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Upselling is a sales practice, which offers customers to pay extra money for a modified version of the product. Unlike cross-selling, upselling doesn’t encourage buying an additional product or service but offers to add more features to the purchased one. For example, if you have a Spotify account, you may upgrade your subscription from standard to premium, so that you won’t have to listen to ads between songs and will be able to play songs offline.
Advantages of upselling
- Customer relationships. Many businesses use an upselling strategy to build a “win-win” situation for both customers and businesses. Let’s take AirPods. You can buy a standard version of AirPods or you may pay a little bit more to get AirPods Pro with noise canceling and thus listen to your favorite songs with more comfort.
- It’s easier than finding new clients. If you have a client, who is already using your product and trusts you, it is simpler to optimize the sale for him in comparison with finding a new customer. For example, many companies let their existing customers try a premium version of the service they provide. After understanding the difference, from 25 to 40% of customers decide to upgrade their plan to premium.
- A higher level of customer satisfaction. When customers have an opportunity to add something else to make the product they love even better, they will understand that the company behind this genuinely cares about them. This is also a great opportunity to improve your business’s CLV.
Tips for successful upselling practice
- No aggression or pushing. If you want to build trust between you and your clients, don’t force them to do something they hesitate about. It would be much more reasonable to convince them by showing a side-by-side comparison so that they can decide whether they want a premium version or not.
- Avoid recommending something much more expensive. If you’re offering an upgraded version of the product, which costs twice more, chances of a successful upselling are quite low (unless this is really worth it)
- Make limited-time offers. Special offers or in-the-moment-only discounted prices, which are restricted by time, can bring you additional revenue and encourage your clients to make a decision faster.
If you want to find out how to increase your cross-sales, please read our 7 tips to boost your Upselling and Cross-selling
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