Many companies are so focused on getting new customers or getting out another catalog mailing that they overlook other opportunities right in front of them. Here are a few possibilities for generating extra income from your customers:
- Web Site Upsells. Offer fertilizer, books, or other general interest items during checkout. Cross-reference good plant combinations. Feature an auger on your bulb page. Most web sites neglect a myriad of opportunities to ask for additional sales.
- Inbound Upsells. When customers call to order, offer a relatively inexpensive, easy-to-describe popular product. Usually, somewhere between 5% and 20% of callers will say “yes”.
- Fulfillment Literature. Ask for more sales in every package you send out. Prepare a simple postcard or brochure featuring your most popular products, overstocked products, or offering a bonus with a future order.
- Order Acknowledgements. If you send order acknowledgements by e-mail or snail mail, you have another opportunity to ask for an additional sale. The incremental cost is zero.
- End-of-Season Sale. Nearly every company finds their inventory out of balance at one time or another. Send a postcard or e-mail offering a special sale on your overstocked items. You can feature these on a special “private sale” page on your web site that customers access with a log-in code you provide.
