Four Basic Techniques On Making Additional Sales

No matter what business you’re in, getting customers to come back and do business with you repeatedly, for as long as possible, is the key to success. ​
Yes, you are building and maintaining strong relationships with people who have done business with you before. And yes!, you are making it easy for them to keep doing business with you. 
​But  no.
​You are not making any additional sales.​

Here's four basic techniques on making additional sales.

1.   Upsell to customers.

An upsell takes place when you manage to sell to your customer an additional, related product other than what he originally intended to buy. 

​For example, if a customer buys a laptop from you and you offered him to also buy a printer – a product that is related to the product that he bought – the sale of the printer is what you call an upsell. ​​

2.   Cross-sell to customers.

In an upsell, you are offering your customer an additional product that is related or is considered an upgrade to the product that he just bought. In a cross-sale, you are offering a completely different product.

For instance, if a customer just bought a handbag from you and offered him to also buy a jacket, the sale of the jacket is called a cross-sale.​

3.   Attach discount rights to a product.

For example, you can attach to a laptop a discount right that grants its buyer the right to buy a printer from you at 20% discount. This 20% discount would not have been available to customers that did not purchase a laptop from you. 

This strategy actually works in two ways: 1) it makes the primary product (laptop in this case) more attractive and 2) it encourages a buyer to buy an additional product (printer in this case). This strategy can result into an upsell or a cross-sale. ​​​

4.   Offer samples of new products.

This is especially useful when offering a new product which your customers may still not be familiar with. Make the discount right a limited offer.
For example, it will help if you offer a free taste of a new food item. How will this benefit you?  For one, it will encourage customers to make a purchase as soon as possible.  This is because they will attempt to avail of the ‘discount right’ before it expires. ​​​

Conclusion.

If you have only one product/service to offer, think at selling it in bulk and offer a discount if the customer purchases more than one product/service (get inspired by what stores do!) and/or offer, for example, personal coaching on how to use your product. If you have more than one product to offer, think both at your related and unrelated products/services to offer. Make a list. And then,test!​