Grow Your Business and Increase Revenues by Upselling and Cross-Selling

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When juggling so many things as an entrepreneur, you have to make the most out of your time as possible to generate revenues. You're spending a lot of time developing new products, prioritising important tasks, managing existing customers, and attracting new customers. 

Thankfully, you can use many automation tools and business management platforms to boost sales and improve productivity. The same thing can be said if you're selling products, there are strategies you can implement to double or triple your revenues. Two of the most effective strategies in sales are upselling and cross-selling. Which method should you try? Read this guide to find out more!

What is Upselling? 

Upselling is a sales strategy in which customers are offered higher-end versions of products they intend to buy or extra products to sell more. The idea is to present more valuable options so paying customers would willingly spend more money on multiple products. For example, if you're selling flatscreen TV and a customer comes in to buy a 32-inch TV. You can present that product along with 42-inch or 62-inch TVs to increase the chances of selling more expensive products than what the customer initially planned to get. 

What is Cross-Selling?

On the other hand, cross-selling is a sales strategy in which customers are encouraged to sell complementary or supplementary products to the ones they intend to purchase on your site or already own. Suppose you sell bedroom furniture and bedding sets. A customer plans to buy a bedframe – you can offer this product along with matching comforters, matching sheets, and even a mattress to complement the initial product they want from your store. 

What's the Difference Between Upselling and Cross-Selling

Upselling is about presenting upgraded or more expensive versions of a product to increase profits, while cross-selling is about suggesting complementary and relevant products. 

Upselling and cross-selling are similar in terms of providing more value to your products. 

Instead of limiting customers to products they already saw on your website, you can showcase additional options they might not know about. By seeking upselling and cross-selling opportunities, you can increase profits, foster repeat customers, boost brand loyalty, and provide more value to clients. 

6 Upselling Strategies to Boost Revenues

To successfully upsell or cross-sell a product, you must deeply understand your customers' needs to present relevant products and meet these needs. Here are some upselling tips to help you boost revenues:

Customise the Copy

When selling a product, your copy addresses particular groups of people. If your copy is not persuasive enough, it won't connect to your target audience. To increase the chances of success, you'll need a compelling copy that addresses your target audience's specific wants, needs, and desires. 

To do this, you'll need to conduct market research, determine your buyer persona, and create a copy that will appeal to your ideal client. Be strategic with the messaging, and understand their true motivation behind the purchases by analysing the metrics. By offering the right products, there's a higher chance of a successful sale. Offering a small discount is also a great way to foster customer loyalty.

Target Past Customers

Targeting customers who have purchased from your store in the past has a high chance of a successful upsell. Dig through your customer infos and start creating segmented lists. Each segment should have a specific offer to appeal to customers. 

After creating the segmented lists, start developing the messages to put out. You can cross-sell complementary products based on their previous purchases. Customising the message helps organise your list, present customised infos and develop a personalised campaign. 

Update Your Remarketing Campaign

Remarketing is a surefire way of upselling successfully because clients who have a purchase history with you are likely to buy from you again. Start your remarketing campaign by creating a list of previous customers and developing targeted ads. Run the ads with a targeted message and monitor the analytics. 

Roll out the ads on social media platforms that your previous customers use frequently to increase the chances of success. Because the ads will be posted all over social media, there is minimal effort on your part as far as exposure goes. Choosing the right platform + creating a targeted ad make an unbeatable combination.

Add Value with Incentivised Offers

Use all the customer infos you've gathered in the past to determine what kinds of products fit a specific group of clients and use the information to create freebies that will make your offers even more irresistible. 

Value is something that all customers want in a product. If they are getting more from a product than what they paid for, the purchase will definitely become memorable. Bundle deals, freebies, early bird offers, and discount codes add more value to your products and encourage upselling/cross-selling. You can also roll out a points system to get customers to buy more products for you in return for loyalty points. 

Solve Cart Abandonment Issues

It's normal for businesses to deal with cart abandonment. And there are many reasons why customers on the verge of making a purchase change their minds at the last second. What you can do to avoid this is to make the purchase process as seamless and quick as possible. 

It also helps remind customers that they have a product left in their carts, and they can complete the transaction in just a few steps. These reminders can be sent on autopilot using email marketing tools like Flodesk. Another approach would involve display ads to remind customers of all the amazing products they're missing out on. 

Upsell/Cross-Sell Based on Buyer Behavior or Last Action

Checking the analytics will help you collect valuable information that could improve your chances of success when upselling or cross-selling products. Some of these infos include client behaviours.

Client behaviour: Check the general statistics to determine what platforms your clients use the most online and what days or times of the week when they are most active so you'll know when to schedule the ads. Timing is everything when it comes to sales, so you need to post your ads at the most critical times. 

Last Action: Make the most out of Remarketing Lists for Search Ads (RLSA) to develop a highly targeted search campaign based on clients' previous actions. The analytics will also provide infos on your customers' last actions, and you can use the data to customise your marketing campaign for higher sales. For example, you can check if your customers are likely to go directly to your website or app to make a purchase. You can update your keywords to determine what terms to target for more effective messaging. 

Making the most out of every upselling and cross-selling opportunity that comes your way will accelerate the growth of your business. It starts by measuring the metrics to develop a highly targeted sales campaign. With these tips, you can develop your upselling and cross-selling marketing plan to ensure a higher return!

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