8 Tips to help you upsell and generate extra income

In this episode, we dive into something I think is very important to any business: Up-selling and add-ons. A good add-on will bring extra revenue into your business, which is important because you need to make your business as profitable as possible so you can continue to grow and provide the service your clients love. I talk about eight tips to help you start up-selling and creating add-ons and no matter what industry you are in or what you decide your add-on will be, this episode will really help you.

I have also put together a workbook for this episode so if you would like to download the workbook and follow along…

DOWNLOAD WORKBOOK

Now, before we get started, I want to mention I have just put together my first ever online course called the Album Academy. It is a complete 4 step course from designing wedding albums, how to sell albums and how to make your workflow super fast. This course is available from the 4th of November for 2 weeks only.  If you are a wedding photographer and want to make extra money in your business, speed up your workflow and better serve your clients, this course is a game-changer.

To find out more about the course THE ALBUM ACADEMY

So let’s not waste any time and dive straight in.

What is the difference between upselling and add-ons, also known as cross-selling?

Upselling is encouraging the purchase of anything that would make the primary product more expensive. For instance, A wedding package that now includes a wedding album. Or buying a camera and having the option to have a memory card, battery and camera strap.

Cross-selling is the suggestion of any other product to be purchased in conjunction with the primary product —

Buying a microphone? Maybe you need a microphone stand.
Buying a plant, Maybe you need a new pot. Or some fertiliser.

I call Add-ons, cross-selling because It is an add-on that is relevant to the client’s purchase.

Ok, we all know what they are, let’s talk about the why.
The most obvious reason is to make extra revenue for each sale. We want to do that for two different reasons. One, because we need to make as much revenue as possible so we can create a better service and just keep our doors open for longer. Did you know it is much cheaper to sell to an existing client then it is to get a new client? You have already paid for the ads, you have already put the leg work into marketing and you have already converted your client into a fan.

It is expensive and time consuming to gain an extra client. The second is because we want to better serve our clients.

That’s right, most people don’t associate upselling with serving clients but today I am going to see if I can change your mindset on selling.

Here is the thing. Your clients love you and what you do. They probably wouldn’t have hired you otherwise. So that is a pretty safe bet. They respect you as a professional and they value your professional opinion. So with an upsell of a larger package, if you are anything like me, I wouldn’t upsell a large package to anything that I don’t think would benefit from it.

For instance, if I get a wedding client asking about my photography packages and which one they should book. I ask them about the wedding and what they need. If they are having a small wedding with 40 guests and its all in the one location, I won’t be trying to upsell them a big package because they don’t need it. I will advise them on my smallest coverage and tell them exactly what they need and how we can make it work.

If I have a client with 100’s of guests and a very complex wedding, I will be advising my biggest package plus the extras that I believe will help them make their wedding day easier and what will be more cost-effective. If they want a wedding album, I let them know that it is much cheaper if they just choose my biggest package with that included and its better value for money.

Your clients trust you because you have earned it. So my biggest piece of advice is don’t take advantage of someone’s trust and sell them something that is not exactly what they need.

Your clients are looking for the products they want and if you don’t have those products because you believe you don’t like upselling, you are actually not serving your clients in the best way possible.

I get enquiries every week from other photographer’s clients asking if I can create them an album with their wedding images because their photographer doesn’t offer that service. I even book a lot of clients just because we have the extra add-ons they were looking for and others didn’t offer it.

People love shopping. And People love choice. So if you are not giving them that experience, you are doing more harm than good.

1/ Personalize

I believe the more your personalise an add-on for your client, the more likely they are going to feel looked after and more likely to purchase. For example, If you are trying to upsell a videographer to muir clients and they have expressed they don’t want video, it’s a safe bet to say you won’t get a sale. But if they really love photos and they are there most important, upsell an album and talk about why you believe this is the perfect product just for them.

2 /Choice

Your clients trust you as a professional and they believe and even want to buy, products that you believe in and curate just for them. People love shopping and they love the power of choice. If you don’t give your clients choices, it can feel like you are pushing a package or product onto them with no options and it can feel like a one-size-fits-all’ type of thing and most people don’t like that.

On the other hand, people don’t like too many choices. And with too many choices can cause the same reaction as not enough choices. Your client will get confused and it simply becomes easier to just not book you…

Just like when you walk to a drink fridge and there are 50 choices of drinks and it gets way too hard to make a decision.

3/ Get your language right.

Some of the best upselling examples get this right by making visitors imagine how they could make use of the upgrade, or by triggering the fear of missing out (FOMO). This is psychologically proven to help make more sales. Good copy to communicate what your packagers and offers will do for them is key.

4 / be honest.

You don’t have to be a salesman to sell add-ons and often that is exactly what your clients are afraid of.

Be honest with your opinion and make sure you have your client’s best interest at heart and not your agenda to make extra sales. If you are going for an upsell, talk them through why you believe it is the right choice. Being genuine and transparent is always going to trump sleazy sales tactics.

5 / Reward loyalty.

I know discounts are never a good thing because you will become a discount wedding photographer or a discount designer. But I believe once someone has booked your services, there is no reason why you can’t treat your clients with insider specials and discounts or even something else, like a thank-you card or a gift. Or even a voucher for a future purchase or a discount on a product that you know they will love.

6 / Visiualize.

People have a hard time visualising something that is not right in front of them. So it is important to have examples of what you have on offer and if they can touch it, hold it and feel it, the product will sell itself.

For example, I sell wedding albums to my clients and I love the albums I sell. I believe they are the best money can buy and I believe they are an amazing investment for my clients. But it is hard for me to just sit there in a client meeting and tell them that. It is much easier to put a sample album into their lap and let the product sell itself. And if I am telling them all the facts and features of the albums, at least they can hold them in their hands and see why I am so passionate about what I am selling.

7 / Make it easy!

With any kind of add-on or upsell, it needs to be an easy process. From the choice, all the way to the payment and delivery.

There are many programs out there that help you sell add-ons upon checkout or upon booking your services which means they don’t need to get out their credit card twice and it becomes one easy transaction.
Also offering things like free delivery, free gift-wrapping or any other way to make it easy and desirable for your clients, the better.

I would also make it easy with pricing. People hate hidden fees and extra credit card fees and extra tax fees and all the other things to stop people from buying. The easier and more painless you make it for someone, the more sales you will get. So next time you re complaining about the credit card fees you have to pay, just remember that you may have made a lot more revenue this year just because you made it easy for your clients and you accepted credit card payments or even payment plans.

8/ Educate

Most of the time people don’t even know what they want until you show them what they want. Educating people on your products makes it much easier for people to buy your products because they know what they are, how to use them, why they need them and just simply, so they know your products exist.

You can educate your clients through your mailing list, blog, social media platforms, in person at meetings and many other ways.

So I want you to have a think about what you offer and how you can educate your tribe on what you offer.

Ok, I am going to have to wrap up this episode. But I could literally talk about this stuff for days. I am passionate about it because I love the fact that I can make more money for my business which means I can employ people, give my clients a better service and live the life that I want. So it really is an amazing tool to be able to offer the products your clients actually want.

Again, my new course ‘The Album Academy’ is almost here and I can’t wait to start teaching wedding photographers how to sell albums effortlessly and bring in more money for their business. The course will be available from the 4th Nov for two weeks only. So it’s only a small window, but seriously guys, this course has so much value and I am excited to be bringing this to you.

So last recap before we end the show,

Tip1 – Personalise

2 – choice

3 – get your lounge right

4 – be honest

5 – reward loyalty

6 – visualise

7 – make it easy

8 – educate.

Don’t forget to download the free workbook for the show.

See you next time.