Sell Your Reps on Upsell Programs

You don’t have to resort to enforced compliance among your customer service reps to make an upsell program successful for your catalog.

In fact, you’ll probably sell a lot more incremental product if you invest the time and effort to ensure that your reps understand and support the validity of the process. Following are six important keys to an incremental sales program that your reps will accept and follow.

Stress offers, not selling.

Most reps in catalog operations are more comfortable with the idea of helping customers to buy than they are with selling. So soft-pedal your sales talk, and make it clear that what counts is letting customers know about the company’s great products or special values. At the same time, emphasize that the purchase always is the customer’s choice and not in any way meant to be an imposition by the rep.

Work on “how to,” not “have to.”

Part of the reason reps get turned off is because they don’t know how to make an upsell offer work (no one wants to sound stupid or feel like a failure). It takes more than supervisory exhortations to convince them to ask for the order consistently.

To give them a sense of ease, give reps some coaching and encouragement that acknowledges their feelings. Example: “Here’s how to make the offer sound accommodating, not pushy.”

Give reps sample language or help them craft their own.

Some reps will never be comfortable upselling unless they first ask for the customer’s permission. Example: “May I tell you about some new items we’re offering our phone customers today?”

If this ask-then-offer approach fosters greater rep compliance, let them use it. It’ll generate sales if the items you’re offering are desirable and your customers already are generally satisfied with your products and service.

That said, many customers will turn down the opportunity to hear about merchandise they haven’t planned to buy, even sales and specials. If you can interest the reps in the challenge of engaging customers in the shopping process, you can introduce a more sales-oriented two-step such as the following.

First, the rep gives the customer information about a specific product including the price and a benefit or feature. Example: “Ms. Jones, did you see the gadget on page 47? It’s selling for only $15, and it would make the widget you bought much more adaptable.”

Next, the rep presents the call to action. Example: “Would you like me to add one to your order?”

In this way, the customer makes a decision about buying the specific product offered instead of deciding whether to hear about whatever products happen to be available.

If a customer rejects the first product, it makes sense to suggest an alternative and avoid creating a possible impression of “Don’t want it? OK, I’m dumping you.” Instruct reps to stop at two offers, unless the customer asks if there’s anything else available. And whether or not an upsell attempt is successful, the rep always must show appreciation for the customer’s original order.

Give reps a say on product selection.

Most reps truly want to take care of their customers. Reps can become resentful if they think you’re asking them to flog undesirable merchandise, and they may avoid making offers as a way to protect “their” customers. It doesn’t matter whether their perceptions are accurate. If they think upsell items are of poor value or quality, sales are sure to be low.

But you don’t have to put reps on your product-selection committee. You can give them a list of approved products from which to choose, including some items they buy or covet for themselves. Or you can show them the selections you’d like to offer and probe to be sure they agree with your choices (they’ll always tell you if you ask). Although individual reps won’t choose to offer merchandise they dislike, different reps usually support different product choices.

Teach them to judge whether or not to offer.

With a little training, reps can decide when it’s inappropriate to offer an upsell to a customer. First, identify their ideas and opinions on the matter, so you can deal with them individually. In a group setting, have them list the circumstances in which they believe it’s inappropriate to make an offer. You’ll find that most of their hesitations are situational and not strict rules, and reps usually will go along with sensible rebuttals if you present them in a straightforward way.

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.

Perhaps more importantly, the reps will feel empowered because you trust them. They’ll be more creative about making offers, and won’t harbor negativity about being forced to abuse customer loyalty.

Support upsell efforts with systems-based information.

Systems information can make or break your upsell program. If reps can’t get to the stock status or the product specs for upsell merchandise within a click or two, they hesitate to offer. If they can’t tell whether the customer was offered a featured product in a previous call, they may not offer it in the current call, either.

Reps also need to see statistics on their performance. Without knowing how frequently they offer or what their close rates are, they may have unrealistic beliefs about how they’re doing and are less likely to accept feedback and coaching. Work on systems accessibility and tracking before you begin an upsell program, or do it now if your program isn’t working the way you expected.

It’s good to offer customers more of the kinds of products they like. Getting your reps’ commitment and compliance is paramount for success.

Liz Kislik, president of Liz Kislik Associates, specializes in customer marketing and service efforts that involve people and phones. You can reach her at (516) 568-2932.