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If you could double or even triple your revenue in minutes, would you?
Before you roll your eyes and point out that you don’t have a magic lamp to rub, consider your upselling game. How often do you actually succeed in getting customers to add a little something extra to their carts? Have you even been trying?
Do you really know how to upsell?
Maybe your bad luck with unreceptive customers isn’t the reason you haven’t been able to increase revenue. Maybe you’ve just been going about upselling the wrong way, with awkward timing and subpar recommendations. Try the following awesome upselling techniques:
You have a responsibility to make customers feel comfortable with you from the get-go. This allows you to create a bond of trust that leads to customer loyalty.
You want a customer to feel like your upsells are more than just automated garbage you’ve been trained to spout off at any opportunity. If a customer trusts you, he will feel that the recommendations you are giving him are truly helpful and relevant to his needs.
Use the following best sales techniques to put your customer at ease:
What does your customer need? That’s the question you need to ask before you even suggest an upsell – and sometimes asking that question directly isn’t enough. As Steve Jobs said, “A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.”
So how do you act as a mind reader and know what customers want before they themselves know? You need to draw conclusions based off of things you know about them.
Try to learn the following about your customers early on in your live chat sessions:
It may seem difficult to get some of these answers, especially when it comes to individual consumers. But the point here is to empower customers with your product and service. If you start with this mindset and communicate that to your customers, they’re more likely to open up and tell you what you need to know to help them succeed.
Lines that show you have your customer’s needs in mind include:
After you’ve learned your customers’ needs, you need to retain their trust by making offers that are personally relevant. It’s really irritating to realize a customer service representative isn’t listening at all, so avoid spacing out at all costs.
For example, if you’re selling software to a small business, don’t upsell them to a package meant for larger companies—when you do this, you are suggesting that you are willing to get money at any costs, even if it negatively affects your customer and compromises their business.
Instead, think about promotions and accessories that may be highly relevant to the customer at hand. For example, suggest buying in bulk for a repeat customer, or recommend a commonly bought accessory with the item waiting in your customer’s shopping cart. If you have the right live chat tools, finding these kind of opportunities are a cinch.
If you’re having trouble figuring out exactly what your customer could want or need, you’ll never go wrong by mentioning a current or ongoing sale. And if a customer is bummed about a certain promotion ending, here’s your chance to impress them with other offers.
Try promoting sales with lines like:
You should never advertise sales in a way that makes a customer think you are obligating him or her to make additional purchases. If a customer feels bullied into a purchase, he or she will resent you later and will be less likely to come back for future purchases.
The key is to time the upsell appropriately, like it’s an organic afterthought, and to mention it as a suggestion:
If a customer says, “No, thank you,” respect that. Some people come into a transaction with a focus on one item or service–perhaps in the future she will be more receptive to upsells. The important thing is to retain her as a customer–after all, for some patrons it will take longer to build that kind of trust. Be patient and open to the possibilities the future can bring. Don’t preemptively end the relationship by being too pushy.
As business owner Josh Weiss recounted for Inc.com, “I’ve had some SaaS companies email me 20-plus times even though I have never indicated any interest. It just makes them look desperate and cheapens the brand by trying so hard.” Don’t attach your company’s image to this kind of behavior!
If you’re using the Comm100 Pre-Chat Survey feature, you can optimize your ability to pinpoint customer needs and interests. With this feature, customers can opt to share their Facebook or Google+ accounts. This can enable you to really get to know who they are and what they are like.
You can also customize your pre-chat survey to ask which industry the client works in and what size their team is (if you are a B2B company). Or if your company is B2C, you can ask what the customer’s favorite item of clothing is or what size she wears, that way your mind is primed to think of relevant upsell opportunities.
Offer real-time, personalized, efficient support that your customers and agents will love at 1/3 the cost of voice support.
Learn moreMike Brooks, the author of Mr. Inside Sales, puts it best: ”
So many sales reps (like 80% of them), ad lib the upsell (whenever they think about it at all), and because of that they aren’t very convincing nor are they persuasive.”
Have a script ready for different situations, commit them to memory, and then adjust them as needed. Have different script options ready for:
The downloadable contains scripts for all kinds of scenarios, ranging from greetings to collecting personal information, and can help your live chat team deliver more efficient, quality support immediately.
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