Cross-sell and Up-sell

中文: 交叉销售& 追加销售Cross-sell 是指根据顾客的以往购物记录，而向他们推售新的产品。
这种策略旨在加深顾客对公司的依赖程度，降低其转向公司竞争者的可能性。可译为“交叉销售”。

而Up-sell 是指劝说顾客购买更加昂贵的商品，例如电影院的工作人员通常采用up-selling 的方法，劝说要看电影的人买上大袋的爆米花和饮料进场。
可译为“追加销售”或“升级销售”。

像有些公司通常利用“交叉销售”，劝说顾客购买相关产品，及“追加销售”，劝说顾客购买升级产品，以达到获取最大利润的目的。

交叉销售(Cross-Selling):a way to increase sales to the same customer (who has bought a product) by introducing other products in your product range.发现一位现有顾客的多种需求，并通过满足其需求而实现销售多种相关的服务或产品的营销方式。促成交叉销售的各种策略和方法即“交叉营销”。 persuading an existing customer to buy another product from the company

简单地是，说服现有的顾客去购买另一种产品，也是根据客人的多种需求，在满足其需求的基础上实现销售多种相关的服务或产品的营销方式。
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交叉营销一词最近比较频繁地出现在与互联网站有关的新闻中，让我们看到了交叉营销尤其是交叉网络营销在的大型企业中的广泛应用，也让我觉得有必要对于交叉网络营销进行系统的描述。

　　■ 交叉营销的应用

2001年9月份，微软的MSN.com门户网站和迪士尼公司的ESPN.com体育网站签订交叉营销协议（ http://tech.sina.com.cn/i/w/2001-09-08/ 83867.shtml），这一协议的主要内容为，MSN的免费邮件Hotmail 、搜索引擎、聊天和购物等各种网络服务的品牌和链接将出现在ESPN主页的上端，MSN在体育频道中独家使用ESPN的内容，并在其网页上提供优先的位置，以此来达到互为推广的目的。

同样在9月份，IBM和eBay也达成合作了一项合作协议：IBM计划通过eBay扩大自己的销售，eBay将成为IBM向用户及中小型企业进行销售的另一个新渠道，而在线零售商eBay将在自己的网站首页为IBM网站做一个88×31像素的LOGO链接，另外eBay也将选用IBM的应用平台来升级自己的技术。双方合作的基础在于eBay拥有3400万注册用户，随时提供达600多万种产品和服务，具有数额巨大的在线交易量，而且eBay上70%的用户都是IBM的新用户。

此外，在新浪网和阳光文化的并购所发布的新闻中，也强调方未来的整合重点是交叉营销、交叉销售、内容交叉使用、为广告客户提供一站式服务。

　　■ 交叉营销的实质

从上述例子可以看出，交叉营销已经成为企业开展合作的一项重要内容，甚至是并购得以发生的基础。交叉营销也并非仅仅适用于大型企业，只要具备一定的条件，各种规模的企业都可以在一定范围内开展交叉营销。为了全面了解交叉营销的价值和操作方法，需要首先了解交叉营销的实质。

与交叉营销密切相关的一个概念是“交叉销售”，交叉销售（Cross-selling）通常是发现一位现有顾客的多种需求，并通过满足其需求而实现销售多种相关的服务或产品的营销方式。促成交叉销售的各种策略和方法即“交叉营销”。

交叉销售在传统的银行业和保险业等领域的作用最为明显，因为消费者在购买这些产品或服务时必须提交真实的个人资料，这些数据一方面可以用来进一步分析顾客的需求（CRM中的数据挖掘就是典型的应用之一）， 作为市场调研的基础，从而为顾客提供更多更好的服务，另一方面也可以在保护用户个人隐私的前提下将这些用户资源与其他具有互补型的企业互为开展营销。

可见，交叉营销的实质是在拥有一定营销资源的情况下向自己的顾客或者合作伙伴的顾客进行的一种推广手段，这种营销方法最大的特点是充分利用现有资源，在两个具有相关用户需求特点的企业间开展交叉营销， 能使各自的潜在用户数量明显增加而不需要额外的营销费用，同时，以交叉营销为基础建立起良好的合作关系对两个（或多个）企业间的发展具有更多的战略意义。

　　■ 交叉网络营销

所谓交叉网络营销，是指交叉营销思想在网络营销中的应用。由于网络营销的天然优势，开展交叉营销具有更大的发展空间，因为网站本身就是一个有效的营销工具，网站的注册用户资料也是非常有价值的营销资源。两个公司/网站之间开展交叉营销可以有多种形式，通常以不同层次的网站合作为前提，比如网站交换广告、交换链接、内容共享、利用各自注册用户资料互为推广等等。

在网络公司中，通常都有一个BD（Business Development）部门，也足见网络公司对于合作推广的重视，但由于网络公司的特殊性，在盈利无期、融资无望的情况下，往往没有正确发挥BD的价值，而常常以合作的名义试图向合作伙伴销售自己的产品/服务，甚至寻找自身被收购的机会，因此很多网络公司并没有充分利用以合作为基础的交叉网络营销。

开展交叉网络营销的前提是拥有一定的营销资源，通常情况下，这些营销资源可以表现为一定的网站访问量、注册用户资料、某些专业的和具有独特价值的内容资源等，此外，一些免费服务如免费邮箱、论坛、E－book等也可以用作交叉网络营销资源。许多小型网站往往因为缺乏足够的营销预算，不可能依靠大量的广告推广，更应该充分利用交叉网络营销手段。

不过，令一些小型网站或者新网站头痛的是，自身没有太多的现成资源可以利用，使得交叉网络营销受到一定的限制，甚至认为这种方法不适合自己，其实在这种情况下可以首先利用合作伙伴的资源来进行推广，比如针对合作伙伴的用户特点，制作一本内容有价值的电子书提供给合作伙伴供用户下载或者通过邮件列表发送，在这些特制的电子书中应包含自己网站的推广信息，或者请合作伙伴特意给予推广。当然，选择合作伙伴需要一定的努力，首先两个网站之间要有相似或互补的用户需求特征而不是直接的竞争者，同时还需要对潜在合作伙伴的用户资源有一定的了解。

交叉网络营销不仅是一种营销方法，更重要的是一种营销哲学，即充分利用一切可能的资源来开展营销，这些资源包括自己现有的、可以开发或正在开发的，也包括合作伙伴的，而且可以在很大合作范围内与合作伙伴开展交叉营销，从最简单的交换链接、用户资源共享，直到战略联盟甚至资本合作。

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"How to Win at Upselling

and Cross-Selling"

At a recent conference, an excited woman rushed up to me. She had called the travel supply catalog Magellan's, and when she listed the products she wanted to order, the phone rep asked her how they were going to be used. Based on her answers, he suggested other products that would better serve her needs. The shopper was delighted with his recommendations and ended up going only slightly over her budget. "I'll be a Magellan's catalog customer for life, as long as I get that personalized treatment," she told me. "It was a 'wow' experience!"



How many customers are likely to say tat about your catalog? Can your call center reps "wow" customers while increasing your company's revenue? They can -- if they learn how to go beyond service to sales. Most inbound customer service reps fear and resist cross-seIIing and upselling, or proactively suggesting related or unrelated items that may increase the size or dollar amount of an order.



Done adroitly -- without the rep being pushy or seeming too eager to foist unwanted items on the customer -- cross-selling and upselling are extremely effective ways to increase revenue. But to get reps into a sales mindset requires some dexterity on the call center manager's part. It involves training reps to think differently about selling, and the key to doing this is to get them to think about suggesting other products as simply offering an "additional service." This attitude can go a long way toward breaking down a rep's resistance to sales.



At the beginning of any cross- or upselling training program, when asked if they see themselves as salespeople, few reps will answer "yes." But after a day of training that focuses on the concept of additional service, almost all the reps involved are likely to say that they do see themselves as salespeople after all. Most will start upselling right after they return to the phones.



HIRING AND INCENTIVES



So how do you work this magic in your call center? Before you initiate an upselling training program, keep in mind that the main quality you want your reps to project is a caring attitude. Customers need to know that the rep cares about them and how they're going to use the products they're buying. Your catalog company's reputation is only as good as the customer's impression of the service rep, so make sure that impression is flawless.

Here are some ways to ensure that it is:

1. Hand-pick reps for their "people" skills and attitudes.

Unlike product knowledge, people skills can't be learned. If you hire reps who are friendly and outgoing, you'll greatly increase the odds of training them to cross- or upsell successfully. The reps you select must genuinely like talking to people and helping them. Reps must also be patient, listen and communicate well, attempt to build strong relationships with customers, and represent the company professionally and in a positive way.



2. Set goals, incentives, and rewards to keep exceptional reps motivated.

Many catalog companies have introduced upselling and cross-selling to their reps without giving much thought to incentives -- a big mistake. Your reps will perform far better if they know exactly what's in it for them.



Entire books can be written on the subject of goals, but in a nutshell, the best goal for all reps would be to upsell or

cross-sell on every call, even one from an upset customer The reps can then track the average number of successes and dollar amounts generated, enabling the supervisor to set quotas and expectations.



Incentives can be just about anything: extra money,

participation in a company profit sharing plan, discounts on merchandise from the catalog, theater tickets, time off, a trip, a radio, or other predetermined prizes. Some marketers conduct contests -- such as a card or board game -- offering points, dollars, or prizes to be won. Recognition is also a powerful incentive. For instance, many call centers announce an upsell or cross-sell publicly by ringing a bell or other type of noise maker, or by putting up a daily tally of cross-sells and upsells on a visible tracking board in the call center. This spurs competition and creates a festive and exciting environment.





TRAINING TECHNIQUES



Now that you have a winning team, build its members' strengths by teaching them specific customer service skills. What drives a successful cross- or upselling training program is the philosophy that reps must listen for service cues first, sales cues second.

Your best performers should be able to think of a related upsell or cross-sell at the very beginning of the conversation, even if the customer is upset. But the rep should take care of the customer's problem first, and then, if the rep has been appropriately caring and helpful, he or she can ease into suggesting sales -- often with remarkable success.



For example, at Southern California-based Russell and Miller, a business-to-business cataloger that sells merchandising products such as sale banners, racks, and tagging guns, an order entry rep in one of my training programs gave an excellent example of listening to both service and sales cues and making appropriate suggestions.



The rep said that a customer called to replace a fabric steamer he used in his retail store. It was his second call, and the rep wondered why the steamer kept breaking, but didn't say anything.

She also recalled hearing him say that he needed the new steamer right away because he had a shipment of drapes coming in soon. The rep told my training group; "If I had asked him whether he was planning to use the steamer on drapes, I'd have known why he was replacing his steamer so often. What he probably needed was a heavy-duty steamer made for draperies. That would have been an upsell because that kind of steamer is more expensive than the one he was ordering. And to make sure his steamer held up this time, I'd have suggested a cleaner so that it would not clog and malfunction. Those items could have been my first upsell and first cross-sell."

The rep was absolutely right, and deserved a big round of

applause -- which she got from her colleagues.

SOOTHE CUSTOMERS -- AND INCREASE SALES

Placating upset customers is one of the most challenging tasks that any phone rep faces. Add the burden of cross-selling or upselling at the same time, and the task becomes doubly difficult, if not altogether impossible to achieve. But it can be done -- if your reps learn to use the right words and phrases to defuse the emotions of angry customers. As with all service, the key is to address the problem first. By doing so, the rep builds a rapport with the customer that lays the groundwork for sales. Each of your reps will develop his or her own unique way of soothing ruffled feathers. However, there are some proven scripts and techniques for handling difficult customer service situations. Here are a few that your reps should become familiar with:



Let the customer vent.



Most reps feel so uncomfortable with customers' anger that they rush them off the phone. But a wise choice of words can empower the rep to take full responsibility for the customer's experience on every call. For instance, while the customer is blowing off steam, the rep should use empathizing phrases, such as "I can see how that happened" or "I understand what an inconvenience that must have been." Statements like these almost inevitably calm the customer down after a few minutes.



Don't snow the customer with policies and regulations.



Customers want your company to be easy to do business with, and will only become more infuriated if your rep says that the company can't fulfill a request because "it's our policy." Instead, the rep should say, "Let me check to see what I can do." This gives the rep time to judge the caller's level of irateness and salvage the customer.



Never make the customer wrong!

If a rep tells a customer that he or she is wrong or unfair, even if this is the truth, you will lose the customer -- even if you give the customer everything that was requested. If you cause customers to lose their dignity, they will always feel uncomfortable about calling your catalog.



Defuse the customer's anger.



The most effective way to do this is to place the situation in perspective and avoid inflammatory words and phrases. For instance, even if the customer says he has a "problem," the rep is better off responding, 'Tell me about your situation (order, delivery)." It becomes a bigger problem if you call it a problem.



Similarly, saying things like "You'll have to wait until Friday for delivery" automatically pushes the customer's button. Your customer is calling on a voluntary basis and does not "have to" do anything. "We'll get the order to you by Friday" is a softer approach.



These substitute words and phrases help the rep stay neutral, neither toeing the company line nor siding with the customer. They defuse the customer's ire sooner, cut call time, and allow the situation to be resolved before the rep moves into sales.



Ask open-ended questions ... but only after giving the

customer ample time to vent.



Open-ended questions cannot be answered with a "yes" or "no," so the customer will provide the details of his or her complaint. But if the rep's questioning and problem solving begin too soon, without allowing the shopper to express irritation first, the customer will perceive the questioning as interrogation. This steps up the tension several notches and lengthens the call.



The most effective open-ended questions begin with, "what do you need to...?" "Tell me about..." "How can I help?"

Questions should start with "what" rather than "why," which can intimidate and put the customer on the defensive.

CLOSING THE SALE



Congratulations! Your rep has resolved the customer's problem and is now ready to move from service to sales. Here's where the rep's energy and enthusiasm come in. Reps should assume that sales will happen on every call, so they should ask for additional sales on every call. Again, however, the right techniques and words make all the difference. Here are some suggestions:



Take charge of the call.



It is essential to control the customer's reaction by assuming a positive ending to the conversation. For instance, instead of asking, "Would you like to hear about our specials?" The rep should say, "By the way, did you know we have ... on special this week at just $60?" Similarly, to ask "What other items would you like to add to your order?" is a far better upsell tactic than to say, 'You don't want to add anything else to your order, do you?"



Use command words.



In this situation, it is acceptable for reps to use words such as "must," "need," and "have to." In fact, such words can help close a sale. For example, when a rep has suggested the perfect add-on item, he or she may tell the customer, "You have to have this! It would ..." (add the benefit the customer might like to hear, based on the customer's own words if possible).

Sell the product's benefits, not its features.



Reps must remember that from the customer's point of view, 90% of a sale is emotional. Active verbs such as "gain," "improve," and "save," along with words that express benefits, such as "new," "free," and "proven" are likely to appeal to the customer's emotions. The impact of these words will be greater if reps combine them with any needs that the customer may have expressed earlier -- for example, "You'll gain a savings of 50% if you buy this new cushion, which will make your back feel much better."



Appeal to emotion, not intellect.



Reps should ask customers how they feel, not what they think, about adding the suggested item or items to their order. Asking them to think may cause them to question the appropriateness of an item, whereas plumbing their feelings about it tends to help them see how it might be suitable.



Close on an upbeat note.



The last comment the customer hears is what he or she will remember. Rather than ending with "Have a nice day," the rep should invite customers to "call back again," especially if they were upset, then say "goodbye" or "'bye," with an upward inflection at the end of the word. This keeps the door open and ready for the customer to walk through again soon.

ROLE PLAYING AND SCRIPTING



None of the cross-selling and upselling techniques described above will work unless reps practice and feel comfortable implementing them. The best way to train reps to really get the "feel" of what they're doing is to role play, with one person acting as the rep, another as the customer, and a third as an observer who gives feedback. If your group is small, use two people and let the customer give feedback to the rep. Urge everyone to give honest evaluations so improvements can be made quickly. The evaluations would include grading the rep on how well he or she let the customer vent, the use of defusing words or phrases and open-ended questions, and whether the rep bridged from service to sales by listening, responding, and using the customer's words to close. Feedback should focus on whether the rep was quick on the uptake, adapted scripts to sound natural, and controlled the call efficiently. After the observer or customer gives feedback, switch roles and repeat the process.



Give your reps partial scripts to adapt to callers' needs. Phrases or sentence fragments will encourage reps to use their own words more, which will sound more natural than scripts recited verbatim. Make sure your script demonstrations don't sound too slick. If managers also appear to search for words and phrases, reps will find their demonstrations more convincing and less intimidating. Some script ideas are listed below:



1. "Tag-ons."



The rep can tag on a statement or question about other issues, products, or services at the end of the conversation, whether the rep called the customer or answered an inbound call.

Tag-ons include phrases and lead-ins such as "by the way," "you may not be aware of our new ..." or "this will help you prevent XYZ from happening again." This technique can be used for any related, unrelated, special, or sale products to increase the size of the order.



2. Stories.



Use of examples or stories demonstrates that the rep knows other pleased customers and has successfully guided them in their catalog selections. For instance: "One of my other customers used to get so upset because she was constantly replacing her vacuum, so she finally tried our new heavy-duty model. She says it has been very dependable and has taken the extra expense and stress out of her life."



3. Personal endorsements.



To give impact to the suggestion of new products or services, the rep can refer to herself or to other people she knows who use these items, but only if this information is the truth and the rep is genuinely sold on the product.

IT'S ALL IN THE ATTITUDE



If you approach upselling and cross-selling with an "extra service" rather than a "sales" attitude, you'll have no difficulty growing your customer base and increasing profits.

Couple this service attitude with the appropriate training (including frequent role playing), a fun atmosphere, and solid team spirit, and your call center will break old sales records quickly.
Customer Service Cross-Selling

Forum Corp. survey identifies sales behaviors that make customers more likely to buy or to resist customer service rep and cashier attempts to cross-sell.



Companies that want to sell more products and services through their customer service reps, a growing trend called cross-selling, should pay better attention to basic customer service if they want to succeed.



A new survey by The Forum Corp. of Boston indicates that, despite conventional wisdom to the contrary, consumers are open to sales pitches from customer service representatives -- but only if the rep first solves the customer's problem and is sensitive to the customer's needs.



The survey of 1,624 respondents world-wide found that:

    88 percent of customers value service reps who suggest alternative products or services that better meet their needs
    73 percent are interested in learning about new products or services the company is promoting
    but many resist customer sales reps with annoying behaviors, especially selling from scripts, pushing products that aren't useful to the consumer, and/or continuing to sell after the consumer has indicated they are not interested.

"The message is: Serve well, then sell," said Tom Atkinson, director of research for The Forum Corp., a global workplace learning company. "Consumer goods companies have a huge opportunity to boost sales by training their customer service reps to cross-sell effectively, but they have to pay attention to the basics first. Customers who are pleased with their purchase and feel they have been served well are much more open to buying additional products and services."



Cross-selling occurs when a customer service representative, such as a call center operator or a cashier, attempts to sell other products and services to a consumer during a transaction, such as a purchase, a return or a complaint. "Do you want fries with that?" is the best-know example of cross-selling. As a result of such efforts, four out of every 10 consumers end up purchasing additional products or services "sometimes" or "frequently," according to the survey.



The survey found that consumers are most likely to buy when the customer service rep exhibits the following three behaviors:

    focusing on the customer's needs versus pushing a product
    solving the customer's problem before talking about additional products and services
    describing how the products or services would benefit the customer.

At the same time, consumers are least likely to buy when the customer service rep engages in irritating behaviors, the top three of which are:

    continuing to sell after the consumer has said no
    following a script
    pushing products or services that are not useful to the consumer.

Lastly, the survey identified three behaviors that service reps don't do that consumers wish they did:

    speaking clearly and slowly
    respecting the customer's time and right to say "no"
    giving the customer advice that helps him or her save money or better meet his or her needs.

 

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