Tips for Up-Selling to Customers

While making a sale to a first time customer is a joyous thing, nothing brings in the profits better than up-selling. An up-sale is when you take a customer from a simple purchase to then add on various extras. There are a number of different ways to do this.

You can start out offering the product, say, a digital camera, at a very low “giveaway” price. It comes with the ability to take a dozen pictures. You can talk them into a larger card that is good for a hundred pictures (at retail, of course, but they have the money, since the camera was such a good deal).

You can offer expansion products that will bring the original item up to date or increase its functions. That same camera can add other features, such as a device for instant download to your computer, and a photo printer, and special photo paper (you get the idea).

Or you might have a customer looking for a camera, but the one they chose was cheap and not on sale. Show them a better, more expensive camera, but offer them a good discount, so that they feel they have to take that step up.

A third way to handle that sale is to offer related products at a discount; such as tripods, film, light meters, carrying cases, etc. Give them thirty days to make those related purchases, and they may well feel they have to buy them before the costs go up.

Sell service, training or a number of lessons as an add-on for your customer. Are there books on the market that deal with this type of product? Offer them if your customer is unsure he can do it on his own.

Keep attachment and accessory displays in the area that you are pitching the sale in. Introduce the items as you talk, but don’t confuse the customer by throwing too much at him at once. And don’t switch to other products that are not related. Complete this sale before you bring up other topics.

Always demonstrate the use of your product. Don’t just tell your customer how easy it is to use…show him! Show him how easy it is to take a picture (snap one of him), download to a computer, and then print it. If he buys the whole deal, throw in a package of photo paper, so he feels he got something for “free.”