A major part of making money in business is upselling and cross-selling products to a customer that needs them - effectively selling higher-end and higher quantities of products to a customer. Here are three ways to increase upsell and cross-sell.

1.    Know your customer- To sell your customer additional products, you should know extensive details about who they are. For example, you may want to know the customers purchase history, how long they typically wait between purchases, their product purchase variety, etc. Being informed about your customer will ensure that you are not wasting their time offering products that do not appeal to them. Instead, you will be able to upsell or cross-sell them the appropriate products that they need.

2.    Make your products easily accessible- Whether you are selling through e-commerce or through a brick-and-mortar business, the easiest way to upsell or cross-sell is to have the related products easily accessible. In e-commerce, a customer shouldn’t have to leave the product page to find similar or related products. You are more likely to achieve your cross-selling if the customer can see and recognize that another product on the page is specifically made to be paired with the product they are already viewing. The same goes for brick-and-mortar locations. If your goal is to cross-sell, the related products should be close in proximity to the main product.

3.    Educate the customer- It will be impossible to upsell if the customer is not aware that there are other options for them within the same product line. By showing the customer the next best option for a product, you are creating an opportunity to realize success when the customer buys a higher-end model. This can be possible through demo videos online, or on-site demos for a dealer or a customer. For cross-selling, the customer should be suggested additional parts that they may need, whether it be a section on a website or a salesman in a store telling the customer what goes best with the product they are interested in.