Upselling, an easy way to improve sales

Would you like fries with that?

It's a simple question, yet one of the subtle ways fast-food chains get you to buy more.

The idea is if a customer is already buying from you, there's a greater opportunity to sell them even more by actively "upselling" additional products and services, say experts.

"It's six to eight times easier and less expensive to sell more to an existing client than it is to develop a new one," explained Jeff Goldberg of Jeff Goldberg & Associates, a sales training firm in Long Beach. This is because they know and trust you and would likely be more receptive to doing additional business with you, he said.

That makes upselling -- a sales technique that involves getting a customer to upgrade or buy additional products or services -- a natural fit for most entrepreneurs.

"When buyers are in buying mode, they're more receptive to buying more," Goldberg said.

Understand your customers
It's your job to get to know their business well enough and to build a strong enough relationship, so you can start anticipating their needs.

"It's easier to sell to existing customers if you understand their business," said sales coach Stephan Schiffman, author of "Sales Essentials" (Adams Media, $16.95) and president of SteveSchiff man.com in Manhattan.

Make time to visit a customer's work site or warehouse if you haven't already, he suggested. Understand what motivates them, why they started their business, etc.

"Spend more time developing a relationship," Schiffman said.

Also, keep a valid customer database so you can start categorizing your customers by industry and purchasing habits, including what they're buying and not buying, suggested Scott Fenwick of Fenwick Consulting & Training, a Huntington sales training development firm.

By doing this, you can better gauge the kind of additional products and / or services they might most benefit from and then recommend some of them, providing they're relevant, Fenwick said.

"You don't want to call up one of your good customers and sell them something they don't need," he said.

It helps to have a good understanding of industry trends, said Bob Lewent, a senior account manager for Coffee Distributing Corp., a Garden City Park-based supplier of coffee and office refreshment products, who actively upsells.

By knowing customers' industries, you can have a better sense of what buying position they're in and challenges they may face.

"You want to see if they're in a healthy position," Lewent said.

Google or Bing their company to see whether they've made any announcements, like new branch openings or cutbacks, Lewent suggested.

Avoid the hard sell
If it looks like they're in a healthy buying position, then it's a good opportunity to call them up and let them know what else it is you have to offer.

The bottom line is it's your job to educate them on the full breadth of your products or services, noted Goldberg, who tries to do this with his own clients.

For instance, he might say, 'I'm a sales trainer, but did you also know I do consulting?'

There's no hard sell involved, you're simply informing them about an additional product or service or "making a recommendation based upon what you understand" about their business, Schiffman said.

It's the difference between being perceived as not just a salesperson but a valued partner.

"A prospect isn't going to buy from you until they trust you as someone who can solve their problem," Fenwick said.