A Brief Intro to Upsells, Downsells & Crosssells
When it comes to your product or service, we sell them because they provide value to its user and gratification for us, partly in the form of monetary compensation. When you’re trading your time for your craft, whether that’s developing the product or making the sale, everyone’s goals are to maximize their profits and minimize their time spent. That’s where upsells, downsells, and crosssells come into play.
When you’re selling a product or service, if you can find ways to maximize your profits without compensating your quality or customer service, you do it. Providing related products and services while someone has entered buying behavior increases the chances of a bigger purchase.
When Does an Upsell Occur?
An upsell occurs when you’re able to convince a buyer to purchase a product that is more expensive than the one they initially planned. You’re able to do this by providing more value than the consumer expected.
When Does a Downsell Occur?
Downsells happen when you’re able to convince a buyer to purchase something of lesser value than they originally expected. Downsells are easier to take advantage of because you have already established trust with the consumer. Suggesting that they purchase something with a smaller price-tag is a reasonable ask after they’ve already paid for something pricier.
What Does a Crosssell Occur?
Cross-sells fall somewhere in between upsells and downsells. Offering something of similar value at some point during the sales cycles allows you to add to your profit margins without having to spend additional time or resources on the sale.
Putting it Into Practice
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The point of upsells, downsells and crossells is to maximize your profits and minimize your time spent. You are creating extra opportunities for yourself from the same amount of resources. Nobody does this better than Amazon. Whenever you make a purchase on Amazon, you’re offered other similar products. Sometimes we buy, sometimes we don’t but the option is there and that’s the point.
If you could do this effectively in your business, what would this look like?
You would be able to:
- Overcome objections by offering other options
- Add on additional value to each sale, increasing your revenue
- Create value from positioning buyers to take the next steps after the sale
- Deliver a clear path to multiple products
- Provide options when the buyer says yes
- Provide options when the buyer says no
- Give the consumer what they want in sellable pieces
- Diversify your business
These days many new business owners fall into the coach or consultant category with their time being their core product as they sell their knowledge. With upsells, downsells and crossells, entrepreneurs in this space can now profit from their knowledge from different avenues in the forms of books, courses and so much more.
This is just the beginning of the power of upsells, downsells and crosssells. Check out our other posts as we go more in-depth about the selling tactics available for your business.