As in many markets, there is wide disparity in the quality and success of upsell/cross-sell programs in Asia Pacific.
Some barriers are ‘structural’ – such as putting strict limits on average handling time (AHT), which inhibit agents from going for the sale. Their logic is simple – when tasked to meet two conflicting objectives such as handling time and sales, most inbound agents go for handling time as it is an easier metric to meet.
Other barriers relate more to the approach made during the upsell. In this article, we discuss five tips for improving the approach – and, in the end, successfully upselling.
1. Make sure your program includes both compliance and calibre-based assessments to coach agents to high levels of performance.
Some centres view upselling as merely “asking” for the upsell. Thus, quality scorecards are designed to allow a “tick” for asking the question with little or no degree of the appropriateness or effectiveness of the upsell.
This is an upsell program based around compliance ("well at least they asked") versus calibre (such as ‘how well did they ask?”). Given that inbound supervisors are often not comfortable coaching a sales related interaction, compliance is much easier to score than calibre.
2. Make the upsell relevant to the customer/offer agents choices of what to upsell.
One of the key principles of effective customer relationship management is that we need to learn continuously about the customer in every contact that we have. If we only have one product or upsell to offer, it may or may not be right for the customer with whom we are speaking.
Offering agents a range of upsells from which to choose gives them an opportunity to tailor their offer and make it more relevant to the individual. Without relevance, it can seem that we are just pushing products to customers and not trying to find suitable solutions for them.
3. Include a benefit statement in every the upsell request.
Every upsell request should incorporate a “benefit statement” that explains to the customer why they should even bother to listen to the upsell request. Many upsells sound something like, “Do you want to extend your subscription?” Or, “Would you like to have a leather case to go along?” These questions almost guarantee a "no" just by the way they are phrased.
Integrating a benefit statement into the upsell, such as "to make your ad stand out more, you might want to consider a border," or "to better set off the design of the couch, you might want to add two additional throw pillows," make the upsell sound like there is something in it for the customer.
4. Don’t assume that price is the benefit.
What about price? Is price the best benefit? In most cases the answer is no – whether the product is half the price offered or even free, if the customer understands the benefit that the product would bring, price becomes irrelevant. Asking for an upsell by saying that it is "only $9.95 today" will not necessarily stimulate sales unless the pricing is truly rock bottom and the key benefit the customer would expect.
5. Have a support benefit ready to back up your "claim."
Will the upsell be challenged? In many cases, of course! Even effective upsells may be declined or even challenged. If challenged, the agent must be ready to back up their claim as to the effectiveness of the upsell.
We call this the "support benefit" and it can be as simple as stating that other customers benefited from the product or service being offered. Of course this should not just be a "line"; rather it should be based on fact.
At the same time, agents need to read the tone and style of the customer to gauge whether they should continue to seek acceptance or politely thank the customer for their time in listening. If the customer passionately disputes the effectiveness of benefit of the upsell, it won’t benefit the agent or the organization to become confrontational.
Summary
As upselling brings enormous returns to organizations, it will continue to grow as a recognized business practice. But to be effective, the approach and style of upselling needs to be considered, with effective practices integrated into operations.
Daniel Ord is CEO of Singapore-based OmniTouch, and a recognized expert in the customer contact industry. OmniTouch is an ICMI Global Partner, with offices in Singapore, India, Indonesia and Malaysia.
