Closing ratios vary across companies and industries, but for the most part average salespeople close about one deal in four to new prospects, and great salespeople close about one deal in three. That means there are really only two ways to get more sales. You can increase the number of leads you go through, because one in three of 500 prospects is a bigger number than one in three out of 100 prospects. Or you can turn your attention to existing customers and work on your cross-selling and up-selling.
Cross-selling is an efficient way to generate more sales because you're working with people who already know and like you. They also like at least one of your products (the one they own), so they're more likely to believe that your other products would also benefit them. Closing ratios for cross-selling and up-selling are much higher than closing ratios for new prospects.
Consistently cross-selling has other benefits aside from generating more sales for you. The more of your products a customer owns, the “stickier” he gets. In other words, he's less likely to leave you for another vendor if he owns several of your products. Up-selling is even stickier, because it generally involves products that work together (for example, adding a duplexing component to a printer or a camper shell to a pick-up truck). Cross-selling usually refers to selling additional products that aren't closely related to the original product.
Another benefit to cross-selling is that it usually means you have more contact with that customer, because you're supporting multiple products. If you're talking with a customer on a regular basis, your relationship with him will usually deepen. And he'll be more likely to come to you as soon as he has a need, instead of waiting for you to call him up and sell to him.
The best time to introduce up-selling is during the initial sale. When a prospect has decided on which product he wants, tell him about its available upgrades. This might be a physical product or an intangible one, such as an extended warranty or a maintenance service. You can also bring up some cross-sell options, especially if they're somewhat related to his initial purchase. For example, if a customer buys a printer you can cross-sell him photo-quality paper so that he can print out photographs from his computer.
Any time your company rolls out a new product or service it's a golden time to do some cross-selling. Get in touch with all of your existing customers who might be qualified for the new product and let them know about it. Depending on your relationship with a specific customer, you might simply tell her over the phone about your new product or you might set up an appointment to do an account review, at which you can determine if the new product is a good fit for her. Free trials and loyalty discounts are useful tools for cross-selling, and be sure to emphasize any built-in synergies between products. For example, many banks offer free checking if a customer also sets up a savings account.
If you're nearing the end of the month or the year and you're short on your sales quota, launching a cross-selling campaign can be a really smart move. Cross-sales tend to have a much shorter sales process than initial sales because you don't have as much rapport to build – the customer already knows you and your company. So any time you're in a bind and need sales fast, pull out your customer list and look for cross-selling opportunities.
By Wendy Connick
http://sales.about.com/
Cross-selling is an efficient way to generate more sales because you're working with people who already know and like you. They also like at least one of your products (the one they own), so they're more likely to believe that your other products would also benefit them. Closing ratios for cross-selling and up-selling are much higher than closing ratios for new prospects.
Consistently cross-selling has other benefits aside from generating more sales for you. The more of your products a customer owns, the “stickier” he gets. In other words, he's less likely to leave you for another vendor if he owns several of your products. Up-selling is even stickier, because it generally involves products that work together (for example, adding a duplexing component to a printer or a camper shell to a pick-up truck). Cross-selling usually refers to selling additional products that aren't closely related to the original product.
Another benefit to cross-selling is that it usually means you have more contact with that customer, because you're supporting multiple products. If you're talking with a customer on a regular basis, your relationship with him will usually deepen. And he'll be more likely to come to you as soon as he has a need, instead of waiting for you to call him up and sell to him.
The best time to introduce up-selling is during the initial sale. When a prospect has decided on which product he wants, tell him about its available upgrades. This might be a physical product or an intangible one, such as an extended warranty or a maintenance service. You can also bring up some cross-sell options, especially if they're somewhat related to his initial purchase. For example, if a customer buys a printer you can cross-sell him photo-quality paper so that he can print out photographs from his computer.
Any time your company rolls out a new product or service it's a golden time to do some cross-selling. Get in touch with all of your existing customers who might be qualified for the new product and let them know about it. Depending on your relationship with a specific customer, you might simply tell her over the phone about your new product or you might set up an appointment to do an account review, at which you can determine if the new product is a good fit for her. Free trials and loyalty discounts are useful tools for cross-selling, and be sure to emphasize any built-in synergies between products. For example, many banks offer free checking if a customer also sets up a savings account.
If you're nearing the end of the month or the year and you're short on your sales quota, launching a cross-selling campaign can be a really smart move. Cross-sales tend to have a much shorter sales process than initial sales because you don't have as much rapport to build – the customer already knows you and your company. So any time you're in a bind and need sales fast, pull out your customer list and look for cross-selling opportunities.
By Wendy Connick
http://sales.about.com/
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