Why Upsells and Downsells Could be the Ticket to Your Business' Online Success

First, some context. What exactly is an upsell and a downsell and why is it so important to your business?

An upsell is when your prospect has already said "yes" to buying something from you, and then they decide at the same time to buy something else. The classic example of this is the MacDonald's "Would you like fries with that?' The customer has already bought a hamburger and now the employee has nudged them into buying something else.

A downsell is when your prospect has said "no" to your initial offer so you present a second offer. Typically the downsell is less expensive than the original offer.  So, for instance, the customer decides the MacDonald's hamburger is too expensive and decides to buy just an ice cream cone.

Now clearly this can and does happen in face-to-face situations. But did you realize this can also happen online?

So for instance, someone buys a product on your web site. Your web site can immediately present them with a second offer, the upsell.

And if the prospect clicks away, because they're not interested in buying your product, your web site can also present them with a second offer, a lower cost offer than the one they were looking at.

So you're probably thinking, this sounds a little complicated and I haven’t a clue how to start. Why would I want to do this?

Two reasons --

1. You'll make more money. When you start using the upsell, you'll increase your overall purchase amount. For instance, say your product is $100 and you offer a $50 upsell. Let's say 20% of your buyers take you up on it. Now you've made an additional $50 on 20% of your purchases. (This can add up after awhile.)

Now, for the downsell, you've saved a sale you've probably lost anyway. Let's say your product is $500, when someone clicks away, you pluck a piece out of the original product, say an ebook, and offer that for $97. Now you're giving your customers a lower cost alternative, a chance to try your product out before spending a lot more money.

2. If you offer an upsell, you'll increase customer satisfaction and decrease returns. Yes you read that right. Upsells can actually make your customers feel more satisfied doing business with you and less likely to want to return the product. Why? Because you're helping them "skip" over buyers' remorse. We all have buyers' remorse after we buy something, which is when we regret our purchase. The intensity and the length varies depending on the buying situation. But if you immediately jump into and offer a second purchase, your customers are busy figuring out if they want to make that second purchase versus feeling bad over making the first one. And if they DO buy, then they're that much more invested in you and your business and they WANT what you sold them to be what they're looking for.

And the best part of this whole strategy? It's automatic. You set it once and it keeps on doing it, over and over again. What could be better?

One final note to chew on as you make up your mind if it's worth it or not – do you know what the most read page on a web site is? It's your thank you pages. The page your prospects go to after they sign up for something or buy something. Don't waste this valuable real estate – put an upsell on that page and watch your bank account grow.