If you’re selling anything online, you should always be offering an upsell or upgrade option to your buyers. This simple strategy is something that many marketers overlook, and potentially miss out of hundreds or thousands of dollars every month in extra income without having to drive any more customers to their sites.
Let’s look at a few real world examples for a second and you’ll see why offering your customers some kind of upgrade or premium option is extremely powerful, and why it’s a fairly easy way to boost your profits with no additional traffic coming into your business…
Air Travel – I’m sure you’re familiar with the premium options we see in this industry. On most flights you can pay extra to upgrade to Business class or First class, where you’ll get more legroom, more comfortable seats and a more personal service. I don’t know the figures, but on most of the recent flights I’ve taken, the business class cabin has always been full, proving people are willing to pay for the extra features of this premium option.
Disclaimer: this is not me ;)
Fast Food – Yes I know it’s bad, but I admit I occassionaly indulge in fast food. What’s the first thing I’m asked when I order my Big Mac Sandwich – “would you like fries with that?” – and then I’m offered the chance to upgrade to a meal, and then given the option of a large meal. Again, I don’t know the figures, but I’m sure offering those simple upgrade options make’s a huge impact on McDonalds’ bottom line.
Bars & Nightclubs – Now and again I like to party, and even on nights out I’ve noticed upsells being used on unsuspecting drinkers. Here in the UK it’s fairly common to be offered the option of making your single Jack Daniels/[Insert Spirit name here] a double for a small extra charge. This gives the bar an easy way to raise the value of your purchase (particularly if you’re purchasing multiple drinks) and makes you think you’re getting a great deal too.
So how does this apply to your online business? Well put simply, you need to find a way of offering some kind of premium option to whatever you are selling online. This option can be presented to your buyer at the point of purchase (they could be given two options on your sales page), or the upgrade offer could be offered once your customer has purchased the original item, before they’re taken to the delivery or completion page.
I’ll go into some examples for information product businesses below, but you can apply this strategy to almost any online business. For example, let’s say you’re selling computer components, why not offer free shipping if your customer purchases one of a select few additional items (this is not exactly a premium option, but it’s another way to increase the spend of your average customer).
If you’re selling services online, you can also offer an upgrade option. Perhaps you’re selling SEO services, you could offer an additional 10 articles and 20 bookmarks for each project as a premium upsell option.
There are also many options available if you want to create an upsell for your information product business. I’ve detailed some of my favourites below. Many of these can be created in just a few days (or less) but will bring you continued additional income for the life of your product:
- Turn Your Ebook Into Audio -If you’re selling an ebook, this is one of the easiest ways to create more value from what you have. You can use a service like Voice123 to find voiceover talent who will read your ebook and create an mp3 recording of the whole thing. You can then offer the ebook with the mp3 recording as an upsell for those who prefer listening to content or consuming your content while on the move.
- Create a Video Product - If you have content in the form of ebooks or other content, why not put this together to create a video product. Create a bunch of slides (each focusing on a different topic) and create a slideshow on your computer and record you presenting the slideshow with some screencast software like Camtasia or Screenflow
- Offer Premium Coaching/VIP Support - Coaching or personal help makes a fantastic upsell proposition as it requires very little extra work before the offer is made. Yes you will have to follow up on your promises, but as you do work with coaching clients you’ll be able to build up a system which you can use to leverage your time for future coaching clients (record what you do and common problems/questions so you have answers ready)
- Make A Physical Version of Your Digital Product - Another great way to work with what you already have is to create a physical version of your digital training. Lets say you already have a 10 step video course, why not put this onto a DVD and offer to ship it to your customers with a few extra bonus videos. You can organise fulfilment through a service like Kuanki and charge more for your DVD, plus you can charge shipping costs to your customer
- Create a Software Solution - If you can develop some kind of automation software or software which fits with what you are teaching and compliments your main product, this can make a great upsell. Automation is always popular as people love to have stuff done for them.
- Create a Bundle Package – This can work in a number of ways. You can either bundle a number of items together like an ebook, video course and mp3s, or you could offer a bundle of your other products for a discount price. This is something I’m currently trialling with some of my graphics and design products, and I’m having great results so far. This works well as customers who buy one of your products will probably like other products you have, so they’re getting a great deal and you’re increasing your customer value.
- Offer Rights To Your Product – This method works particularly well in the internet marketing space, but you could try it in other niches. Basically you offer the rights to sell your product for a one off fee. You could also offer the rights to sell a different product which you create specifically for this purpose. People love business-in-a-box type deals where the work is done for them, and you’re also giving that person the ability to make money which makes this offer type very popular (ensure you charge a premium for this and don’t give away rights to your lead/premium product).
I hope that has given you some different ideas for using upsells if you’re running an information product business.
It’s important to remember this isn’t just a money making exercise. By offering an upsell, you’re actually catering to the wants and needs of your customers, and giving them a better experience. This in turn means you’re increasing your customer value and increasing the value you deliver to your customers.
So take a look at your online business today and see if you can find a way to offer a premium option or upsell to your customers, I’m confident that you’ll be able to extract more money from your buyers, and give them a better experience in the process. Let me know how you’re using upsells in your business in the comments below!