Upselling: What It Is and How to Use This Technique

Have you ever tried to offer another product or service to a customer as soon as they finish a sale on your sales page? This strategy has a name, and it is upselling. This is a technique to increase the sales of your business and promote other products/services.

Someone who has already made a purchase from you is more susceptible to making another purchase. This happens because the buyer already knows your brand and the quality of your products/services besides already being your customer.

Do you see how it can be easier to make a new sale for a person who has already shown interest in your products/services?

Learn in this post ‘what is upselling’ and how you can use this technique as a second opportunity to add value to what your customers buy and also increase your business’s average ticket.

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What is upselling?

According to the dictionary, upselling is: “The practice of offering customers additional or more expensive products or services after they have already agreed to buy something.” It is a sales strategy that aims to improve the buyer experience with your brand, product, or service, while also increasing your sales.

Basically, upselling is offering a second purchase opportunity or even improving your customer’s first purchase. It’s like you’ve created another opportunity for the person to buy a better item than the one she had already picked up or to complete her purchase.

For example:

Imagine you sell running shoes and that a person has bought this product.

After the purchase is processed and the paid for, you could offer socks, or a second pair of running shoes at a 10% discount. After all, these items are similar to what your buyer is interested in and can add value both for the buyer and for your business.

Even if the person doesn’t intend to buy another item, upselling makes your buyer interested in buying new products or services. And this is essential to increase your average ticket.

It’s important that upselling come with advantages for your customer. After all, an engaged base leads to faithful consumers, and even evangelists for your brand, who will recommend your products to their friends and family.

In short, upselling is one way to sell additional products or services that are interesting to your actual customers, those who have already made purchases from your business.

 

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What’s the best moment for an upsell?

Now that you know ‘what is upselling’, you’ve noticed how important this technique is to increase your sales and you may be asking yourself: When should I offer an upsell?

From now on, we’ll show you when the best moment to offer a product or additional service to your consumers is. Keep up with the following tips!

1. Real Buyers

To know if you’re offering an upselling at the best moment, you need to know if the person to whom you offered another product or service is really a consumer who already had the intention to make a purchase on your website.

This is extremely important, especially because, as we said at the beginning of this text if someone has already bought from you, it is very likely that she will buy from you again because she knows the quality of what you’re offering.

2. Relevance of the product or service

After you’re sure that the person to whom you’re upselling is your customer, think about what you’re going to offer. Is the second purchase option interesting and relevant for the consumer? Or is it only increasing your average ticket?

Always think about people’s experience and only offer an upsell if it adds value to your customer’s purchase. Remember to create a new offer that is related to the item previously purchased that is also useful to people.

Besides, pay attention to the price of the product you’ll offer. Notice if the new purchase has a similar price (or lower) to the previous purchase. It’s important that you make a product or service available that your customer can pay for.

3. Unanticipated needs

Have you ever been to a fast-food chain and, when you were about to pay for your food, the cashier offered you a larger size of fries for pennies?

It is likely that, at that moment, you didn’t need more fries. However, the price was apparently so low that you ended up taking up the offer.

You need to use this strategy with your customers. Show them that there’s a need they haven’t noticed yet.

Assume you have a restaurant. After the client has already had dinner and asked for the check, try to offer a dessert for a price below the one on the menu. Even if the person weren’t thinking about eating more, it is likely that, after you offered, she notices that it was what was missing to make her dinner perfect.  

Or imagine you offer yoga lessons. How about selling yoga mats that are used in the lessons for your students?

See how you can create needs that were not noticed before?

4. Payment completed

After the customer visits your sales page, add a product to the cart and makes the payment, you have the precise moment for an upsell. That’s why, right after the purchase, you are sure the person trusts your brand.

When you offer something interesting to someone who already knows your products or services, it is like you’re someone they know recommending a useful item for another person. It’s great to give your consumer more alternatives at the end of the purchase because that’s when they are more involved with your products/services.

So, never upsell before you’re sure your customer has already ended and paid for the purchase.

 

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What is upselling and how to do it?

If you’ve got this far, you already know ‘what is upselling’, you understood that this technique is important to increase your sales and the best moment to put it into practice. So, it’s time to get hands-on.

Thinking about helping you find the stepping stone for upselling, we’ll show you what you need to make a new offer to someone who is already your customer.

Ready? We’re sure that, by the end of this post, you’ll be well-prepared to use upsell on your sales.

1. Analyze each customer

If you’re offering a second product or service to someone who has already bought something on your website, you definitely have a history of purchases from these people. From the past, you can analyze in detail what you can offer to this customer.

When upselling, keep in mind the kind of product/service previously purchased and the amount expended. If you have a customer who made purchases around US$100 and US$200, you shouldn’t offer something that is US$1,000, for example. Use the purchase history as a way to qualify your customer.

Your goal is, like we’ve said before, to increase your sales. But you should also focus on providing a good experience for your buyer. So, analyzing not only the product preferences but also the price and quality of what was purchased, is essential for higher conversion.

2. Present the benefits

When you’re upselling, always offer advantages and show your customer that she can buy something that completes the previous purchase or that adds value to the item previously purchased.

You can offer, for example, an extended warranty for a price that is not so different from what she would already pay. Another option is making a product/service available that is similar to what she wants, but with extra features. Or you can give a discount if they buy an item in the same segment as the previous one.

It’s important that you always show the customers that, if they decide on a second purchase, they will have advantages that a first-time buyer does not.

3. Use references

Have you ever noticed how we accept a brand better when it is recommended by someone we know?

This usually happens because we believe that, if something worked for a person in our circle, it might just as well work for us. And if this recommendation comes from a famous person or an expert in the subject, it is even better because it shows that a given product is good for people who are familiar with that niche.

That’s why references are important when the topic is upselling. When you provide testimonials of customers or professionals who have used your product or service and liked it, you are able to increase your brand’s reputation.

Most buyers like to see success cases that show how what you are offering works well. So, when you first upsell, focus on stories of customers who purchased a given product first and then added another one to get better performance. By doing so, you can show all the benefits a second purchase can bring.

4. Show the difference

When you offer another product or service to an old customer, pay attention to how you indicate the price.

It’s much more interesting if you only show the difference between the new item and the item that has already been purchased. This means that you won’t indicate the exact price of the item you’ve suggested. What you’ll do is highlight the amount of difference between the two products/services.

For example: suppose a person has bought an online course on yoga for beginners for US$299.90. You can then offer, for a US$49.90 difference, the course yoga for intermediate learners too. Notice that the course for intermediate learners is US$349.80, however, the fact that you only show the difference in the amounts makes the price look less expensive than the one originally purchased.  

The goal of this strategy is that the customers won’t be focused on the prices but on the benefits, the upsell can bring to them. And, if the price difference isn’t big, you get to show your customers that the new purchase is something they can accomplish.

5. Make simple suggestions

Our last tip when upselling is: to keep your suggestions as simple as possible!

Every time you offer your customer a new purchase option, be direct. Never upsell many products or services at the same time because it can make your customer lose focus.

And remember to use the one-click upsell. As the person has already bought on your website, you have all their information stored. So, for the second purchase to be faster, make it possible for your customer not to have to provide all personal data again. Then, they will be able to buy the second product with just one click.

VIDEO: How to sell digital products online? Discover all the possibilities | Hotmart Tips

Start upselling

Now that you’ve figured out what it is, when the best moment to use this technique is and has tips for offering a second purchase to your customers, it’s time to upsell as a business strategy.

It’s very important to keep a good relationship with people who are already your customers. Even better if you can increase their trust in your brand. So, remember to always offer items that are beneficial not only for your sales but also for your buyer.

Do you want to learn more ways to increase your sales? Click here and check our blog post with The Top 10 Sales Techniques Used by Digital Marketing Gurus!