Upsell works. As bizarrely as it may seem, that short phrase, made McDonalds Billions. Its simple, memorable yet uninstructive. It comes off more as a suggestion or a recommendation rather than an attempt at getting you to spend more money. Upon hearing this statement, most people part with their money. They don’t even give it much thought.

In the event this is the first time you are hearing of the word upsell, chance are you have been upsold tons of time before. Sometimes, you barely noticed it.

This is textbook upsell.

There are more creative ways brands upsell, for example;

• Would you like a drink to go with that?
• Insurance for your smartphone?
• A phone case for your new phone?

However, this is risky territory, if done wrong, the brand ends up looking like a greedy pig focused on emptying the customer’s wallet. A good upsell should add value to the product or service. Ideally it should be a complementary product/service that brings more value in the original purchase. For example, as with a phone case, a customer is able to better protect his/her phone, thus ensuring its longevity. In this case, a phone case add durability to the phone, a desirable outcome.

The big secret with the upsell, if we can call it a secret at all, is to understand the customer’s journey. You have to follow the sales funnel. From attracting the customer with advertising and the rest you’ve reached a point where the customer has chosen your product or service. At this stage, the upselling stage, subtlety is key. You don’t need to push out every single accessory or complementary product, but rather you need to understand how to improve your customer’s experience with your product.

———A warning however

And that is the big secret, you need to improve your customer’s experience with the upsell. Some mess up this simple formula by overdoing it though. A glut of add ons at the check out page may dissuade the lead from completing the purchase. It makes the purchase require more thought and consideration.

But hey, if McDonalds does it, why shouldn’t you? But always remember, the focus should be on making your customer’s life easier.

There is another marketing tactic called guerilla marketing, you can read it here.