Successfully upselling and cross-selling

Upselling and cross-selling are sales techniques aimed at selling additional products or services to the customer. Although they are often confused with each other, it is important to understand that they are two different sales strategies. Upselling refers to selling a higher value or better product than the one the customer originally planned to buy. Cross-selling, sometimes referred to as cross-selling, refers to selling a complementary product or service related to what the customer has already purchased or plans to purchase. Since studies show that the probability of selling a product to an existing customer is 6-7 times higher than selling the same product to a new customer, strategies such as upselling and cross-selling are extremely relevant for maximizing companies' profits(source: Marketing Metric Reports).

In this article, we will therefore show you how upselling and cross-selling work, what the differences are, what the benefits and goals of these measures are and how you can successfully integrate these strategies into the sales of your business. We will also explain how WhatsApp can simplify and accelerate the implementation of upselling and cross-selling.

‍

Basics and examples of upselling

Upselling is a sales strategy in which the customer is sold a higher-value or better product than the one he had originally planned to buy. Upselling is often enabled by add-on sales. Here are some examples:

A customer who wants to buy a standard smartphone is convinced by a salesperson to buy a higher-quality model with more features and storage space
A customer who wants to buy a cheap pair of shoes is persuaded by a salesperson to buy a higher quality pair with better fit and longer durability

To upsell successfully and reap the benefits, it is important that you understand the customer's need and offer them a higher quality product that meets their needs even better. Of course, this requires that they offer add-on sales and optional add-ons in the first place. Here are some tips for successful add-on sales:

Focus on needs of the customer
Make the higher value product attractive to the customer
Show the customer the added value of the higher value product
Convince the customer that the higher value product will better meet their needs

Upselling is a valuable addition to standard sales strategies by selling particularly high-margin products. It not only helps you generate more profit: Another advantage is that customer satisfaction increases due to the higher-value product.

‍

Cross-selling basics and examples

Cross-selling is a sales strategy in which additional or complementary products or services are sold to the customer. The overriding goal is to maximize sales. Here are some examples of cross-selling:

A customer booking a hotel stay is convinced by the owner via WhatsApp message to reserve a table in the in-house restaurant
A customer buying a new phone is persuaded by an employee to add a protective case, a phone case and a charging cable.

To cross-sell or cross-sell successfully, you must understand the customer's need and offer them a complementary product that supports their needs. Here are some tips for successful cross-selling:

Understand the needs of the customer
Make the complementary product attractive to the customer
Show the customer the added value of the complementary product
Convince the customer that the complementary product supports their needs

Cross-selling is also a valuable sales activity and leads to many benefits. Cross-selling not only helps you generate more sales, but can also help ensure that the customer has a better buying experience, as they receive a product that supports their needs and thus purchase a particularly satisfying overall package.

‍

Differences between upselling and cross-selling - and when is the best strategy to use?

Both strategies aim to increase the company's sales by convincing customers to buy more. The differences lie in the following characteristics:

Upselling refers to selling a higher value product or a better version of a product already purchased. Cross-selling or cross-selling refers to the sale of an additional product that matches a product already purchased. The advantage of being able to sell particularly high-margin products makes it easier to achieve the goal of maximizing profits through additional sales.
Upselling aims to persuade the customer to buy a higher-value product that has a higher price. Cross-selling aims to persuade the customer to buy an additional, complementary product that increases the overall value of the purchase.

Choosing the right strategy depends on the type of business and the customer's buying behavior.

Upselling is best suited for companies that have a wide range of high-value products and customers who are willing to spend more.
Cross-selling or cross-selling is best for companies that have a large number of complementary products

It is important that both strategies are carefully planned and thoughtfully deployed to achieve optimal impact. A personalized approach, a clear understanding of customer needs, and an offer that encourages purchase are important factors that must be in place for upselling and cross-selling to be successful.

‍

Upselling and cross-selling are important tools for maximizing profits

Upselling and cross-selling are particularly valuable tools for the overriding goal of maximizing profits, as they enable existing customer potential to be fully exploited. From the following benefits, it is clear why these sales strategies are so significant for the growth of a company:

Increasing revenue per customer: Upselling and cross-selling enable customers to buy more than they had originally planned. As a result, sales per customer can be increased without having to acquire new customers.
Cost savings: By exploiting existing customer potential, it is possible to save costs that would otherwise be incurred in acquiring new customers.
Customer loyalty: Upselling and cross-selling offer sales the opportunity to strengthen and deepen their relationship with existing customers. Selling high-quality, relevant products can strengthen customer trust and loyalty.
Improving the customer experience: Selling relevant products that improve customers' lives can improve the customer experience. This leads to higher customer satisfaction and a higher probability that customers will buy again.

‍

Upselling and cross-selling successfully with WhatsApp marketing

WhatsApp is the world's most popular messenger service, with over 2 billion users. In Germany alone, over 60 million people use WhatsApp regularly. And user numbers have been rising rapidly for years (Source : Statista).

In contrast to e-mail, the user atmosphere of WhatsApp is very informal, as most users communicate with friends and family via WhatsApp. When companies are reachable via WhatsApp and send messages to customers, this creates a closeness to the customer that is simply not possible with e-mails. Emails are too distant and too impersonal and therefore not the right way to go as a marketing channel that is intended to influence consumers' primarily emotional buying behavior. Another advantage is that WhatsApp messages are guaranteed to reach the recipients and are not sorted into the spam folder by the mail provider like many emails. Your message will get the attention it deserves between personal chats from friends and family members. In our article "Which is better for business marketing? WhatsApp newsletter or email?" we contrasted the two channels.

In addition to classic newsletters, you can of course also send important customer information such as order confirmations via WhatsApp Business. Sending this information creates excellent opportunities for cross-selling and upselling. By sending information, you are already in direct contact with the customer and now you only have to place your products and services appropriately. For example, you could...

Send a customer who has ordered a new bike from you a discount voucher for a high-quality saddle bag at the same time as sending the delivery date
Offer an additional oil change to a customer who has his car repaired at your workshop
As an optician, convince a customer who wants to order contact lenses via WhatsApp to choose a particularly high-quality model
As the owner of a furniture store, selling a mattress protector to a customer you originally intended to inform because of the delivery date of the mattress you ordered
Make your hotel guests aware of the specialties of your in-house restaurant

WhatsApp is ideal for implementing upselling and cross-selling strategies

With a little creativity, there are quite a few ways for any business to use WhatsApp effectively. So, WhatsApp is not only the world's most popular messenger, but also an excellent platform for businesses that want to implement upselling and cross-selling. In summary, WhatsApp offers many advantages and is better suited than any other platform for the following reasons:

Personal user experience: WhatsApp enables personalized communication with customers, which increases the likelihood that customers will respond to your offers
Instant responses: With WhatsApp, businesses can respond to customer queries immediately, which helps ensure that the customer has a better buying experience
User-friendliness: WhatsApp is a simple and user-friendly app that allows businesses to upsell and cross-sell easily and effectively
Cost-effective: WhatsApp is a cost-effective platform that allows sales to optimize marketing budgets

To successfully upsell and cross-sell via WhatsApp, businesses should consider the following tips:

Personalize communication
Respond immediately to customer requests
Make offers attractive
Show the customer the added value
Convince the customer that the offer supports their needs

Would you like to successfully up-sell, cross-sell and WhatsApp Newsletter Marketing with Mateo? Or are you interested in an inbox where customer inquiries from different communication channels can be bundled centrally and processed efficiently? Simply arrange a free consultation appointment.

‍

Establish upselling, cross-selling and other WhatsApp marketing strategies together with Mateo

Mateo's marketing experts will be happy to advise you if you need assistance with WhatsApp marketing strategies such as upselling, cross-selling or sending newsletters. Mateo offers a comprehensive service with WhatsApp marketing. The service portfolio ranges from setting up the WhatsApp API to individual tips for collecting opt-ins, maintaining customer data and creating newsletters and cross-selling/upselling strategies to in-depth analyses. A fully comprehensive service that is customized to your business.

Mateo's software also offers customizable message templates that can be used to create WhatsApp messages and newsletters in just a few clicks. Mateo's central inbox, where customer requests from different communication channels can be centrally bundled and efficiently processed, makes it easy to optimize customer communication. Furthermore, the integration of numerous other tools into our software solution reduces your customer service workload. With Mateo, customer communication and marketing can be 100% GDPR compliant.

Existing customer marketing made easy - with Mateo you increase customer lifetime value through a higher number of recurring purchases and through higher shopping carts resulting from upselling and cross-selling strategies.

‍

Our customers particularly appreciate special features:

‍

Central user interface

In addition to WhatsApp Business API, Mateo bundles many other communication channels such as email, Instagram, SMS or Facebook Messenger in a central inbox. The intuitive and clear user interface offers various helpful tools for particularly efficient customer communication.

‍

Custom Message Templates

Thanks to various message templates that can be created individually, the amount of paperwork is minimized and the efficiency of customer communication is increased. This means that personnel resources in the service area can be deployed elsewhere.

‍

With Mateo's WhatsApp API solution, newsletters can be sent in a GDPR-compliant manner. Due to the first-class open rate of 98% for WhatsApp messages, marketing can thus be carried out significantly better than via email or other channels.

‍

Privacy

Mateo's messaging tool is compatible with all German and European legally binding data protection requirements. If the law changes, the software will be revised accordingly. For absolutely secure customer communication, all messages are encrypted end-to-end. You can read all the info on the GDPR when using WhatsApp in our article"WhatsApp Business and GDPR".

‍

Scalability for all company sizes

The scalability of the messaging tool has been confirmed by the large number of companies already using Mateo with high satisfaction. Whether customers have just a few employees or many hundreds, the software works smoothly and, depending on the package, with an unlimited number of end devices and users. The fact that Mateo significantly reduces the workload in the customer service area opens up new growth opportunities for many companies.

‍

Low cost provider for WhatsApp Business API

With an entry-level price of just 79 euros per month, Mateo is a cost-effective provider for WhatsApp Business API solutions on the German market. Combined with the integration of additional communication channels and various helpful tools, Mateo offers excellent value for money. Mateo's personal customer support assists companies with every step of the integration, ensuring very low barriers to entry.

‍

Upselling and cross-selling successfully - Here's how to do it