Companies are always on the lookout for ways to increase revenue and profits.
Indeed, many businesses focus on constantly acquiring new leads through intelligent marketing and outbound contact center strategies to keep earnings high.
However, there’s another way to increase revenue, which often requires less effort: upselling.
Upselling is the art of convincing a customer to purchase something bigger or better than the product they were initially interested in.
- Purchase an annual subscription instead of a monthly service
- Opt for the more expensive version of the product, with more features
- Choose a bundle package rather than buying items separately
Studies suggest that such upselling strategies can increase revenue by 10-30 percent, on average.
Plus, upselling is up to 68 percent more cost-effective than acquiring a new customer.
Yet, businesses may worry that upselling will compromise the customer experience. The following nine tactics will help to alleviate such concerns.
1. Leverage Existing Call Data to Enhance the Upselling Program
It is often best practice to formalize an upselling strategy with clear-cut goalposts and incentives.
Analyzing conversational data may help here, using automated speech analytics to highlight the most dominant keyword trends.
Doing so helps gauge customer sentiment and areas where upselling would be most effective.
2. Train Agents to Be Engaging, Not Pushy
Sales personnel have to hit that perfect balance between being forward/aggressive and hands-off, so customers feel empowered to make their own purchase decisions.
Since inbound agents are primarily trained and experienced in support services, additional sales training is likely essential.
3. Provide Logical Incentives, Rewards, and Gamification
To motivate agents further, some businesses choose to incentivize the upselling program so that every agent completing a successful sale can earn a commission quotient.
Just keep this within a logical threshold, preventing bad blood between teammates and an eagerness that drives away customers.
As such, gamification is perhaps a better strategy, creating an environment of healthy competition.
4. Approach Upselling as a Long-Term Objective
The first step to a long-lasting, successful upselling strategy is fostering trust. This means training agents to not jump the gun but focus on solving the customer’s problem before starting a sales-related conversation.
For instance, a service rep may plant the seeds of upselling during one conversation by saying: “In the future, our alternative option may help you to…”.
Such a statement can turn into a sales opportunity later on.
5. Get the Timing Right
Upselling is a fantastic way to increase revenue, but it can also harm consumer relationships if agents use this tactic too quickly.
Ensure employees know how to identify the right moment to upsell their contacts.
Typically, this moment will occur after the agent has already built a rapport with the customer, learning about their goals, pain points, and expectations.
Some customers can also give cues to agents during conversations to let them know they’d be ready to consider an upsell.
For instance, a client might say: “I hope this subscription has enough bandwidth to support my growing business.”
Sharing examples of these cues – perhaps using call recordings – may support agents in recognizing these opportunities.
6. Use Comparisons Effectively
Comparing low-value and high-value products is often an excellent way to encourage customers to spend more.
However, agents must ensure they’re not making the less expensive product seem unappealing.
With a knowledge of the customer’s specific goals and pain points, agents should work on showing how the bonus benefits of the more expensive product will drive better outcomes for the client.
On messaging apps, agents could even send customers graphics that help them compare products side-by-side to make a more informed decision.
7. Offer Rewards to Make the Upsell Enticing
The more expensive a purchase is, the more risk it can pose to a consumer.
The job of a contact center agent or salesperson is to convince the customer that the benefits of paying more outweigh the risks.
Aside from highlighting the advantages of the more expensive alternative to the client, it’s also worth offering extra bonuses and rewards to make the option more enticing.
For instance, an agent could let the customer know that upgrading to a premium package for a software subscription will give them access to priority support or a discount on their first purchase.
Eager to cross-sell too? If so, find out how by reading our article: What Is a Cross-Sell, and How Can I Maximize the Opportunity?
