Upselling is Upservicing!

It’s lunch time, so you step into your favorite fast-food joint for a quick meal.  You place your order at the counter – double burger and a large Coke – and as the girl keys it into the register she asks you with a smile, “Do you want fries with that?”  Well… yeah.  Now that you mention it.  Who wouldn’t?

You know this scenario and we joke about it.  But pay attention to what the food chains like McDonald’s, Starbucks, and Subway are all doing.  Almost every time you place an order at one of these places, the service people behind the counter offer you something else.  Cheesecake with your coffee?  Why not?  And just because she asked, not only do you enjoy a satisfyingly rich dessert with your caramel macchiato, but she also increased the value of her sale by more than 100%. 

If she cross-sells to every customer, and even if only 5% say yes, what would that mean to her bottom line at the end of every day?  Here’s another thought.  If your sales and service reps were successful at up-selling and cross-selling at 5% of the time or more, what would that mean to your bottom line?

Upselling and cross-selling create superior value for your customers.  And although your reps may hesitate to upsell for fear of sounding ‘pushy’, research shows that most customers appreciate upselling and cross-selling when they feel they are offered additional benefits relevant to their needs.  In fact, since upselling and cross-selling service customer needs, we could think of it as upservicing.

When it’s done right, upselling is no more than a suggestion to an already receptive buyer to enhance the value of the purchase.  Did that cheesecake enhance your Strabucks caramel macchiato experience?  Well then, the girl’s offer to you was great service.

If the suggestion is in line with the customer’s needs, the customer will be receptive.  No guarantee that they’ll buy of course, but they will turn down the offer with a smile.  Of course, there’s still that 5% that will accept and smile even bigger.

Ensure that your reps are more interested in delivering quality service than they are in making an additional sale.  If the focus remains on enhancing customer experience, upselling and cross-selling will be much easier.

Upselling and cross-selling increase your customers’ satisfaction.  Just a small proactive effort on your part conclusively leads to customer loyalty and grows your revenue at the same time.