Almost every transaction that you make comes with some kind of push for an upsell.
- “Would you like an extended warranty?”
- “This shirt would go great with those pants.”
- “Would you like fries with that?”
The question is, are they trying to upsell you just to make more money, or are they honestly trying to help you get more out of your purchase? It undoubtedly varies from company to company, but I see three things.
I recently purchased some new glasses from Zenni. I have progressive lenses, and their system suggested a certain type of lens based on my prescription (which was $20 higher than the base lens). Given their generous return policy, I’m inclined to think that this particular upsell was largely in my best interest.
If a restaurant indicates that an item on their menu is “most popular”, it rases sales of that item by 13-20%. Is this an item that really is the most popular? Or does the restaurant just want to sell more of them because they have a higher profit margin on that dish?
Lastly, it reminds me of “if you don’t say no, your yes is meaningless“. When I work with a company that declines more of my money by way of their honestly (like Carter’s Automotive not replacing parts right away that I thought were needing to be replaced), their suggested purchases in the future carry a lot more weight.
No new website needed
We try to do the same.
Our agency considers websites to be the core of most business marketing, so we often encourage folks to build a new site to help meet certain goals. However, there are certainly times when we’ll tell potential clients that their website is more than adequate for their needs right now, and to save the money for now. Maybe use it on other marketing, or maybe roll it into another aspect of their business.
Most are shocked when we say that, because we’re essentially turning down work. In the long run, though, it tends to work about best when the relationship begins with 100% honesty.
I’ll still try to upsell some services if I really think they’ll be of benefit to a client, but declining to upsell is an amazing way to develop more trust with anyone that you’re working with.
