To increase product or professional service sales performance and increase customer account lifetime value, the tool of cross-selling is a key business driver that when used correctly can close complicated sales opportunities, eliminate competitive issues, and create a "visual value" of your market differential.

When cross-selling is deployed incorrectly, it can confuse buyers, delay sales cycles, waste marketing expenditures and often induce prospects to ask for discounts. So managing your offers and packaging is important to make cross-selling a successful sales tactic.

Here are 15 successful techniques you can use to increase your business success:

1. When selling prospects, always have them complete an assessment (20-50 questions) to help determine what type of packages you can wrap and offer to them.
   
   
2. Cross-selling should be a pre-developed company-wide technique, not an individual salesperson's option to close a deal.
   
   
3. Develop at least three packaged offers with specific price points targeted at prospects based on their title (the VP of Marketing Package at $50,000, the Marketing Manager Package at $8,000, etc.).
   
   
4. In cross-selling, timing is important. Avoid using cross-selling as a loss leader during the pre-sales process if the prospect has not selected your firm yet. Instead, use cross-selling as way to close the deal by adding value or to increase profit per sales. Add value; avoid discounting.
   
   
5. Always offer three different pricing options with the middle offering being your targeted goal of your average sale (i.e., Option A for $10,000, Option B for $20,000, or Option C for $30,000).
   
   
6. Name your cross-selling offer based on the title and industry that you are trying to sell to (i.e., the Executive Operational Assessment for $50,000). Remember, sell blue shoes to blue shoe buyers.
   
   
7. To increase your cross-selling success, package all services as a product. This makes it more digestible for prospects to buy.
   
   
8. Bundle products and services together as one offering for a flat price, spreading your gross margin over the entire price.
   
   
9. Make cross-selling time dependent. (i.e., if the prospect makes a decision to go with your firm by September 1 and you would give them 14 months of support for the cost of 12 months).
   
   
10. Always have "visible" cross-selling packages that tease prospects to seek you out, but also have "hidden" packages that you hold in reserve to use as a negotiation tool when needed.
    
    
11. Never offer more than three cross-selling options to existing customers or new prospects. Too many options confuse buyers and extend sales cycles. Less is better.
    
    
12. Analyze your customer purchases for the last 24 months and develop specific packaged cross-sell offers based on their needs, not yours. "Mine" your current customers for premeditated sales opportunities.
    
    
13. Always offer a "one sheet" brochure of your packaged cross-selling offer.
    
    
14. Develop a planned cross-sales program based on a 12 month timeline where you contact existing customers on scheduled dates to offer them a pre-packaged offer that is time dependent.
    
    
15. Develop cross-selling packages based on sales objections. The "Your service costs too much" sales objection gets offered Option A; the "I am going to make the decision next month" sales objection gets offered Option B.

Cross-selling is a premeditated revenue capture model. To sell more, develop a proactive approach where your cross-selling is a planned sales process . . . instead of a reactive process.

Remember:

"A mediocre salesperson tells;
 A good salesperson explains;
 A superior salesperson demonstrates;
 A great salesperson inspires buyers to see the benefits as their own."

-Anonymous

Gerhard Vierthaler is CEO and Founder of the Value Strategy Group, LLC. We are a managing partner of the Value Forward Network and have consulting partners in five countries making us one of the world's largest management consulting groups focused on helping companies increase corporate revenue capture.
 
We work with senior executive teams to integrate sales processes, marketing methodology, corporate strategy and financial management into one outbound revenue capture program to increase corporate revenue. We do this by assessing the value your customers see and the value you think you have and then measure the "value variance" gap between the two. Once we have identified the "Value Variance" between the two, we then make appropriate strategic and tactical recommendations on your corporate strategy and marketing programs to close the gaps. When this is completed, we then train your sales team to sell to management more effectively using techniques that are linked to our recommendations.
 
Top-performing organizations are increasing their companies' revenue, within a constricted economy, by investing in our revenue capture strategies. For more information, call Gerhard Vierthaler directly at (907) 222-2703.
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