3 Tips for Cross-Selling and Upselling Success

In order to be a cross-selling or up-selling superstar, you need to do the following:

1. Listen for opportunities in what the customer says. Let’s say the customer says, “I need to find a better plan for my cell phone. I get calls from people I I don’t want to talk to and my charges are just too high.” This might trigger the rep to explain how the customer can save money by using caller ID to accept calls from only certain people.
2. Look for opportunities in the customer’s record. Here’s an example: “Thanks for your order, Marcie. We’ll get those invoices shipped out right away. Now before you go, I notice that we’re running a special on the multi-part checks that you use. Would you like to hear about the savings that are available?”
3. Create an opportunity. If you don’t hear or see anything that opens up an opportunity, the rep can create one, like this: “Umberto, before you go, I want to let you know that we can also help you with lead generation, search optimization, link building, and other types of e-marketing assistance. How are you handling your online marketing now?”

The people we find who are the most successful in cross-selling and up-selling are those who have a sincere desire to help customers. They see offering customers products and services that can make their lives better (read sales) as a high form of customer service. These superstars of sales and service listen between the lines so they can provide their customers with the best solutions. I read in the paper this morning about a front-line person who, in my opinion, wins the upselling hall of fame award.

Mark Smith, 59, was arrested at a bank in Watsonville, California in September after he had allegedly threatened a teller with a bomb and demanded $2,000. The teller, tried to convince him, instead, to borrow the money, and she had him wait while she retrieved an application (during which time she called 911). By the time police arrived, Smith was filling out the loan form.

Talk about upselling!