can NOT work everywhere because, as a model, it presupposes that all customers are at the same point. Point A.
If you have more sophisticated customers who are at point B or C, the value ladder won't work because it has only 1 entry-level (point a).
It can work with upsells because right there your customers are all at Point A.
They all bought a specific product and you can upsell them something more expensive.
No#4: The success rate of your upsells depends on how well you know your customer's wants.
Here everything comes down to how well you know your customer.
"Don't fall in love with your product, fall in love with your customer".
The more you know about him, the smarter will be the choice you will present, and the more sales you are going to make.
How can you learn a lot about your customer?
Ask questions!
Your customer’s problems are ideas for new upsells.
No#5: Don't overdo it because you will destroy your customer's experience. (Remember that people hate to be sold but love to buy.)
Sometimes I visit websites and see what they sell.
Once I pay, I am getting 6 more offers to upsell me on something I don't want.
Even If I want some of your upsells, by being sold so hard I feel like a wallet.
People hate this feeling.
When a new customer buys, he gives you the vote of TRUST.
You will ruin it if the only thing you care about is reaching your sales targets.
You want to be seen as a trusted advisor and not as someone who will squeeze every penny.
Treat your customers the same way you want to be treated.
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Hope it was helpful...
To your success,
Alex.
"The success rate of your upsells depends on how well you know your customer's wants. "