Does Your Business Have the Cross-selling and Upselling Strategies You Need to Succeed?

We live in a time of unprecedented opportunity when it comes to creating and executing cross-selling and upselling strategies. Thanks to the rapid advance of technology and the online data gathering it enables, businesses have the power to expand relationships with customers in ways that weren’t possible just a decade or two ago.

And that’s not just a minor benefit but a business necessity. For two reasons:

1. The online marketplace has all but eliminated the barrier to entry for many industries.
2. Customers have more access than ever thanks to advancements in technology, effective cross-selling and upselling strategies are now essential not just for retaining customers but also for growing your business and staying ahead of competitors.

The right cross-selling and up-selling strategies also can increase customer satisfaction. By offering exclusive opportunities to get more of what they want, you’re saving customers the hassle of seeking it elsewhere. And by using the right messaging at the right time, you can unlock the full potential of each relationship in a way that delights customers and meets their demand for more personalized service.

So, does your business have the cross-selling and upselling strategies you need to succeed? To answer that question, ask yourself whether you’ve taken the two basic steps for maximizing customer relationships.

Step 1: Tech-empowered Data Gathering

The technology underlying all of those digital transactions gives you the power to track every aspect of the customer journey.
Source: www.shutterstock.com.

In an age when the percentage of retail business conducted online increases every year, businesses have more opportunities than ever to capture key customer info. The technology underlying all of those digital transactions gives you the power to track every aspect of the customer journey, and then use that data to expand each relationship with targeted cross-selling and upselling.

Here at Working Solutions, we’ve built a team of leaders who have worked at the forefront of the ongoing business transformation that’s led to this “golden age” of upselling and cross-selling. In his experience working for a globally renowned online travel solutions provider, our Strategic Technology Officer Ashok Narayanan helped pioneer the use of consumer data analytics to promote upselling.

In a rundown of how we leverage technology to help engineer client solutions, Ashok describes the original goal as achieving “stickiness with the customer.” By analyzing data to offer personalized service, that stickiness quickly evolved into the capacity to expand a sales relationship and turn a one-time purchase into repeat business.

“In the end, it became a technology-driven choice,” Ashok writes. “Technology enables you to delve into data, find the root causes and make correlations with buying patterns. Then, you can present [customers with] the most enticing options.”

Technology enables you to delve into data, find the root causes and make correlations with buying patterns. Then, you can present [customers with] the most enticing options.

Today, we use a sophisticated and continuously evolving suite of call center analytics to track a diverse selection of customer data and use it to expand relationships. From age and geography to purchase history and product reviews, this data gives businesses the insights needed to offer customers the best options for making more purchases in a way that isn’t obtrusive but actually helpful.

Step 2: The Agents and Processes to Get the Job Done

Customers respond very favorably to the idea of receiving personalized offers based on their preferences and purchase history.
Source: www.shutterstock.com.

It’s important to keep that idea—of being helpful rather than obtrusive—top of mind when creating your cross-selling and upselling strategies. Remember, most customers hate having unwanted merchandise pushed their way. On the other hand, they respond very favorably to the idea of receiving personalized offers based on their preferences and purchase history.

There’s a veritable library of research supporting this idea. According to PwC, 63 percent of U.S. consumers say they’ll share more info with a company that offers a great experience. And almost 60 percent say that personalized messaging based on past interactions “is very important to winning their business,” per Salesforce.

“63 percent of U.S. consumers say they’ll share more info with a company that offers a great experience.” Click To Tweet

Once you’ve set up the mechanism to track and analyze customer data, it’s time to put it to use. The first way to do this is by using online communications to provide personalized offers. Today’s tech giants have already blazed the trail here: Think of the products that Amazon recommends, based on your purchase history, or the movies Netflix determines you’ll like based on what you’ve already watched.

To make this happen, you’ll need a sophisticated technological infrastructure—the kind that can offer automated account notifications or push messages to let customers know about other products or services they’re likely to appreciate. Ideally, you’ll also have the tech foundation to integrate this personalized data into the self-service tools that have become popular with customers.

The second factor is the use of skilled call center agents to communicate via phone, email, web chat, social media messaging, and all the other channels people use today to reach out to businesses. We live in a time when shoppers are smarter than ever before. So, these agents need to be equally savvy to not only satisfy requests from customers, but to entice them to do further business, too.

And that means employing the very best agents the industry has to offer. Part-time help, unskilled assistance from the local talent pool, and temp workers won’t cut it. To deliver the kind of messaging need to executive effective cross-selling and upselling strategies, you need the help of professional agents skilled not just in your specific industry, but also the finer points of customer care best practices.

Related: Why Ongoing Education Is Crucial for Contact Center Agents

Ready to Take Your Cross-selling and Upselling Strategies to the Next Level?

If these requirements for implementing effective cross-selling and upselling strategies seem beyond the scope of your business—or if you’re uncertain about making the necessary investments to get the job done—we’ve got some good news. By outsourcing your customer care with Working Solutions, you’ll get the above capabilities—and much more—at a competitive price point.

So, are you ready to implement the cross-selling and upselling strategies you need to succeed? ? Contact us today to schedule your complimentary consultation with a Working Solutions expert.