Upselling: Your Ticket to 67% MORE Revenue | Selling Made Simple

unanswered emails. And eventually, eventually, all that effort could lead to a new buyer or two. Emphasis on the “could” here. Even still, you’ve got to wade through a lot of crap to get there.

But filling your pipeline with new buyers isn’t the only way to do business. In fact, focusing on maximizing value with your existing clients can make your life a hell of a lot easier.

And today, we’re talking about using upselling to do just that.

Sound good? Then let’s do it.

Why Upsell?

Why should upsell in the first place? You’ve already clinched the deal. So what’s the point of pushing things even further? Well, there are four benefits in particular here…

1. It’s Easier

It’s easier than focusing on new buyers. With new buyers, you’ve got to go through the pains of establishing trust. But with existing ones (or those who have already committed to the sale), that trust is already there.

Here’s a stat to prove my point. According to Marketing Metrics, you have just a 5 to 20% probability of successfully selling to a new prospect in most industries. 5 to 20%. If you’re selling to an existing customer though, that probability jumps to 60 to 70%. That’s an enormous increase!

So if you want to make your job selling easier, go with the existing customers. Next…

2. It Drives More Revenue

It drives more revenue. Customers spend more with the brands they’ve bought from before. To put a number on it, repeat customers spend 67% more on purchases than new customers. That’s two-thirds more!

Just think what a 67% increase in earned revenue would mean for your commissions.

3. It Instills Greater Loyalty

Upselling also instills greater loyalty. When you’ve already proven you can deliver real value, your past customers are 10X more likely to continue buying from you. After all, why go through all the hassle of finding a new vendor when you’ve already shown you’ve got the right stuff?

Now, there are clearly some very real benefits to upselling. But how do you do it? That’s where…

The Proven Product Upselling Framework

The Proven Product Upselling Framework comes in. This framework is exactly what I teach in the Selling Made Simple Academy. And it’s made up of four steps. I go into these steps in great detail inside the academy. But for today’s video, let’s go through a quick overview of each step so you can start upselling right away.

1. Document Results

Step one, gather the numbers. If you want to show a current customer that a new product has value, you’ve got to have the numbers to back it up.

When it comes to new vs. current accounts, it’s all about how you treat the status quo.

For instance, with new accounts, you want to attack the status quo. Productivity could be better. Efficiency could be better. Bottom-line earnings could be better.

But with current accounts, you’re actually attacking and defending the status quo. You’re defending it because you don’t want clients to head to your competitor. And you’re attacking it so you can convince them to upgrade to your premium product.

There are a couple of ways you can do both at once. But the best I’ve found is by sending them a value-rich quarterly report.

Now, you can check out an example of this quarterly report in the blog post found in the description of this video.

But in this report, you should include the following:

1. Your Earned Results

Your earned results.

2. Review of Previous Buying Process

A quick review of the previous buying process that reconfirms the client did their due diligence choosing you.

3. Sharing of New Industry Insights

Sharing of new industry insights to provide extra value.

4. Detailed Competitor Improvements

Detailed competitor improvements, highlighting new changes in your industry competitors.

5. Your Own Detailed Improvements

Your own detailed improvements, including new features you’ve been developing and how they compare to your competitor’s.

6.  howing the Cost of Change

A section summarizing the cost of changing considering everything discussed so far. This is also a great place to start introducing your upsell products.

2. Review Changing Needs

Highlighting their changing needs. Every business grows. And as it does, needs change. It’s a part of life.

But your job is to identify those changing needs and show how your upsell product addresses those needs.

It’s time to put your research skills to work here. As the more nuanced and specific you can get, the better. If you can pinpoint some of the biggest pain points and growth opportunities your client is facing, you can leverage them to better sell your premium product.

Using “what if” scenarios here is a great sales tactic. Try getting them to vividly imagine what it would be like if they achieved their future goals using your product.

Beyond simply priming them for a “yes” answer, this technique also helps the client clearly see that something is needed to achieve those goals. And if you’ve done your job, they’ll know it’s what you’re offering.

3. Share The Risk Of No Change

Three, driving urgency. And the best way to do that is by demonstrating the risk of not switching.

Now, there are six types of risk you can leverage here. First is…

1. Physical

Physical risk. This includes dangers to your buildings, equipment, and people.

2. Strategic

Second, strategic risk. This risk type involves roadblocks to achieving organizational goals.

3. Regulatory

Third, regulatory risk. Have their compliance risks changed? How can your product reduce this new risk?

4. Operational

Next up is operational risk. Can your product reduce the new risks that now exist in the buyer’s operations that didn’t exist before?

5. Technological

Then there’s technological risk. If your buyer has increased their reliance on technology, can you reduce their new risks with your product?

6. Financial

And of course, financial risk. If your buyer has increased in size, production, or headcount since you originally sold them, has their financial risk increased? Can your product help reduce this financial risk?

Try to point out multiple types of risks your buyer faces during your upsell conversation. Two or three should get the ball rolling.

4. Instant Discount

The “coup de gras” a.k.a. the killing blow. So you’ve proven your worth with a quarterly report. You’ve highlighted the buyer’s changing needs. And you’ve outlined the risks of not changing.

What’s the trick to pushing the buyer over the edge? To finally getting that elusive “yes”?

The instant discount.

Now, this doesn’t have to only be a price discount. It can also be complimentary onboarding support, expert consultations, additional product add-ons—whatever. Get creative here.

But essentially you want to create a time-based trigger event that gets them to act now.

There are a few things you can do to ensure that trigger event is effective.

1. Avoid Fake Urgency & Scarcity

Avoid fake urgency and scarcity here. These ploys, when uncovered, only breed animosity and degrade your client’s loyalty (a death sentence for your rapport).

2. Don’t Get Too Flashy

Don’t get too flashy. Too many buzzwords and urgency pushes will rub buyers the wrong way. Instead, be clear, confident, and respectful. Remember, you’re offering value, not trying to meet a quota.

3. Personalize If You Can

Personalize if you can. If you’re only cutting a deal or giving a unique discount with them, let them know. And tie back the deal (for example, lower price) to the client’s goals (like coming in on budget).

4. Keep the Pressure On (To an Extent)

Lastly, keep the pressure on, to an extent that is. There’s nothing wrong with sending a few helpful reminders that your trigger event is ending soon. Just be careful of getting too pushy here.

With the right trigger event, your buyer won’t have any other choice but to say yes to your premium upsell.