7 Tips on How to Upsell Effectively

Did you know that upselling has a 68% lower cost than acquiring new customers? If you’re looking for ways to increase revenue and grow your small business, then it is something you should consider.

Increased profits and average order revenue aren’t the only benefits of upselling. It also helps to boost customer loyalty. So long as you don’t break your streak as a trustworthy business or service provider, you’ll have more customers for longer.

What Is an Upselling Strategy? 

The goal of upselling is to encourage customers to buy more expensive products or services. Upselling involves recommending more profitable products, services, or bundles.

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The Elements of an Effective Upsell

• Relevant:  Upsells must be perfectly aligned with the initial purchase. An upsell from a base hair treatment to a $70 facial cleanser isn’t going to boost your sales. In contrast, upselling a standard hair treatment to the more expensive version is more effective.
• Compelling, short, and clear description: Headline, subheadline, and description of the offer should be straightforward. Ensure your customers understand what they’ll get and highlight the benefits of the upgrade to catch their attention.
• An achievable minimum commitment: A large price difference between your initial product and the upsell product may scare customers away. Choose your upsell product strategically. To make it easier for customers to say yes, make sure to emphasize the difference, such as “just $20 more”.

Here Are 7 Upselling Strategies You Can Use

1. Offer upsells whenever possible
2. Add customization
3. Upselling should not be intrusive
4. Give free feature on trial basis
5. Consider the needs and problems of the customers when making upsell recommendations   
6. Add a special offer for the upsell
7. Test, measure, and pre-program upsell recommendations using existing data

Let’s discuss each strategy.

1) Offer upsells whenever possible

Offering an upsell more often will give your customer a greater chance of taking it. You can make subtle offers throughout their journey. 

• Upsell on the product page –  Offer an upgrade to the products on your product page. Additionally, you could suggest bundles you offer with the particular product your customer is interested in.
• Upsell when they review their cart – When your customer is about to complete a purchase and clicks the checkout button, suggest an add-on service, such as an extended warranty. Add a couple of calls to action (CTAs) so they can learn more about the additional offer and add it to their cart.

• Upselling after the purchase and reaching a milestone – After your customer has purchased and enjoyed your product or service, you can also upsell. Apple uses this strategy with its iCloud services. It notifies you via email that you can upgrade to a larger storage subscription before you even exceed the storage limit.

2) Add customization

Make your product more valuable by charging for customization. Basically, you’re offering the option of a full customization of your product to fit the customer’s needs at an additional cost. This extra cost of customization is not included in the actual price, which increases your profit margin.

3) Upselling should not be intrusive

Although you want to upsell as often as possible, you don’t want to make it annoying. If you want your upsells to be less intrusive, you can place them further down the page.

Therefore, an upsell offered by multiple pop-ups on the first fold of your product page may turn your customer off and cause them to leave your website. When used correctly and at the right time, upsell pop-ups can be a great way to boost sales.

4) Give free feature on trial basis

You can use this as an upselling technique by providing a free trial of a new feature and then once the customer is used to it, he has to buy it for continual use.

5) Consider the needs and problems of the customers when making upsell recommendations

Customers buy products to solve problems. However, in some cases, after a purchase is made, new problems and needs may arise. Consider your product carefully, and try to understand the new challenges or problems that it presents. Upsell the customer on the solution to that new challenge.

• You buy a burger. You want something salty and crispy. You order fries.
• You buy a knife. The blade dulls. You need a sharpener.
• You buy software. You have to learn it. You purchase training.

You can always introduce similar items if nothing comes to mind. Amazon, for example, offers a variety of upsells and cross-sells.

• “Frequently Bought Together”
• “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought”
• “Sponsored Products Related to This Item”
• “Compare to Similar Items”
• “Special Offers and Product Promotions”

6) Add a special offer for the upsell

A free shipping offer is an excellent incentive to upsell. They will consider the free shipping as a valuable bonus in the upsell. The inclusion of freebies makes your upsell seem more valuable and justifiable.

7) Test, measure, and pre-program upsell recommendations using existing data

Lastly, you need to measure your upselling efforts. Which upsells are added to carts most often? What are the most effective CTAs for upselling? These insights can help you upsell a product and make the customer more satisfied with the shopping experience. 

Are you ready to implement an upsell?
Delivering more value at an extra cost is the secret to successful upselling. Make the offer irresistible to the customer so that he/she will be willing to skip the original offer in favor of the new one. If you see the benefit of upselling as more revenue for your business, then it must also be of greater value to your customer.
Our goal at Natalie Minh Interactive is to help you upsell, retain customers, and foster customer loyalty. Book a 30-minute free strategy call with me now and let’s get started!