We allllll know that phrase….the one that sees you buy fries when you may not have originally intended do. It doesn’t just happen in fast food chains.
At the petrol station when you’re paying up, you get offered gum and candy.
At the restaurant as they clear your dinner plates, your dessert menu is offered.
Without much effort these businesses can add thousands and thousands to their bottom line by this single offer of more. They work in two different ways.
- Impulse and price: This is more of the petrol station/fast food chain approach. When an apple pie is only going to up your bill by $1, sure why not take up the offer. If its crap its no big deal. This works on volume. You need LOTS of clients and customers to make it worthwhile.
- Value & Experience: You’re already having a BALL at a restaurant. Maybe the food has been amazing and the atmosphere has made your date that more enjoyable. Lets extend that experience but getting a decadent dessert that you wouldn’t normally eat.
But what if you don’t have 500 customers a day spending an extra $2?
You just upsell in a different way. Remember its WAY easier to sell to an existing customer than to a brand new one so if you’re going to get started try with your existing clients.
Most VAs find it difficult to pitch themselves in general. But is to sell something that the client didn’t even inquire about just asking too much? No way. If you have the perfect solution to their problem – there is a great chance that they aren’t aware of the solution (or that you provide it).
So what does this look like in a VA business?
- When a client engages you to answer their phones, upsell them to additional customer support such as database maintenance.
- When you have been managing a clients blog for a while upsell them the chance to turn their blogs into an eBook.
- When you have finished a website design upsell them the confidence that fresh content will be loaded every month.
The key to upselling in your Virtual Assistant business is that clients need to understand the value in taking you up in you offer. This is not a $1 apple pie purchase. This is bigger! Why should they spend more? What kind of result is this going to bring to their business?
At the end of the day – stop leaving all of these dollars on the table, and do more for your client! I would rather you have less clients paying you more than LOTs of clients paying you small amounts.
Do you have an upsell that you often do in your sales pitch (or existing customer upgrade) that converts well? If you want me to help you design an upsell shoot me an email queen@donnabrown.com.au and lets work something out.
Cheers
