How to Transform Your Sales with Cross-Selling Strategies

Have you ever purchased a product online and had the website suggest related accessories? Likely, if you’ve shopped on the internet, at some point, you've encountered these complementary product suggestions. This is the art of cross-selling, transforming a single purchase into a comprehensive bundle. 

In today’s episode, we’re exploring the magic of cross-selling. Tune in to learn the best strategies for effective cross-selling, the technology that can help you get it right, and real-world examples that show just how powerful this technique can be.


Mentioned Resources

Learn more about Upselling
Episode 57: How to Boost Your Revenue with Upselling

Learn more about Bundling
Episode 28: The Win-Win Strategy of Product Bundling


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Chapters

• 0:45 Boosting Sales Through Cross-Selling
• 11:14 Effective Cross-Selling Strategies

Transcript

Carrie Saunders: 0:45

Have you ever purchased a new camera from an online store and had the website suggest accessories like a protective case, a high-speed memory card or extra batteries? Likely, if you purchased on the internet at some point in time, you've been given options of products that complement your purchase that you are making. That is the art of cross-selling turning a single purchase into a comprehensive bundle. So in today's episode, we're exploring the magic of a cross-selling, how suggesting related products at the right moment can not only boost your sales but also enhance your customer's overall shopping experience, if done right. Stick with us as we delve into the best strategies for effective cross-selling, the technology that can help you get it right and real-world examples on how just powerful this technique really can be. Let's dive in. Welcome C to the eCommerce Made Easy podcast. I'm your host, k Saunders. When we started this business, all I had was a couch, a laptop and a nine-month-old. My main goal To help others had was a couch, a laptop and a nine-month-old my main goal To help others. Now, with over 20 years in the e-commerce building industry and even more than that in web development, I have seen a lot. I love breaking down the hard tech into easily understandable bits to help others be successful in their online business. Whether you're a seasoned e-commerce veteran or just starting out, you've come to the right place, so sit back, relax and let's dive into the world of e-commerce together.

Carrie Saunders: 2:11

Welcome back to this week's episode of the e-commerce made easy podcast. So last week, we discussed what upselling was, how it can benefit your business and if you missed that episode, make sure to check back on episode 57, as it can go hand in hand with cross-selling too, because it kind of depends on the situation of what you're selling as to which one's best for you or best for the specific product you're looking at, too. It could be you might want both, and you might want one for certain products and the other one for other products. So this week, though, we're talking about a different spin on how to increase your revenue and bottom line using cross-selling when it's more appropriate than upselling. So, first off, let's talk about what cross-selling is. So cross-selling is designed to increase the total number of items a customer purchases, and it always usually you know it always basically involves selling multiple products.

Carrie Saunders: 3:08

Typically, you're selling extra products that complement the main product that they're looking to buy or that they are buying. So, for example, in the beginning, the intro I talked about how, if you go to buy an electronic device like a camera, then they're going to probably suggest to use some accessories that go with it. In particular, if you notice, I talked about a high speed memory card. A lot of people don't realize that you need a high speed memory card to make sure that you are storing the images fast enough for a camera like that. So that is a perfect add on accessory to what you're buying that the consumer might not realize that they need. All right, so when cross-selling, there's another example I can give you too that always comes to my mind when I talk about this is when you go to the cell phone store likely when you go to buy a new phone they are going to offer you accessories such as a screen protector or and or a phone case protector. They're also going to advise you to get an extra charger, possibly a car accessory, to go with it. So that's a perfect example of how we can do cross-selling when we're selling actual physical products, and you can do this with non-electronic items as well.

Carrie Saunders: 4:24

Now, if we're a service provider, though, a cross-selling item might be something a little bit different than you might think of and you can do something like adding on a VIP package to whatever you're selling. So let's say you're selling a course. You can add on a VIP package to make that course even better and more effective. Or you can add on more group coaching or some extra add-on bundles, maybe some other mini courses that you think would complement the course they're buying. You can do that as a cross-selling item as well.

Carrie Saunders: 4:57

So how does cross-selling actually work? Well, there is a psychology principle of the yes mindset. So the customer has already decided to purchase this product. So they're already in the buying yes mindset already and they're more likely to consider additional offers at this point because they're already in that buying mode. They've already got it set in their head they are going to get this item. So if you do it appropriately, they are more likely to say yes to more products on your site that compliment the item that you're buying.

Carrie Saunders: 5:28

You can even consider giving a discount for cross-selling products or services. So let's say, with the camera example, they can get the accessories for 10% off, for example, or a VIP add-on Maybe it's a discounted VIP add-on. Then you would normally charge if you sold a VIP session by itself. So that can help make the yes even easier is if you are providing more value for less money with the upsell too. So how do we know what to do for upselling? How do we know what products to pick? So you really need to identify the complimentary products that go with the product they are looking at. You can do this by analyzing your customer purchase history and patterns. You can use market research online to see what is typically offered with the product or service that you are trying to sell and look at common pairings and common prices and common up charges for those items.

Carrie Saunders: 6:29

You can also work with your team or a business bestie to brainstorm on what additional products or services will really enhance and help your customer get even more out of the original product or service they are buying. This really helps create customer trust and customer satisfaction when you're trying to help them ensure they get the best bang for their buck on the item that they're purchasing. When they feel confident that this item is going to be very useful for them, especially with these added on extras, that's going to really help them get everything they can out of this product or service that they're buying. Now, when we want to offer these, is kind of important. We want to make sure that we're offering them at the right time in the selling process, because if you offer them too soon or too late, they're likely going to say no and especially if you do it too soon, it might be off-putting to them and they may just abandon the purchase altogether.

Carrie Saunders: 7:26

One common gentle way if you're an e-commerce site is you can put a section that's a customer's also bought section. I'm sure you've seen this. On many online stores that you've been on, there's typically a customer's also bought section. I'm sure you've seen this on many online stores you've been on. There's typically a customer's also bought section. Now, this is a bit more of a subtle way to do it and I think this is really great and appropriate and a lot of people really like to use this to like shop from, because they may kind of have an idea of what they want, but they aren't quite sure all the details on what they want. So when you give them really good suggestions on what other things people might buy with the product, that is very helpful. Also, you can do what's called a bumper on the checkout page where you can suggest there, you know, add this accessory for 10% off or for just $20 more or whatever it might be appropriate for you. Or maybe it's a VIP one-on-one hour with you, with your course you're selling. You can do an add-on, a VIP service at our discounted rate of, and then give the give the discounted rate and the value that you're going to be providing for on that last checkout page.

Carrie Saunders: 8:37

Now when you do this, you want to make sure that you're obviously giving really good reasons and talking to the customer, not really at the customer. So talk to their pain points, talk to their needs, talk to the things that's going to bring them joy from getting this extra add-on. So we're going to want to do similar things that we would do for any sort of selling here in the upsell. We don't want to just kind of willy-nilly throw this at our customers. We want to make sure it's very thoughtful. If it's not thoughtful then it very likely might come across as off-putting to the customer. So make sure it's better to be thoughtful about this or just don't do it at all if you aren't quite sure how to be thoughtful on this. So really think through this, get some others' opinions, get your business besties or some other friends and have them look at your upsell bump offer that you're going to do with this cross-selling to make sure that it is something that is attractive and that people understand the value they're going to be getting.

Carrie Saunders: 9:41

Now you can also bundle the products, and we have a really great episode that we'll link to in the show notes about bundling products. It's actually one of our most popular episodes, and so you can use this cross-selling to really kind of lean into that bundling of products. So when you buy this nice camera you get, you can add on these three accessories for x amount more. That's kind of like bundling at the same time as cross-selling and you can use it to create more value and give your customer a discount. They're're going to get more. You know more trust in you because you're giving them a nice deal by being loyal and purchasing more on their website, and it's also very convenient for them to not have to go and look and search for what might go well with this accessory. They're going to feel a lot more confident, especially with technology. If you're selling a technology device, they're going to be a lot more confident, especially with technology. If you're selling a technology device, they're going to be a lot more confident that the accessories work with that device when you've cross-sold it and or bundled it, and you can also suggest individual add-ons for customization. So this is a little bit different way to do. The cross-selling is whenever you're selling a product, whether it's a physical product or a service you can have add-ons that they can use to customize that product or service, and that's another great way to really kind of spin on it and give them a bit a different perspective, and you can try both ways to see what works best for your customers and for your audience.

Carrie Saunders: 11:14

Now there are some best practices that we need to follow when we're doing this and we've touched on some of these already. We want to make sure the offers are relevant and add value. Want to make sure the offers are relevant and add value. We're going to create a lot more customer trust if it's very apparent and obvious and a no-brainer that it's going to add value and is relevant to the product you're selling. So if they're trying to buy a camera and you're trying to sell them a phone case accessory, that's just not. They're going to be like they're going to be confused and probably leave the website and not have much trust in you. So make sure that the offers you're selling are definitely relevant. So be careful using automated devices or automated programs that offer these upsells without thoroughly checking to make sure they're doing a good job If you are using some sort of AI tool or something automated to suggest these other products.

Carrie Saunders: 12:07

You also want to make sure you avoid being overly aggressive or pushy with these accessories. I know whenever I go to our phone store, they have a buy two accessories, get the third for free. That's a great way for upselling and cross-selling right there, but I don't feel pressured to do it. They just let me know. Hey, you can get. If you buy two accessories, you can get the third one free. Would you like to look at them? Just as simple as that. I don't feel pressured. I don't it's. It's not icky or spammy. There are things that I'm going to be finding useful for sure, and they politely will take a no thank you if you give it.

Carrie Saunders: 12:45

So do similar when you're doing your online wording when you're doing these cross selling is make sure that you're not aggressive or pushy, so not like super flashy or super pressure, and you know the limited time stuff can really work Sometimes. That would be what you might do if it's a service provider and that can work sometimes, but if you do it in the wrong manner, it can really seem pretty pushy and aggressive. So make sure that you're not being too pushy or aggressive there and you can use customer data that you find on the internet or from past sales on your store to make sure you're getting suggestions that are relevant. So look at what people buy already together, naturally and see if that can help you determine what they might like to go with that product or service, and regularly look at this and update and test your offers for their effectiveness. I can't highly suggest this. More than I can is yes, I can't highly suggest this more than I can is, you know, really got to. It's really kind of a trial and error and a lot of things in business and especially online business, and if you're not tracking things, you're not going to know whether it's working or not.

Carrie Saunders: 13:56

So set intention on what you want to use for cross selling. See if it works. Come back to it in three weeks, a month. You do want to give it some time to make sure it is working and the timeline is going to be best determined by you and you know your cycle of your business. But make sure you're coming back and really looking at this. Is this data working? Are we selling these accessories and these cross-sold items with products that we're offering them with? If not, is it your wording? Have some other people look at it for you. Is it the wrong products? Are you not presenting it at the right time? So really kind of dig in and try to figure that out, because once you nail this down, it's really going to increase your revenue and your customer happiness.

Carrie Saunders: 14:44

When you get this right and, like we talked about before, some common pitfalls are doing irrelevant cross-sales. This can really diminish your trust I can't stress this enough and it can really diminish your customer satisfaction and poor timing. We've touched on this some too, but I want to make sure we come back to it. We want to make sure we're offering the additional products at the right time. Too early seems pushy and aggressive. Too late seems like an afterthought and really not a genuine suggestion. So make sure you're doing it right at the right time in their purchase, when they're already committed to that product and you're pretty confident that they want to buy it. That's when you really want to give them those cross-selling items to consider and, like I said, we need to go back and monitor this and review it very regularly. It's the one thing you got to do in business is try something, try it for a period of time that's going to give you some good data and then reevaluate and make some changes and try again. They say that you really need to try a new thing at minimum three times before you know whether it works or not, so just because you've tried it once and it didn't work. Well, that's why I'm saying we need to reiterate on it, review it, test it and try it again. It's really important to do something like this at least three times so that you can see the data and see what is working and what isn't All right.

Carrie Saunders: 16:09

So let's recap this week's episode. So first off, we talked about what is cross-selling and then we gave some examples of cross-selling for products and for services and how you might work that into your business. We also talked about why cross-selling works and when to use it, as well as how to effectively cross sells, what to avoid when cross selling and really how to refine your process. You really got to dig in and refine it. I can't stress that enough. I see so many people try something. It didn't work and then they give up. Well, you don't know if it worked really, like I said, until you've tried it at least three times. They give up. Well, you don't know if it worked really, like I said, until you've tried it at least three times. All right, so that's all I have for you for this week's episode of the e-commerce made easy podcast.

Carrie Saunders: 16:51

Thank you for joining me. Be sure to visit our show notes and other show notes at the e-commerce made easy podcastcom website, or you can see the show notes on your favorite podcast app that you may be listening to right now. If you're watching on YouTube, be sure to hit that subscribe button, and if you're listening on a podcast app, make sure to hit the follow button there. And we would love it and totally appreciate it if you would review us on Apple Podcasts. That really helps us get our word out to more business owners just like you and to help them help their business thrive and survive. Your ratings and reviews mean so much to us and we totally appreciate every single one that we get and we look at every single one of them. Thank you again for listening and we will see you next week.