Resell, upsell and cross-sell: The little words that bring in big money

One of the fastest ways to make more sales is to get your existing customer base spending more with you.

Having already seen the value and results in doing business with you, your existing customers are not only easier to convert, but also don’t require you to outlay any money in order to reach them.

So how do you keep your customers coming back and spending again and again? By finding ways to resell, upsell and cross-sell your products and services.

Resell: Keep them coming back

Build in a repeat purchase of your product or service so you can continue to resell to your customers.

This means finding a genuine, ethical way of getting your customer to purchase your products and services repeatedly, not altering the quality of your products or services so people have to purchase them more often. There must be value for them as well as you.

It doesn’t even need to be the entire purchase again, it could be a specific part or component, a smaller condensed version like a refresher course, for example, or an ongoing maintenance program depending on what is relevant.

Upsell: Increase the amount they spend

The easiest way to upsell clients is to get to know them. Ask questions, find out their needs, their frustrations and what they want to achieve.

By doing so, you will have a greater understanding of why they are buying and be able to suggest products and packages that have more inclusions to benefit your customers as well as make it more profitable for you.

If you’re not sure about how to approach your existing customers, you could say something along the lines of: “Having worked with you for [x] amount of time now, and knowing you and your business well, I believe [x product or service] may suit your needs better.

“While it will be a slightly larger investment, I believe it will give you better results/make your life easier/help you achieve your outcome quicker/insert other benefit.”

Cross-sell: Get them buying more with each purchase

Cross-selling is the official marketing term for “would you like fries with that”. The aim is to get your customers buying related products or services in order to make their buying experience with you all the more enjoyable, beneficial and profitable.

For example, if you owned a furniture store and a customer wanted to buy a bed, then you would want to cross-sell a matching tall boy, blanket box, mirror and bedside tables, in order to sell the whole bedroom suite as opposed to just one product.

If you sell online and don’t do it already, you may want to have a heading with “you may also like” or “customers also bought” and include related products or services under each product or service you feature on your website as a way to cross-sell to your customers.

So before you go out and spend a large amount on bringing in new business, look at how you could resell, upsell or cross-sell your existing customers.