More sales per lead with a cross-selling strategy

Cross-selling with strategy: increasing added value in the network

Growing - sustainably! Which sales organization does not focus on this goal? Many levers need to be pulled to make this vision a reality. Perfecting the onboarding of new employees, increasing process reliability or tapping into additional customer segments are just a few examples. After all, it's not just about temporarily boosting sales figures, but also improving your own position in the long term. However, decision-makers too often ignore an important starting point: the existing customer base as potential for cross-selling and upselling. In addition to the opportunity to sell higher-value offers, you should use the existing satisfaction and trust to offer your business partners additional products with attractive added value: with the right strategy for cross-selling.

Why you need a strategy for cross-selling

Cross-selling really is a thing and not just a nice side effect that distinguishes particularly attentive sales staff! However, if you really want to make progress with a cross-selling strategy, you first need to create the right understanding within the team. In other words, salespeople must be familiar with the entire product range. Only then will every salesperson be sufficiently sensitized to recognize opportunities when talking to leads. The second condition: Whether before or after the deal, good salespeople always qualify - with the right questions!

Recognizing cross-selling opportunities in conversation

A customer remarks in passing that she is very satisfied with your software solution, but a connected existing system limits the potential of the entire infrastructure? Yet you have a solution on offer that makes this third-party system superfluous - and showcases your products perfectly? This is exactly the kind of moment when every sales force needs to take the initiative and address the right offer!

A cross-selling strategy makes routine out of what was previously far too often a random product - and at the same time prevents interested parties from being bombarded with irrelevant offers. If the recommendations lack a clear direction, this can not only deter interested parties from buying an additional solution. In the end, the deal may not even be closed because interested parties first lose their bearings and then their motivation.

Factors for sustainable cross-selling success

1. plan for cross-selling in the development phase

Not a nice-to-have, but real tangible added value. What applies to communication about the originally requested or purchased product must also apply to cross-selling. Without a substantial gain in performance, security, precision or less time spent (or any other relevant added value), salespeople cannot arouse any real interest in cross-selling among their contacts. After all, the other person has gathered information in advance and made a certain pre-selection. Now consider an additional product? You need good reasons for this. Your organization must therefore already think about cross-selling during product development. Which products go well together? Shouldn't some products even preferably be sold together because this is the only way to offer maximum value and thus create the corresponding satisfaction among customers? Of course, the interfaces between the products must be right for this. In addition, the experience gained from cross-selling provides important impetus for the further development of your offers.

2. taking the team along on the cross-selling strategy

The importance of cross-selling must be clear to all internal stakeholders. This is the basic prerequisite for your cross-selling strategy to gain traction. There is no way around knowledge of the entire product range for anyone in the organization! The discussion must go so far that the team recognizes precisely when a certain additional offer is really relevant for interested parties.

Because opportunities for cross-selling often arise with existing customers, your customer success team is of great importance. Active relationship management after the initial sale pays off. After all, customer loyalty is based on long-term satisfaction - and what better way to work towards this than with targeted additional offers that make your solution even more valuable for customers? Successful cross-selling must also be fed back to marketing. The team can learn to target customer segments with similar problems.

3. communication strategy for cross-selling

This shows: The cross-selling strategy must ensure comprehensive and consistent communication. Not only the sales team is responsible for this. In addition to personal conversations, mailings and the website must also be included. You can't start early enough to make potential customers aware of additional interesting offers. Is the discovery call the first time the salesperson refers a lead to your complementary product? From the customer's perspective, you too would ask yourself why you are only finding out about it now if the product can increase your added value so significantly.

4. put together attractive bundles

"The price doesn't fit (yet)": one of the most common customer objections that salespeople encounter will not spare your cross-selling efforts. However, by bundling interesting offers from the outset, you can lower the barrier to cross-selling. The bottom line is that this still pays off significantly. Even with a discount compared to the individual prices, you will make more sales with cross-selling - and in less time. After all, your team processes one lead instead of two to close the deal. You should also consider the perspective of customer satisfaction. If the bundle clearly adds value compared to the original product of interest, you have successfully increased the loyalty of your business partners.

5. maintain focus despite cross-selling

Lead and sales meet about software A. But after a brief introduction, the sales force gets lost in countless additional products, where neither the functionality nor the relevance for the original use case are really clear? Of course, the strategy should strengthen cross-selling. But it still has to keep the focus on the original product. After all, it was the product that caught the lead's attention and made them want to talk to you. Only if a real business case with hard key figures is created on this basis can the potential for cross-selling be used sensibly.

Cross-selling strategy: utilize additional potential!

Salespeople with product knowledge and application expertise, the right communication and, last but not least, convincing products: If you want to make cross-selling a building block of sales success, you need to have these resources on your side. However, if the starting conditions are right, the sale of additional products or services offers plenty of potential. Leverage existing relationships, increase customer satisfaction and generate more sales - without any additional effort in acquiring new customers: be sure to involve your team in defining a strategy for cross-selling and upselling!