Upselling – Pushy Sales or Customer Service?

Monday, May 8, 2023

What comes to mind when you think about “Upselling”? Somehow the word has the connotation of being a pushy salesman or brings to mind the TV ads you feel are over when you hear “BUT WAIT!” or “THERE’S MORE.”

 

No business wants to be known for pushy salespeople or trying to sell people things they don’t need just to get more cash in the drawer, but let’s take a deeper look into what we call “Upselling.”

 

When done for the right reasons, upselling becomes effective customer service that can make your company stand out in the crowd and become the place people want to go for excellent service and knowledgeable people that care.

 

Have you ever purchased a washer or dryer and when you tried to hook it up found you didn’t have the right cord? Were you frustrated that the salesperson at the store didn’t even mention the cord? How about a water heater with no water supply hose or relief valve? Again, the salesperson was supposed to be the “expert” You were frustrated they didn’t sell you everything you needed for the installation!

 

How about purchasing a TV or Video equipment, only to get home and find you don’t have the right cables to hook them up? Again, frustration pops up, along with inconvenience, as you now have to run back to the store to get the rest of what you need when it could have been purchased on the first trip with good customer service. What? The store is closed for the night? Now you have to wait until tomorrow.

These are just a few examples we run into in our daily lives where “upselling” would have been excellent customer service! Consider the following:

 

· Upselling can reduce customer frustration.

· Upselling provides the “best” customer service by sharing your helpful knowledge and expertise and eliminating several trips back and forth to get the right items.

· Your customer may need a product or service they don’t even know you provide. Upselling can save your customers time searching for that product or service and keep them out of the hands of more unscrupulous characters.

· Since people LOVE to work with those they KNOW, LIKE & TRUST. By upselling to your existing customers, you are honoring the relationships you are developing by serving their ongoing needs.

 

Most businesses have an obligation to upsell something- so they can take better care of their clients!

 

By re-defining upselling as customer service, you can change the mindset from pushy to helpful just by realizing the service you are providing.

Kerry McKendall 5/8/2023