Upselling is one of the simplest and surest ways to boost revenue. With effective upselling, you can make more revenue without needing to make more transactions. Instead, each individual transaction will, on average, bring more revenue to your company.
Awkward and off putting attempts at upselling can leave customers feeling skittish. They may also see right through your upsell offer and feel bothered rather than helped.
That’s where good upsell techniques come in.
Data, Data, Data
Start by using better data integration to improve your understanding of your customers. Well kept and utilized data allows you to understand the needs of each individual client in a way that would be impossible otherwise.. By improving your data integration, you can more easily develop strategies that are individualized to be more successful with each client. Upselling is about understanding and meeting client needs before they themselves may be aware of them, and it starts with effective use of data.
Think Ahead
To effectively upsell, you need to think ahead to what a customer may need later. If you’re selling them a new car, they might be interested in purchasing an extended warranty to protect that car. Or you can offer an upgrade to the sound system, knowing that they’ll want to listen to music as they drive. A hotel could offer a discounted visit to the hotel spa for guests.
Be realistic about the things that your customers will need later, and strive to meet those needs ahead of time. They’ll feel that they saved time and hassle.
Don’t Go Overboard
Offering too many upsell options can confuse and distract. You don’t want to baffle a customer who has just decided on a purchase with a huge number of possible upsells. Instead, keep it to a smaller number that you can explain fairly quickly and simply. That way the customer will not feel overwhelmed or put off, and are more likely to consider the new options instead of rejecting all of them to save time.
 Know the Details
It’s crucial that you understand all the nitty gritty details of what you’re selling. If you want to upsell a customer to a more expensive product, you need to be able to explain the differences and why one is superior to the other. If a customer visits a spa for a facial and you’d like to offer them a more expensive facial than they originally wanted, you need to be able to explain why that second facial is better and more worth their money. If they can see a clear benefit to taking the pricier option, they’re more likely to choose it and be happy to do so, feeling that they’re getting a better experience and making the visit to the spa more worth their time.
 Make it a Win-Win Scenario
Show the customer how your upsell is going to improve their life. When done well, upselling should improve the happiness of your customer, and a satisfied customer is more likely to be a repeat customer. It’s a win for you too, because of course when they purchase an extra or better quality product or service it increases your bottom line.
For example, say a customer is purchasing a taco dinner. Would they like to add a side of guacamole to that for only £1, instead of the £2 it would cost to purchase the guacamole a la carte? They’re likely to say yes, which means that not only do you increase revenue from that sale but you also offer the customer a better meal that’s likely to keep them coming back.
