There is the hard way to increase revenues, finding more prospects and selling them, and then there is the easy way to increase revenues, upsell your existing clients. The hardest sale you will ever make in a client’s lifetime is the first one, so make life easier for yourself and focus more on that second, third, and fourth sale. Here are three must-know tips to upselling clients:
Have a Subscription: Many companies engage companies for a finite period of time and leave for the next prospect to do it all over again. This is a tough way to run a company, as it’s reminiscent of Sisyphus pushing the rock up the hill every day just to do it all over again the next day. Create an on-going, lower-cost, subscription product or service that keeps your clients engaged for the long run. Make it something that is a no-brainer to your clients because it provides lots of value and doesn’t make sense not to keep. This will both keep you closely engaged with your clients and will create more upsell opportunities down the road.
If You Have a Product, Create a Service (and Vice Versa): You spend all of this effort bringing in new clients, you sell something to them, and then you don’t have something else to sell to them. This is a lost opportunity. Once someone has bought one thing from you, it is easier to get them to buy something else from you. If you currently sell a service, then create a product that you can also sell. If you sell a product, create a service that you can then sell alongside. This additional range of products and services will provide greater value to your client, and it will lead to more upsell opportunities.
Plant Seeds: Even if right now, a client is not a fit for all of your products and services, plant seeds about some of the other offerings that you may be able to provide to that client down the road. By gently mentioning some of the other services and products you provide, your client will be more likely to buy those from you in the future. Often, a client will end up buying a product that you offer from someone else simply because he didn’t know you offered it in the first place. Subtly plant those seeds constantly with your clients to ensure that they know all of the things you can do to help them.
How do you upsell your clients? Please share below.
Written by Marc Wayshak, author of the book Game Plan Selling, and a sales keynote speaker.
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About the Author Marc Wayshak
Marc is is the best-selling author of three books on sales and leadership, including the highly acclaimed titles Game Plan Selling, The High-Velocity Sales Organization and his forthcoming book, Sales Conversations, Mastered.
Marc is a contributor to Inc, HubSpot, Fast Company, Entrepreneur Magazine, and Huffington Post Business. He also hosts a popular YouTube channel on sales strategy with over 103,000 subscribers.
Marc helps thousands of people his data-driven, science-based approach to selling that utilizes all the best tools available to sales organizations today.
