Taking advantage of upselling and cross-selling opportunities is one of the quickest and simplest ways to increase sales at a call center.
Specifically, upselling is a sales technique designed to lead a customer to buy something more expensive or even higher quantities of the same item, while cross-selling is the process of offering similar products that are compatible with the ones a customer is about to purchase.
Both techniques can result in an immediate sales boost, but the key to their success is knowing how to spot natural opportunities for them in every call and taking advantage of them.
Upselling in a Customer Call
Persuading a customer to purchase an upgraded version of a product or service can result in additional sales that are considerably larger than the initial purchase, ultimately boosting your company’s bottom line and demonstrating the value of your call center. The key is to train agents to identify upselling opportunities by listening for cues while on a call.
For example, imagine a customer calls a tech company to purchase a new laptop, expressing frustration that their current 4GB RAM laptop is running so slowly that they want to get an 8GB RAM version as soon as possible. However, also imagine that this company has just rolled out a new 16GB RAM laptop, which the agent suggests could be an even better fit for the caller given its increased memory space. The caller agrees, completing the upsell.
In this case, the cue from the caller was frustration. Frustration is a common and effective cue because it reveals a customer’s pain point and offers the opportunity to upsell them on an improved product or service that addresses the root cause of it.
In addition to frustration, other cues from customers to watch out for include showing interest in other products and services, questions about new features, and sharing why they bought a product in the first place.
Cross-selling in a Customer Call
Suggesting items related to a product or service a customer just purchased is another way to increase call center sales. To do this effectively, train your agents to mention related items that could enhance the customer’s user experience when they’re finishing a purchase or resolving an issue.
As a real world example of cross-selling, imagine a similar scenario where a customer makes a call to purchase a computer. As they’re completing the sale, the customer happens to mention that they’re buying the computer for use in their new home office. The agent can then suggest buying a printer as well to help complete their home office setup.
Cross-selling training can be done by scheduling offsite training sessions that give agents practical, hands-on experience with the products and services they’re cross-selling. As agents become more familiar with the products, they can then become better equipped to cross-sell them to customers.
When There Isn’t a Chance to Upsell or Cross-sell
There may not always be an obvious opportunity to upsell or cross-sell, and sometimes it may not even be appropriate to do so during a customer call.
In this case, it’s a good practice to encourage agents to focus on their primary goal of creating the best customer experience possible so that the opportunity for upselling and cross-selling is available on the next call.
If you’re doing things right, all of this can be tracked in your team’s call center software.
Meanwhile, call center managers should also advocate for upselling and cross-selling opportunities to their company leadership. By coming prepared with some data and anecdotes that demonstrate the importance of upselling and cross-selling, they can lead some of the top decision-makers to find more opportunities for agents to use during sales and support calls.
How to Catapult Call Center Sales for Real
At the end of the day, agents can’t really upsell or cross-sell without customers making an initial purchase. Therefore, increasing the team’s first-call conversion rate should be a priority. Not only will it increase normal sales, but it will also increase opportunities for upselling and cross-selling on top of those sales.
Raising these initial purchases usually starts with having some of the best products and services available in the market—or some of the best marketing. It’s critical to analyze your products, services, and sales campaigns to see how they can be improved so they can truly thrive.
Other actions call center managers and company leaders can take to optimize their sales funnels and increase overall conversion rates on sales call include:
- Revising your training program to include the most up-to-date information, resources, and best practices available—which can help new hires onboard faster and hit their quotas more consistently
- Coaching agents in real-time on calls and then providing detailed, actionable feedback on what they did right, what can be improved, and how to handle future calls
- Having your team submit the top objections they hear from customers and providing guidance on how to respond to these grievances in an effective way that leads to sales
- Giving new hires a full 90-day probationary period and cutting underperforming agents so that new leads can go to the better-performing new hires that have a greater chance at converting them
Supercharge Your Call Center Sales Today
Managing a call center can be stressful, especially when it comes to hitting sales metrics and KPIs. However, by leveraging upselling and cross-selling techniques effectively, you can boost sales while maintaining excellent customer service during every call.
