When was the last time someone tried to upsell you?
It happens all the time these days. Coffee shops offer you a cake with your drink at a fraction of the normal price. Internet retail sites give you special offers if you buy a second item. When I buy software online I am given big incentives to extend my license or buy extra functionality.
It’s a business model that can be extremely effective. Sellers can increase both their turnover and profits dramatically by upselling.
Why doesn’t the print industry use this strategy more?
I’m used to receiving a single price for the specification that I give a printing company. Occasionally I am offered an alternative specification. However, the purpose of this is to save me costs. It is rarely designed to create more profits for the printer.
The upselling system is a great way to persuade your customers to spend more. It’s also a great way to get them to value your services.
Let’s look at the system in more detail.
The first stage is to create an upsell
There are plenty of opportunities for printers. Here are some ideas:
1. Offer additional run-ons to ensure that your customer does not run out of stock.
2. Higher quality substrates that can improve the perceived value of the print product.
3. Think outside of flat sheets of paper. Offering dimensional media can leave a lasting impression with your customers.
4. Hard proofing so that customers see exactly what they are getting and can make last minute alterations.
5. Help your customers reach new audiences by creating both print and dynamic digital editions for electronic distribution.
6. Guaranteed timed delivery to ensure that time-sensitive pieces arrive at events on time.
7. Special print effects, such as Xerox’s Clear Dry Ink, that allow designers and printers to add a new dimension to printed output through the addition of spot, flood and textured creative effects.
Next it needs to be presented to the customer correctly
The customer should understand how little it is to invest in this extra value. Often different options are presented as two separate quotes. It is better to present the information on the same quote.
It is good to state the upsell after the requested price is quoted. For instance you could have a sentence along the lines of “Enhance the perceived value of your document by adding Clear Dry Ink for only $XXX.”
However, this is not the end of the process.
It is also important to value the upsell
It is always worth stating the true value of the upsell and compare it with what you are prepared to sell it for. This way the customer sees the opportunity of a profitable deal.
If you value the options correctly, you also have the opportunity to increase you profit margins. I’m going to talk more about valuing in my next post. However, you can start implementing an upsell strategy right now:
Try the two-price strategy out
Sit down with your team right now and brainstorm some upsells. Remember what it has done for coffee shops, internet retails and software suppliers everywhere.
Editor’s Note: This post is part of a larger series on how to effectively increase profit using price anchoring and price valuation selling:
- How to Upsell Your Customers With a Two-Price Offer
- How to Increase Your Print Prices Through Valuation
- How Price Anchoring Increases Print Profits
- Case Study: How to Increase Profits When Selling Multi-Channel Print With Price Anchoring
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Matthew Parker has been buying print for over 20 years. He’s had over 1,400 sales pitches from printers. Now he’s using that experience to help printing companies engage with their customers and sell print more profitably. Find out more about Matthew on his site. Download his e-book “Ten Common Print Selling Errors And What To Do About Them” for free here, and also check out his latest e-book “How to Use Social Media to Create Warm Prospects” for free here.
