Upsell 101: Happy Customers, More Money
July 26th, 2009
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If you don’t have any products or services to sell, you can safely ignore this post. But if you do, you just might want to learn how you can sell more of them with almost no extra work, using Upsell 101 by Dave Navarro and Naomi Dunford.
Everyone says it’s easier to sell to an existing customer than to find a brand new one. Duh. But how exactly do you do that? This is the art of the upsell.
An upsell is when a customer has bought something from you (maybe just this second, or maybe a while ago), and then you sell them more stuff they want. It’s hard to think about upsells without thinking of the most famous upsell of all: “Do you want fries with that?”
Come to think of it, although that question is a huge cliche, I’m not sure if anyone has ever asked me it. Do you know why? Because fast food places found that customers wanted to be upsold so often, that they created combo meals to make it easier.
It’s just common sense that the kind of person who wants to buy a hamburger is very likely to want fries and a drink as well. However, that doesn’t mean they’ll just buy them on their own. They might forget to order a drink. They might not realize up front that they’ll be hungry later without the fries. They might be ordering for five hungry kids and lose track of who wants what. They might not even know fries are available.
So one day cashiers started asking “Do you want fries with that?” And customers appreciated that the cashier was nice enough to remind them of something else they’re likely to want. It worked so well that they added combo meals to the menu.
Not only was it easy for the customer to get everything they wanted, but they even got a discount over buying everything separately. The fast food companies made more money, and the customers were happier. (The customers also became obese, but that’s a completely different story.)
Of course, you probably don’t own a fast food franchise. But maybe you sell coaching, or copywriting, or ebooks, or art, or shoes, or something else. It doesn’t really matter what it is – upselling can work for you. They even show you how you can upsell if you only have one product.
The whole point of upselling is to make it easier for customers to upgrade if they want to. It’s not about being sleazy, hurting your credibility, or going down the path of what Dave calls “upsell hell.” Upsell 101 is about how to upsell your customers in a way that makes them want to buy more from you, instead of making them run for the hills.
The information comes in the form of a 78 minute coaching audio with Dave and Naomi. As with several of Dave’s products, you’ll definitely get the most out of this if you fill out the worksheets at the end. That’s what will let you apply your newfound knowledge to your own specific situation. I would have preferred if the 11 worksheets all came in one document instead of separately, but maybe separate worksheets make it easier to find the ones you want.
To master the art of the upsell and make more money from happier customers, you could hire Dave at $250 an hour and Naomi at $500 an hour. Or, if you’re willing to do a little work to save a ton of money, you could get Upsell 101. It’s up to you. 
July 26th, 2009 at 11:07 pm
Well, no doubt you heard their “Would you like to supersize it?”
They even coined out a new phrase for upsell, and it sounds good, doesn’t it? SUPERsize it! Brilliant marketing. (Whereas, in fact, it’s horrible to actually supersize it — and yourself.)
I just wish their foods are as good as their marketing.
July 27th, 2009 at 6:38 am
@ Akemi, I had totally forgotten about that! It used to be that adding fries was the upsell. But now what used to be the upsell is the “small” combo. Who wouldn’t want to supersize it, when it sounds so cool? I think someone calls theirs megasized.
And check this out: “I guess no one has been to Hardee’s, if you order a monster thickburger, bacon cheddar fries, and an oreo cookie malt for dessert it will add up to 2,760 calories, 180 grams of fat, and 76 grams of saturated fat. Hope you had a great life before having this meal.”
Brilliant marketing, indeed. It shows that upselling works even on evil products that kill you. Now, imagine taking that power and using it for good purposes!
July 27th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
Ah, so that one meal covers two day’s of caloric needs. How convenient. (Do you read Doonesbury?)
July 28th, 2009 at 6:19 am
@ Akemi, nope, I don’t read Doonesbury. Did you just borrow their comment?
July 28th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
Kinda. In Doonesbury, there is a hippie guy who works in “McFriendly”. One of his selling line was that — see how much money you save by eating here? (something like that) — when the restaurant had to note the nutritional content of their foods.
It’s a very educational cartoon, I highly recommend as well as The Simpsons.
July 29th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
@ Akemi, as a kid, I always thought Doonesbury was only for grown ups. But maybe I’d like it now!
August 1st, 2009 at 7:48 pm
Ah, I went to get my oil changed today and that was Upsell Hell. The guy kept on about have you had your fuel filter cleaned… maybe we should check that transmission fluid…do you want new wiper blades? It was so much work dealing with him! I finally had to tell him I am really just here for an oil change, gotta go… etc.
August 2nd, 2009 at 12:29 pm
@ IntrovertZone, being a victim of Upsell Hell is no fun, right? That guy knows upselling can be effective, but he doesn’t know how to do it in a way that the customer appreciates.