Everytime time I think about it, I keep kicking myself.
A while ago, I wrote an email about upsells.
I discussed some of the more aggressive tactics I use to increase conversions.
But every time I think about it, I think I sounded greedy. Like all that matters is increased conversions.
So today I want to approach “What makes upsells work” from a different perspective.
Let me give you three cornerstone ideas that will lay the foundation of a great upsell.
#1 – Trust
You have to appreciate, once you get a person to pull out their credit card… for any amount of money… THEY TRUST YOU.
That’s a HUGE deal.
On the internet, deception abounds. Everybody’s looking for the scam or the catch or what’s not being said that should be.
So when someone gives you their money, good for you! That’s implicit proof they trust you and you should be grateful.
That stated, they may not trust you yet with their life savings or their first born. Increasing trust between people takes time and repeated positive vibes and interaction.
But I can’t count the number of times, a $27 sale has turned into a $5K seminar that has turned into a $25K mastermind or high-ticket 1:1 coaching.
The other thing that should come as no surprise:
Trust can be rescinded.
Yes, you can screw up a good thing. Just one screwup and you’re toast. You’ve burned the relationship.
What’s taken a year or two, can be flushed in one email or video.
So be careful.
I’ll talk about this more in a sec but the thing about trust is that it does matter how trustworthy you think you are. The person who decides that is always the customer.
The best you can do is to constantly and consistently be demonstrating you are trustworthy.
#2 – Complementary Irresistible Offer
I discussed this in the previous upsell email. The upsell should complement the frontend offer.
It should give people the feeling that “if I really want the result I’m looking for, I really need this, too”.
And it helps if you give them an irresistible deal. In other words, it’s time to “drop your pants”.
Some of my best results were upsells where we offered 10-20 ebooks worth $19-$47 each for the price of one or two.
Try it. You’ll be amazed.
Then there’s the “supersize me” strategy.
For instance, if a person buys one bottle, give him/her a deal if they buy three or six.
Sounds kinda weird that they’ll buy an unknown product “in bulk”. But that’s the power of the frontend copy at work. The copy is building a bond where the prospect trusts you so much, they feel good about buying six bottles of your formulation at one time sight unseen.
I live for those days. You probably do, too. 🙂
#3 – Put the Customer First
The number one thing to remember when you’re using upsells is to always put the customer first.
It’s quite tempting to do whatever takes to get the sale and increase the average order value. But I caution you not to do it at the expense of your customers.
It’ll mess up your brand.
Whatever futures launches, flash sales or email backends you’re planning will be compromised. Because the previous interaction left a bad taste in their mouth.
When planning your upsell strategy, the question you have to ask yourself is “How is this upsell improving the customer experience?”
Because to me that’s the ultimate goal.
Upsells were originally a gimmick, a way to put another offer in front of people. But now there’s a true science to them.
Upsells do a bunch of other things for your business, but none are worth talking about unless they increase the customer experience.
So thanks for letting me get this off my chest. Now I can sleep at night. 🙂
Talk soon,
Matt
P.S. I said previously upsells have become a science. But they’re also an art.
If getting upsells right are a challenge for you, feel free to reach out.
It may be the offer, the design or the copy. I don’t know yet. But let’s discuss! 🙂
