Finding completely new sources of clients and thus increasing sales is by far the most sought-after for all businesses but also a huge challenge, especially for brands that are that well-known yet. In such a situation, it is worth considering a shortened way to increase profits – taking advantage of existing collaborations through cross-selling. When you do it right, it’ll build stronger relationships between you and your clients, boost branding efforts and bring in desired revenue growth.

Here’s some basic knowledge and a few tips to get started with cross-selling.

Cross-selling: The basics

Cross-selling means offering your customers another item or service to go along with what they’ve already purchased from you, hopefully leading to a win-win situation. It’s often confused with upselling, which occurs when a business adds to the functionality of a product increasing the value of an existing contract. 

To give you an example, cross-selling is when a fast-food worker asks if you’d like fries with your burger. Upselling is when the worker asks if you’d like an extra large burger instead of a regular one.

To explore this valuable area a little more, take a look at these common strategies to cross-sell.

1. Provide additional services

A simple yet strategic way to cross-sell is to offer extra products or services to your clients – ideally something that is relevant to what your client has already bought from you. A razor store might cross-sell shaving cream successfully, for example. In the SaaS area, extra tools that complement your software could be a good option to consider, so it’s worth always being on the lookout for new addittions that can enter your offer.

2. Understand your clients’ needs

Stay a step ahead of your clients by creating potential offers that may match their needs. To do this, you can look back and analyze previous interactions with them to understand their shopping behaviors and to pinpoint what they tend to buy. With these insights, it’s more likely to create an offer that will truly resonate with them. 

With an omnichannel contact center solution, it’s easy to trace back past interactions with customers across all your communication channels, including phone, email, SMS, social media or chat apps. This enables you to fully understand their needs and preferences, so you’ll be able to provide the best additional products and services for them.

3. Promote special deals

When you’re promoting a special offer to your clients, it’s also a great opportunity for cross-selling. You can simply point out that you have special promotions at the moment instead of trying to directly sell it to them. Some clients will prefer a subtle approach like this. A well-known example of such cross-selling is when businesses offer extra services and products with a discount on Black Friday.

4. Inform and educate

Of course it may be challenging to make clients see the value of an additional service or product they haven’t tried yet. Dedicate some time to educate your audience about what purchases could complement what they’ve already bought from you. This approach also strengthens your brand, because you’ll be able to demonstrate your industry knowledge and credibility. In many industries this can also span across offering limited time trials, interactive demos, or freemium accounts which help get customers familiar with the new offer.

5. Consider your client’s goals

When you cross-sell, it’s always a good idea to keep your client’s goals in mind. This way, you can increase your profits while providing quality customer care at the same time. There may be additional products and services that could complement your client’s previous purchase, but they wouldn’t necessarily contribute to their overall business goals. 

By focusing on establishing strong client relationships and understanding their needs, you can approach them with offers that are especially attractive for them. This will strengthen their trust in you and increase their loyalty in the long run. 

In a nutshell

There are lots of ways to make cross-selling a valuable practice for both the seller and the customer. Our article introduced five popular ways you can provide additional products or services while strengthening your relationship with them.