Upsell: To sell a more expensive version of a product the customer is considering to purchase.
Cross-Sell: To sell more products which can be used in conjunction with the product customer is currently buying.
Upselling and Cross-Selling: Products: Examples
| Primary Product | Upsell | Cross-Sell |
| Bicycle | Lock, basket, training wheels, child seat, bell, water bottle stand | Helmet, safety gears, water bottle |
| Printer | Ink Cartridge | Scanner |
| Cake | Candles | Cookies, Balloons, Bouquet |
| Sofa | Sofa Cover, Cushions | Coffee table |
| Camera | Batteries | Lens, Tripod, Cover |
| Pizza | Extra toppings, Supersize, extra cheese | Combo with garlic bread and drink |
Upselling and Cross-Selling: Services: Examples
| Primary Service | UpSell | Cross-Sell |
| Fuel Station | High-quality lead-free fuel | Car wash |
| Haircut | Hair-wash | Hair Spa, Hair Coloring, Keratin treatment |
| Hotel Stay | Suite instead of just a room | Massage/Spa at the hotel, Baby-Sitting for kids |
| Mobile Recharge | Offer a higher value recharge | Mobile Accessory |
| Air Conditioner Servicing | Offer Annual Maintenance contract from one-time service | Offer servicing for other Electrical appliances |
Consider this Scenario:
You went to a shoe shop to buy shoes for your child. The price point in your mind was $50. You checked a variety of shoes and were further considering to buy a pair. At this point, the salesperson showed you one more pair better than all the other shoes you just saw. Your child loved it. And you got convinced to buy that pair of shoes for $70. The salesperson succeeded in upselling you the shoes.
#FoodForThought: Seller pitched in costlier shoes when buyer had decided to buy shoes but had not made a purchase yet.
Consider this Scenario:
You designed a logo for some company 2 months ago. Then you ping your client to touch base. And he mentions that he is not able to get enough traffic to his website. It’s the right time to pitch in your content marketing services to the client.
#FoodForThought: It’s important to know, to whom, when and how to upsell.
Who to upsell?
Your existing clients. Why? Because they trust you, they are already using one of your products or services. If you suggest a product or a service which solves a problem for your customer. There is a great likelihood, they would say a yes. However, the timing is really important.
OR
When to upsell?
Let’s say you touch base with one of your existing clients. And in the conversations the client expresses a pain point. Bingo! It’s your moment. Grab this opportunity to upsell and suggest a product or service that solves the pain point your customer just expressed.
#FoodForThought: Still if you receive a “NO” for an answer when trying to upsell. Dig deeper to find the reason why.
There is one more scenario when you can upsell. When buyer has almost made up his mind for a certain product. But he has not made the purchase yet. At this moment try to pitch in a higher version of the product, which provides more value, for a little bit higher price.
#Tip: Do not bombard the customer by pitching all the products you have!
Acknowledge the upsell!
If the customer has accepted your upsell offer; Express Gratitude! How?
- Send a thank-you note with a little surprise gift.
- Send them discount coupons for next purchase. (I felt happy to receive a $10 coupon from Puma on my last purchase :))
- Use your creativity to think of more ways to do so.
Cross-Selling: Something that amazon does all the time under its section “Frequently Bought Together”
Take a look at the following screenshot. When you search amazon for a baby video monitor. In the “Frequently Bought together” section, it shows a combo of video monitor, baby carrier and a playful door jumper. The suggestion is based on amazon’s shopping data. However, the suggestion looks quite logical too assuming the buyer is a parent of an infant. There are good chances, that buyer would give it a look.
Here is another wonderful example of from Expedia for cross selling. When you are booking flight to travel to a tourist destination. You shall stay in some hotel. You might as well need to hire a car. Take a look at the snapshot from Expedia’s website. Observe their cross-selling combos:
- Flight + Hotel
- Flight + Hotel + Car
- Flight + Car
And look at their CTA (Call To Action) : “Bundle and Save” – Pretty Enticing!
Has it ever happened to you? that you went to order a cake to wish your friend: the website suggested to order bouquet/chocolates/teddy bear etc. along with the cake. That’s another great example of cross-selling.
#FoodForThought: Let’s take a look at the flower + gifts combo from Professor Clayton Christensen’s JTBD –“Job To Be Done” theory. The buyer has planned to hire bouquet to make her friend feel special. So, if a website is suggesting to accompany the bouquet with a gift, it’s further adding value to the job buyer was trying to get done. Buyer was trying to make her friend special with a bouquet. A gift along with it will make her feel even more special.
If you find it challenging to upsell or cross-sell. Do share your product range with us. We can help you upsell and cross-sell and thus increase sales.
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