What is cross-selling?

Cross-selling is a commercial strategy which consists of encouraging a customer to purchase products or services that complement the products or services they initially intended to purchase. The main goal of this strategy is to maximize customer satisfaction by offering them useful products or services related to those they wish to purchase. Cross-selling also seeks to maximize sales for the company that practices this sales technique by convincing the customer to purchase more products.

Cross-selling is practiced in different ways: for example, by offering complementary products when selling a main product or service, or by offering special offers or promotions to encourage customers to consume.

Cross-selling is frequently used by companies with the aim of developing their turnover and building customer loyalty.

An example of cross-selling

If we take the example of a mobile phone brand, and a customer wants to buy a new mobile phone. The salesperson will then show the customer the model they want, explain the main features and then when their choice seems made, suggest screen protection, phone protection as well as a subscription with a reduced price, allowing the customer to benefit from all the new features of the moment.

By offering complementary and useful services for the customer, the seller practices the cross-selling technique since he seeks to sell complementary products to customers in order to maximize customer satisfaction and the company’s turnover. company.

The different areas using cross-selling

Retail

In physical stores and, or online, sellers can offer complementary products to customers who purchase a given product. For example, a clothing seller might offer a tie to complement the purchase of a shirt.

Financial Services

Banks and insurance companies can use cross-selling to offer customers complementary products such as savings accounts, for example.

Travel Services

Airlines, travel agencies and hotels often use cross-selling to offer complete travel packages, including transport, accommodation and activities.

Telecommunication services

Mobile phone and cable TV service providers can use cross-selling to offer additional data plans to their customers.

Mistakes to avoid

Not understanding the customer’s needs

Before offering a potentially complementary product or service, it is important to discuss with the customer in order to understand their real needs. If the complementary product is not suited to their needs, it is very likely that they will decline the offer.

Not knowing the product or service

To be able to practice cross-selling effectively, it is necessary to know the product or service perfectly. Without this, it will be difficult to sell it to the customer, especially if he notices the seller’s hesitation.

Offering too many complementary products

It is important not to overload the customer with too many options or too many additional products. Indeed, he risks finding himself overloaded with information and consequently abandoning the act of purchasing.

Not respecting client boundaries

It is absolutely necessary to take into consideration the client’s limits. At a certain point, you have to respect his limits and not try to persuade him to spend what he is not ready to spend.

Not offering real added value

Even if the practice of cross-selling aims to maximize the company’s turnover, it must nevertheless bring real added value to the customer: if the complementary product offered has no real interest for the customer , it is very likely that he will decline the offer without even thinking about it.

The future of cross-selling

The future of cross-selling will depend on the evolution of technologies and commercial practices. Indeed, it is possible that new technologies, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, will be used to more precisely target cross-selling offers and improve the customer experience. Additionally, businesses are likely to continue to use data on customer purchases and behaviors to better understand their needs and provide personalized offers.

The emergence of blockchain and digital identity technologies should allow companies to better understand consumer behavior and offer them more targeted cross-selling offers.