How to Miss Less Sales

How to Increase Your Sales

One of the main objectives of any business is maximizing profits. One way to do this is by increasing your average order value. How can you do this? By Upselling and Downselling. Let’s first explain what upselling and downselling are and how you can use them in your business as a way to increase sales.

What Is Upselling?

Upselling is a sales technique where you offer a more expensive product or an upgrade/add-on to the initial offer. The goal of upselling is to increase your average order value and generate more revenue for your business. The product you sell during the upsell should be related to the initial offer in some way.

Examples of Upselling

Remember last time that you’ve bought something, there is usually a section before you checkout that has a title like “other people have liked...” or if you buy takeout and you’re offered a bottle of soda for a few dollars or desert. Those are two popular examples of upselling. Upselling is used in many other industries and in different ways, we will talk about how you can use upselling in your funnel.

When to Upsell

Upselling is a great way to increase your order value, so you should be careful about when you do it so you don’t miss out on a bigger sale. The best times to upsell are:

1. When the customer is about to buy
2. If they are already a customer and you have built trust and rapport with them.
3. If you’re sure that the add-on or upgrade will provide value to your customer, and you know that it is related to their interests.

Now that we have discussed upselling, let’s move on to down-selling.

What Is Downselling?

Downselling is almost like the opposite of upselling. It’s when you offer a customer a lower-prices product/service as an alternative to the original offer. The goal here is to still make a sale even if it’s a smaller value. It is possible that the customer may not have enough money to purchase the initial offer. They may also believe that the price of the first product/service is too much for what is being provided and may feel that the lower priced item is a fairer offer. Downselling allows you to build trust and relationship which can lead to more and bigger sales in the future.

Examples of Downselling

Going back to the takeout example, imagine you order takeout and you’re offered desert as an add one, the dessert may be $6. If you say no to that offer, you may then be offered the bottle of pop for $2 which you may take because you feel it is a better offer. If you do get the bottle of pop the sale value would’ve still increased $2 which is more than the initial product by itself.

Another example is if you are looking to buy a hamburger, but you see the price of the regular size burger is $8 and the size is too big anyways, you might buy a smaller burger of the value menu for $4 because it feels like a better deal for you at that time.

When To Downsell

It’s important that you are not pushy when down-selling or upselling, so there are certain times when you should try to down-sell a customer:

1. When the initial offer price is too high
2. When the customer is hesitant about completing their purchase
3. When the customer is about to leave their cart

How To Incorporate Upselling and Downselling into Your Sales Funnel

There is a way to incorporate both upselling and downselling into your funnel to ensure that you can increase your sales and decrease missed sales.

First, you have your initial offer, and this is what you show in your funnel and talk about. Once the customer reaches the checkout page if they choose to proceed with the purchase, this is when you can upsell them. Before getting to the payment details, let them know of your upgraded product and explain why it’s better than the initial offer. If they purchase the upgrade, then great! You’ve just increased your order value.

If they do not purchase the upgrade, you can then down-sell them by offering an add-on that goes with the initial offer. They will either take the add on or not.

If the customer reaches the checkout on the initial offer but decided they no longer want to purchase (may start leaving checkout page), this is when you can down-sell them to a similar but cheaper product, if they take the cheaper product, then you’ve saved a sale and you’re on your way to building a relationship with your customer.

Here is a diagram to explain this:

How Upselling and Downselling Can improve Your Businesses

Both upselling and downselling are important sales techniques that can be used to increase your revenue.

Benefits of upselling

1. Increases revenue

When upsells are implemented correctly, they can create a higher profit margin for your business.

A successful upsell strategy convinces a customer to purchase a higher-priced product with little to no extra cost to the business, which ultimately increases the sales value of each transaction.

2. Boosts customer satisfaction

Upsell products tend to offer your customers extra benefits, which increases the satisfaction that customers get from using your product.

3. Strengthens customer relationships

Bolstering your customer satisfaction by selling a premium product is an effective way to build trust and rapport with your customers and earn their loyalty. A strong relationship with customers can make future upselling easier since established customers are more open to paying more for your expensive products. Additionally, upselling can increase customer lifetime value and brand loyalty at the same time.

4. Improves ROI

Upselling is one of the best methods for increasing your return on investment (ROI). Acquiring new customers isn’t easy or cheap. Upselling to your customers will allow you to see a profit quickly and increase your ROI.

Benefits of Down-Selling

1. Grows your customer base

One of the primary goals of down-selling is to acquire new customers. People are often hesitant to spend a lot of money on products, especially when they’re new. However, if you sell cheaper product as an alternative, it allows them to test your products and make buying seem less risky.

2. Increases conversion rate

Price is an important factor in the purchasing decision. Offering a cheaper alternative makes the decision to buy easier and less scary.

3. Enhances customer lifetime value

Offering a cheaper option instead of the initial offer shows that you care about the customer’s needs and well-being. Although the initial offer may be too expensive, you still want them to experience the benefits of your product so you present a cheaper more accessible option. When customers see that you care about their needs this allows you to build a relationship with them resulting in more sales in the future.

If you want to learn more about how you can implement upselling, down-selling, effectively in your funnel, click the link below and join our Sales Funnels course