4 Solid Tips on How to Close an Upsell Deal

As we have previously discussed, upselling can be a great way to increase your sales numbers by selling more to customers you are already working with. In fact, upselling can be a crucial aspect of sales as it has been proven to have as high as a 70% success rate. However, even if you have a customer who you have identified as a good upsell candidate, the deal can still fall through if you do not take the right steps to close properly. To help ensure that your upsell attempts are as successful as possible, here are a few tips on how to properly close an upsell deal. 

Highlight Benefits to Your Customer

When trying to upsell a product or service to a customer, it is critical that you are able to highlight how the upsell would benefit that specific customer and meet their needs. An upsell will never be successful unless you are able to show your customers how the additional product will provide better value to them than the product or service they were initially considering or are already using. You need to be able to use specific examples from their company, and the challenges they have been facing, to demonstrate why spending more money on an upsell is necessary for them to meet their goals, which is why it is important that you get to know your customers and their needs before you make any sales pitches to them. If you are not able to highlight the usefulness of an upsell, the customer will likely assume that you are just trying to push unnecessary services on them.     

Demonstrate Effectiveness

After highlighting to a customer the benefits the upsell could provide to their business, a great way to help close the sale is to demonstrate the effectiveness of such upsells and the benefits they have provided to previous clients. Customer case studies, testimonials, and positive customer reviews can show your customer real-world examples of how similar upsells have helped similar clients to meet their goals. Demonstrating that choosing the upsell product or service is the most logical and beneficial choice they can make can help to convince customers to close the deal quickly.   

Timing is Everything

As with any sales pitch, it is critical that you find the right time to close an upsell. Timing is a tricky yet critical element of upselling; if you try to suggest/close an upsell too quickly, you might scare off the customer. However, if you wait too long to make an upsell, the customer may not be interested in making any more purchases and will likely be wanting to move onto their next task. For new customers, you will want to suggest the upsell after they have agreed to make a purchase but before the deal has been closed. For current customers, look out for big milestones; if they have recently expanded their business you may be able to demonstrate the benefits of upgrading their current service.  

Offer an Incentive

If you are struggling to close an upsell and you feel as though the customer just needs a slight nudge to finally make the purchase, then you may be able to close the deal by offering an incentive to your customer. Offering your customer a discount or a free add-on may help give them the motivation they need to agree to the upsell and close the deal. However, it is important to remember not to be too pushy. Knowing when to back off when a customer does not seem interested in an upsell is critical as you may lose the customer and their business altogether if they feel pressured into making an additional purchase.