Make the Most of Cross Selling Opportunities With These Strategies

Bylori

In the course of your daily business, you’ll usually encounter many opportunities for cross selling your products and services to different customer segments. Given that industry research has shown that it’s significantly easier to sell to an existing customer than it is to a new customer, cross selling becomes a must-have for any company’s tool set.

Cross selling involves marketing and selling related products and services to existing customers or to customers of a trusted business partner or associated company. For example, if your company sells home improvement products, you may cross sell equipment such as brushes, rollers or sprayers to a customer who purchases house paint.

If you’re a plumber, you may provide referrals to a trusted partner in HVAC system repair, or expect your HVAC contact to send plumbing clients your way. Cross selling increases your chances to sell more to you or your partners’ customers while also offering better customer service and a wider range of products and services than you could offer alone.

To make the most of any cross selling opportunities that may be available to you, apply the following techniques:

  • Identify areas where cross selling could occur: Look at your product and service offerings to see where a cross selling effort could result in more sales. If necessary, add additional products and services that are within your company’s scope. Talk to existing partners or seek out new partners who could promote your company’s offerings while you promote theirs.
  • Include call-to-action on marketing materials: When sending customer follow-up communications, be sure to educate your customers on all your services as well as provide a way to capture leads. When your customer is back in your market, you need to be the first company they think of.
  • Add bonuses and incentives: Provide partners with appropriate bonuses and incentives for referrals and, especially, for referrals that lead to sales. For example, you could add an affiliate program that lets both customers and other businesses promote your products in exchange for a generous commission on each sale they facilitate.
  • Measure results: Take care to measure the results of your cross selling strategies and the performance of your partners and affiliates. Offer even better incentives to the cross selling partners who are most effective for you.

How can you make the best of your cross selling opportunities with these or other techniques?

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