Thoughtful Thursdays – Know when to upsell
Most sales training or books about selling discuss the topic of identifying and understanding your customers’ needs.
Relating to the need is what they are prepared to pay to satisfy that need, or the budget available.
Sometimes we focus on delivering to budget and miss a chance to up sell. By this I do not mean to offer the customer something they do not need. Instead, offer alternatives that may prove to have longer term value. I am speaking about selling value.
A good friend of mind was not successful closing a sale to a corporate client. As any good sales person would do he followed up to find out what happened, as the sales process was progressing well and he fully expected to get the order.
It turned out that the customer purchased a higher priced product from the competition. What my friend failed to realize was that although he was quoting within the budget, the product offering was not really what the customer needed.
His competitor was able to determine this and upsold the slightly higher priced product that better met the customer’s needs.
Price, although very important was not the only factor. Even though the customer paid more than originally planned, the value exceeded the additional cost. Needless to say this never happened again to my friend.
Good selling,
Richard
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