One of the most important tasks of a seller is to increase the value of a purchase that the customer has already decided to make. There are many opportunities that are lost because salespeople make crucial mistakes during the course of each customer meeting. Learning how to upsell, or increase the value of a sale, is a fundamental skill, and you can learn it!
Steps
Step 1. Talk to your customer
Sounds simple enough, right? But so many salespeople just nod and smile, or hover, rather than chatting amicably with the customer. Talking to the client will allow you to learn what things he is interested in. This will help you turn a small sale into a bigger one.
Step 2. Know your product
The more you know about your products, the more you will know how different products can add value to the product your customer is buying. Tell the customer how these things can make the product they want better.
Step 3. Notice what the customer touches, takes, what he talks about, and use it as a stepping stone to suggest other more expensive products
Being attentive means paying attention to what the customer is interested in. Let's say you work in a bookstore. Your client is perusing the science fiction department and continues to touch or watch or talk about the "Chronicles of Narnia". Ask him or her if she has read them all, and if she has read "The Lord of the Rings", "This Dark Matters" or the "Spiderwick Chronicles", or "Harry Potter", which are of the same narrative genre. Look at the previous step - knowing the merchandise is very important here. The ones listed above are similar, but different book series, each with three or more books contained in the series - you can do big upselling here, if you are able to interest your client in one or more other book series.
Step 4. Don't decide what the customer can afford
Let the customer decide. Many sellers are hesitant to show an extra product to a customer who is already buying a good amount of merchandise, fearing that the bill will cause them to lose their temper. Guess what'? Not your problem! The client is an adult (hopefully, or at least there is adult supervision), and he knows the state of his financial situation much better than you do. Don't choose how much the customer can afford. If he or she can't afford a product, they'll let you know.
Step 5. Offer accessories
This is the safest upselling. Never let a customer buy a book without suggesting a bookmark or clear cover. If the customer is buying a DVD set, try to remember if there are related books, pens, newspapers, mints, whatever! If a customer is buying a newspaper, suggest a pen or paperback book. Try to figure out the things you would want if you were the customer making the purchase - if you buy a camera, you might want an additional battery, a case, additional memory and a reader to transfer the photos to your computer - stuff like this. is very important. Put yourself in the customer's shoes and think - If I were buying this, what would I pair with it? You're a customer too, and your opinion is as good as anyone else's.
Step 6. Be specific
Customers will not agree to buy something unknown. If the customer orders a burger, don't ask "Would you like something else?" Instead, choose the product you think the customer is most likely to want and ask for example "Would you like an ice coke?"
Step 7. Hand the products to the customer
Don't just point them out. Take the products and hand them to the customer. Once the customer has the item in hand, psychologically it is much more difficult to leave without buying anything.
Step 8. Close the deal
Okay, the customer is in your hands. He (or she) took an author's book you suggested in addition to the book he came (or came) for. You offered the clear cover, and she agreed it was a good idea as it was the first edition of those books. You chose a bookmark for each book, showed her pretty labels (which she declined, no problem), and offered her some chocolates by the cashier. If she lingers looking at the store, ask her if she would like you to put covers on her books while she continues to browse. Keep her products for her, ready to go when she is. Accompany her to other departments of interest to her, and when she's finally done, don't hesitate - if you do, she may soon be hesitant to buy. Many people change their minds if you give them too much time to think, so close the deal now. Say, "Okay, do you think you've done enough damage for today?" and smile, leading her to the cashier. Knock at the cashier, and ask her one last time if she sees anything else she can't do without today.
Step 9. Assure your customer that they have made good choices
This is the most important point of this sales method. It is very important that you reinforce your customer's purchase at the end of the sale. Say something like, "I know she'll like this - I'm curious what she thinks about it when she's done." At the very least, you'll avoid merchandise returned by someone who has second thoughts after purchase. At best, you will create a bond with the customer and possibly a repeat customer. This step requires sincere interest in your customer and cannot be faked. You must feel genuine excitement and enthusiasm for what your customer just bought from you. It's okay to repeat or paraphrase something from your conversation during the sale, but avoid parroting the same things over and over. The easiest way to generate this part of the sale is to think again about the things you bought yourself. On what occasions were you happy to own something? Did you wait for that, or did you run as soon as it became available? Was it an impulse purchase, or part of a plan? Use questions like these to raise your awareness of what the customer just did and enrich the experience.
Advice
- A successful upselling is one where the customer never regrets that the salesperson nailed him. The buyer then becomes a customer for life and always asks for that salesman. The point is to upsell for final customer satisfaction, not just to increase the daily turnover. Look for a long-term relationship, so that the customer has someone in the store who can "filter" and give suggestions on what to choose from that otherwise huge amount of merchandise on offer.
- When you hand something to the customer, give it or give it two similar products, but show a clear preference for one over the other. Yes, "you" - you tell the customer what "you" prefer. Or, if you don't have any preferences, try to guess what the customer might prefer and then indicate the most positive points about that. Studies show that when a customer perceives one product as superior to another, they will be happier with the purchase afterwards.
