"A study by Axis Consulting revealed that 99 percent of brokers think it’s critical to be able to cross-sell effectively. But only 46 percent consider themselves any good at it."
You know how effective and profitable cross-selling could be. Even if eight out of ten clients say 'no' to the offer that still means that 20% said 'yes' - and you’ve gained 20% more business for little additional cost.
With this in mind there are four key drivers of cross-selling success
- Insight
Use your database to check what products and services each client has previously bought. Seek to fully understand their business and any changes that it’s going through.
Highlight with the customer how recent changes or developments may have resulted in the need for additional products or services.
- Timing
Clients are more open to cross-selling when they’re confident about the advice they’ve just been given. Therefore based on your insight, agree with your team when these opportune times are and target them. By doing this seamlessly they’ll view this as good client care rather than an intrusive sales pitch.
- Training, with supporting marketing materials
A lack of confidence among the sales team can be a barrier to starting a conversation with your client about the benefits of a particular product or service.
Consider arranging an internal training session to give your team a broader understanding of the range of products available and how they meet your client’s different needs.
Providing your team with supporting marketing materials may also prove valuable. Emailing, or referencing a relevant explanatory document on your website can help to initiate the conversation. Having it to hand also allows the client to consider their options after the call, as well as giving your team a good reason for a follow up.
- Recognition
Encourage your team to think about how cross-selling can benefit your client, rather than being just a sales process. Review the following to see how you could recognise staff who have gone the extra mile:
- A simple ‘well done and thank you’ can be very effective
You might also consider adding something that you know will be really appreciated, such as a designated parking space for the week, or time back in lieu.
- Recognition by their peers
There are lots of different ways of doing this, including being featured in company-wide email, weekly status meeting, or appearing on the staff Intranet or notice board.
This could also be followed with a tangible gift such as a box of chocolates on their desk and the whole team gets to enjoy their success.
- Share their success stories
Encourage your staff to share with the team how they achieved particularly successful cross sales, by talking through how they identified the opportunity, how they approached it with the client and then the success they had off the back of it. This will not only give the individual positive recognition, but also help colleagues to understand how it works in practice, giving them the confidence and understanding to try it themselves.
These are just some of the tactics you can use, and hopefully you’ll find at least one thing here you can take-away to ensure your business is actively using cross-sales to better serve the interests of your clients.