Wise Words: “There are only two ways to make more money. Getting more customers or making your customers worth more.”
Upsells 101
An upsell is an when you ask your customer to buy a more expensive option.
Your original offer should open a door to another problem that your upsell solves. This means your original offer doesn’t have to make you money, but should inform the audience of another problem that your upsell offer can solve.
The Three Stages of Upsells
Where you put your upsell matter just as much as the upsell itself.
These are the three stages of a customer journey where you should place your upsells.
Pre-Buy Stage
When they are about to buy, offer them an upsell. This is when the customer is interested in buying and has committed to adding something to cart.
You can upsell customized products, guarantees for your business, or bundles that are frequently bought together.
DO NOT offer premium and expensive upsells in the pre-buy stage. Your customers do not trust you yet and a big upsell will scare them.
During-Buy Stage:
Offer them an upsell right after they buy. This works great for impulsive products where people are likely to buy right.
Curated Example:
From Upsell.com
Right after the customer bought the smart watch, they are offered a limited-time discount on earrings. This creates urgency and targets customers who are already in a buying cycle and more likely to buy.
After-Buy Stage
Offer an upsell after they buy. You can send them an email confirming their order and offering upsells.
Once customers see the value of your product and are exposed to additional problems, inform them about your upsell and how it can solve those problems.
Pro Tip: To make the buying process smooth, use the same card you have on file for the upsells, so your customer doesn’t have to put in their information again. You can also use this for the during-buy stage.
If you are in a service-business ask, “do you want to use the card on file?” This indirectly asks them to pay for an upsell and reduces your customers friction.
The Main Types of Upsells
Let’s go onto the different types of upsells and some best practices when you use them.
Version upsell:
If you want X, then you should get this version.
Curated Example:
From Spotify
Spotify compares the versions of their subscription side-by-side to emphasize the benefits. By stacking all the benefits and comparing, it creates FOMO that the free user is missing out.
Bundle/Add-on Upsell
Bundle products for a discount or upsell related products that go well with your original offer.
This upsell works best in the pre-buy stage on the add the cart area.
Amazon Bundle Upsell
Risk Reversal Upsell:
This can include:
Guarantees (100% money-back guarantee, satisfaction guarantees)
Warranty (3-year warranties for damage or loss)
Service (24/7 access to customer support)
Insurance (pay for protection)
Use a guaranteed upsell right before or when the customer is buying. Position it as a way to limit risk and give customers peace-of-mind.
Curated Example:
From Luno
This upsell offers a warrantee for extra protection right as the customer is about to buy. This works well because camping equipment can break or be lost and a warranty reduces the risk.
Pro Tip: For any risk-reversal that customers have to pay extra, add real value so your customer doesn’t think you are trying to squeeze an extra dollar out of them. Combine your money back guarantee with premium protection and extra customer support.
Order Bump Upsell:
When your customer spends a certain amount, they get free shipping or discounted offers. This creates an incentive for customers to buy more.
Curated Example:
From NYX Makeup
NYX adds a bar with the progress to show how close they are to reaching that goal. This creates loss aversion of and triggers the goal gradient effect.
Pro Tip: Measure your average order value and put the incentivize slightly above the average order.
If I sell basketball cards and the average order value on my website is $60, I would give free shipping to all orders over $80. Now customers will spend an extra $20 dollars, so they don’t lose out on the free shipping.
Recourse Spotlight
PageSpeed Insights - A free tool to check the speed, performance, and SEO of your website.
Community: Business Deconstructed‘s reddit community where you can learn, share ideas, and get feedback from fellow entrepreneurs.
Book Recommendation: Made To Stick by Chip & Dan Health. An interesting read on communication and how to create ideas that spread. I recommend this book for content creators or leaders who want to inspire and share ideas. 4/5
Until next Saturday,
Warren
P.S. This article took way longer than expected and I had even more to say on upsells but had to cut it out. Hope you liked this article.
