All You Need to Know About Cross-Selling

Business is all about advantages – gaining them, maximising them. Data enables decision makers to find, firstly, and then develop how to, where (or who) to, and when to target these advantages.

There are many tactics which could be the answer to the how-to part of the process. Cross-selling is one of those great options.

Why Cross-Selling

Cross-selling is the practice of encouraging customers to purchase from a range of different areas from your market. For instance, in gaming, if a customer uses an online casino, they might be interested in sports betting. Not only is a means of expansion studies have found multi-product customers have higher retention rates than one-product ones. Cross-selling finds defence in attack: garnering more revenue and keeping the customer’s loyalty, upping their life-time value.

Who to Target

Knowing who to target is the next answer to find: considered foundational knowledge by many, existing customers are easier to sell to. Not only that, but they are fair cheaper to acquire new business from, and, when they do purchase, they are more likely to spend more and do so more frequently. In addition to ticking the “existing customer” criteria, they must also be “active customers,” which means that they must have purchased products recently. Active customers are already engaged. If they’ve had a good experience with your services and/or product, they may be very interested in what else you have to offer.

When to Target Customers

Timing is everything, in all aspects of life. In business, it can be the difference between a good investment and a bad one. There are two examples which display how important knowing when to target customer is.

• As explained above, existing and active customers are the best possible targets. They are engaged, which is key. If they’ve shown interest in a product, that is the best time to persuade them it is a great option. Think about a car salesman: if a couple are stood in front of a family wagon, discussing the merits of the vehicle’s space because they know how their two little ones are always bickering in the back about the one annoying the other, then the car salesman is in the best position to show them around that vehicle further, while presenting other similar options too. At the same time, don’t be too eager and put the customer off. It’s about a balance.
• Take inspiration from the world. Returning to the gaming example earlier, there are so many sporting events throughout a year. Garnering customer interest in sports betting, which they may or may not have shown interest in already, via an upcoming festival or tournament is ideal. It monumentalises the product and makes it more inviting. Following the world’s lead in some cases is best practice.