How to Cross-Sell Your Online Customers

Cross-selling is a method where you sell an additional, related product to a customer to go with the one they already purchased. In retailing, a sales clerk might ask the woman buying a new dress if she would like to purchase a matching pair of pumps, a purse, or some other accessory such as a belt or a scarf. Businesses that successfully cross sell make more money and have higher profit lines. Here’s how you can cross-sell your customers.

Understand your customers. You already know what your customers buy. Now, consider what else they may be interested in purchasing. The dress shop owner isn’t satisfied with selling a gown — she’ll be ready to offer a jacket, jewelry and other accessories to round out the purchase. Learn what ancillary items or services can go with your main products and be prepared to offer these as well.

Teach your staff too. Your employees should be capable cross-sellers. Your stars already know how to do this, but your entire team should be trained accordingly too. Cross-selling requires tact and knowledge on how to sell while meeting the customer’s needs. This also means backing off when a customer firmly responds with the negative.

Provide exclusive offers by email. Encourage your customers to sign up for email listings to receive exclusive offers. Along with those offers, provide related products. For instance, if you sell gas grills, you might offer utensils, grill covers and meat platters as well. Consider bundling products to offer a competitive price.

Tap your website. What is your website doing to win over customers? Do you sell products online? For businesses with a storefront presence, you can market your products to people anywhere. You can also cross-sell them.  Amazon, for example, typically lists what other products people purchased when viewing a particular item. You might do that as well, perhaps by encouraging site visitors to “like” their favorite items too.

Bundle your products and services. We touched on this idea in the third point, but it can be used wherever and however you do business. Your cable company has this down pat by offering cable, phone and Internet connection for one flat price. Your insurance company also bundles services, encouraging consumers to have both their automotive and home insurance included together. Consider what products and services you can pair to sell as a bundle.

Discounting and Coupon CodesAnother way to cross-sell is to offer a special discount. For example, you might provide a coupon code on your website, what may be applied at the checkout. The code would only work if a certain total has been reached, what effectively encourages your customers to spend more with you.