Sell Your Reps on Upsell Programs

Example: Reps say: “I’d never offer to someone who had a problem with our service.”

Your rebuttal: “If you take care of their problems and they’re happy and grateful, they might be pleased to do something for you in return—particularly if they’ve always liked our products before.”

I’ve used this common-sense approach in numerous companies with countless reps. No group has ever come up with a list of “do-not-offer” situations that would affect more than 5 percent of their customers. Even if that percentage doubled, every group of reps I’ve worked with agree they’re able to make offers at least 90 percent of the time. That’s a much greater compliance than you’d get if you threatened adverse consequences.