Business sustainability is heavily hinged on building longstanding relationships with clients. How do you build lasting relationships with customers? This can be achieved by upselling and cross-selling. Given the competitiveness of business, new customer acquisition can be tough, so repeat business from already paying customers should be the goal.
The process of getting new clients daily, weekly and monthly is tough. You are quickly going to burn out and beg for your 9-to-5 if you do not have a strategy. I know this because I have been there. The way to avoid that is by building long-term relationships with customers and clients and through cross-selling and upselling to them so that you can make more money from each client.
Customer excellence should be ingrained in the DNA of your business because while people can copy your products and services at the speed of light, it’s much harder for them to replicate your customer service.
Customer service is all about how you make your customers feel. A huge percentage of our business comes from repeat customers and referrals because we take customer service management at ReDahlia seriously. We go above and beyond to provide that “wow” factor to clients.
Because we know how to build lasting relationships with our customers, we can confidently upsell and cross-sell to clients. So before you think about upselling and cross-selling, ensure that your customer service management is airtight.
How to Build Lasting Relationships With Customers
Here are the different ways to build lasting relationships with customers. Once you offer excellent customer service, you can use these strategies to build relationship with clients.
Upselling
This is a strategy to sell a more expensive version of a similar product or service to your client. For example, Client X subscribes to the open floor plan of our workspace business, which costs N50,000 per month and can be offered a private office plan that costs N150,000 as the team expands.
The upgraded plan is an executive office with perks that include boardrooms and privacy for meetings. For Client X, this boosts the company profile and translates to more business while for us, more revenue accrues from an already paying client. Everybody wins.
Cross-Selling
This is a strategy to sell products and services related to each other. This is what we do for companies that register their businesses through us and then go on to purchase the compliance services, branding asset package and email set-up package; enroll in business training; subscribe to ReDahlia Workspaces; and buy advertising slots on entrepreneurs.ng. As a company, we are able to meet varied business needs through our diverse offerings.
Advantages Of Upselling And Cross-Selling
Upselling helps build lasting relationships between your business and the customer because they believe they are getting a good deal which makes them happy to continue doing business with you.
The key for you is to continue to offer real value without any motive to fleece your customers. Give them good deals and they can become long-standing sources of repeat business for you. Also, keep in mind that word-of-mouth can travel very far and can do just as much harm as good if the word is bad. Be transparent and professional with every client or potential customer.
Upselling and cross-selling are easier means of growing revenue compared to finding new customers. Our study at entrepreneurs.ng has shown that the probability of selling to a new customer ranged between 5% and 20% while that of reselling to an already buying and satisfied customer was 60% to 70%. Numbers, they say, do not lie. This should inform where you dissipate effort. Upsell and cross-sell your existing client base while you grow your new customer base.
The peculiarity of service-based industries like consulting demands that you deliberately distribute your time since you constantly need a stream of new clients. Perhaps allot 30% of your time to serving existing clients and the other 70% to getting new clients for your business.
Upselling is a widely used strategy, and it has been found to be quite effective for many businesses. Take Apple, for example; they add a few upgrades to an existing product and review the pricing to reflect the changes.
The key here is to build long lasting relationships with your customers, and this can take months or even years. However, if you can put in the work, the reward can be immense.
How To Develop Upselling And Cross-Selling Strategies
So how do you go about this tactfully? Here are six ways to develop your upselling and cross-selling strategies.
1. Identify Upselling Opportunities
Analyze your current products or services and identify potential upselling opportunities. Consider what additional features or upgrades you can offer to existing clients.
2. Design Cross-Selling Packages
Create cross-selling packages that bundle related products or services. Follow our example—we offer business registration services, and we include tax services, branding assets, email setup and workspace subscriptions as part of a comprehensive package.
3. Role-Play Upselling And Cross-Selling
Engage in role-play scenarios with a friend, family member or fellow participant to practice your upselling and cross-selling techniques. Focus on delivering value and addressing the needs of the client.
4. Prioritize Customer Relationships
Build long-lasting relationships with your customers over short-term gains. Provide exceptional customer service and focus on delivering value.
5. Implement Upselling And Cross-Selling
Apply your upselling and cross-selling strategies during interactions with existing customers. Emphasize the benefits of additional products or services that align with their needs.
6. Request Feedback
Seek feedback from your clients to understand their satisfaction level with your offerings and the overall customer experience. Use this feedback to make improvements and strengthen your relationships.
How To Set Upselling And Cross-Selling Targets
Now that you’ve developed your strategies, you can start identifying goals.
1. Establish Targets
Set specific upselling and cross-selling targets for your business. Determine the percentage of revenue you aim to generate from upselling and cross-selling activities within a certain period.
2. Track Progress
Regularly monitor your sales data to assess the effectiveness of your upselling and cross-selling strategies. Make adjustments as needed to achieve your targets.
Conclusion
After implementing your upselling and cross-selling strategies, assess the outcomes and reflect on what worked well and what could be improved.
Commit to continuous improvement by adapting your strategies based on customer feedback and market trends. Stay flexible and open to refining your approach.
Best of luck. This was first published by Florence Chikezie on Forbes.com.
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