Most CEOs are focused on customer acquisition. And it’s no wonder- you gotta keep the people coming in to buy your products and services.
It’s exciting building that base, and watching your numbers grow. Expanding into new territories, and new markets is quite thrilling and a real testimony to a CEO’s leadership.
New customers are enticing, but do they tend to overshadow a potent growth strategy that’s right under our noses? Yes, we’re talking about selling to the customers we already have.
Placing upselling and cross-selling into SaaS pricing models can unlock hidden revenue streams within a business while cutting down on the investment and time needed in customer acquisition.
We get this is easier said than done, which is why most SaaS CEOs have trouble with losing upselling and cross-selling opportunities. That’s why we’ve written this article – to talk through the problems with missed revenue opportunities, what is challenging about them, and steps you can change to sort it out once and for all so that you can enjoy a massive bump in your revenue.
It’s Complicated – the relationship of pricing models and upselling/cross-selling
It’s safe to say the SaaS industry is pretty famous for its complex pricing models.
They’re a massive headache because they’re a rabbit warren of tiers, features, tiers, add-ons, and constantly changing usage. It can be really overwhelming for both your company and your customers.
And the more complex your models, the harder it is to upsell and cross-sell. Though both upselling and cross-selling are fairly straightforward, they can be difficult to dovetail into your offerings.
The problem is that these missed chances are like throwing money in the garbage. Because selling to existing customers is a lot easier than new customers. You’ve already won their trust. You know what they need. You’ve built a rapport.
So how much does this cost you?
The Cost of Missed Selling Opportunities
It’s costing you more than you might think. According to Forrester, SaaS companies are leaving an average of 30% in additional revenue on the table by ignoring upselling and cross-selling opportunities.
That’s not just a missed chance – that’s a powerful drain on your growth. It’s compound loss, not interest.
Imagine what you could do with 30% more revenue coming in. You could invest it right back into the company, fueling your product development and innovation, attracting top talent, making your customer service unparalleled with your competition, or even boosting your marketing.
It could have been a cushion that allows you to take bigger risks. Experiment longer with new ideas. Try new things.
But instead, this money is simply unclaimed, which makes your job ultimately harder. So what can be done to change this?
Steps To Boost Upselling and Cross-Selling
To stop the problems that siphon money and resources from your business, you can take proactive steps to integrate upselling and cross-selling into your pricing models:
1. Find the opportunities
Start by having your teams review your products and services. Which combinations work? How can newer products complement your older offerings? Are there newer products, add-ons, and features customers might be willing to upgrade to? Services they could add-on?
2. Split customers into segments
The more specific your customer segments, the better your offerings will be. Customers have varying needs, usage patterns, and budgets. When you segment your customers according to their behavior, needs, and willingness to spend, you will better understand what they need and when they need it. This is exactly what you need to tailor your upselling and cross-selling strategies (and the messages you use!) to each segment, making them much more impactful.
3. Train Your Sales Team with this skill
Most people on your sales team have at least a good few years of sales experience under their belts. But upselling and cross-selling require a different set of skills than initial selling because sales reps need to understand why each existing customer needs to go beyond which products and services they currently have. They need to tread carefully around the trust that has already been established.
4. Streamline your pricing models
The most unsurprising point ever, but still it needs to be said. Though SaaS is the home of complex pricing models, if your teams are struggling with keeping up (and losing customers along the way because of delays and errors) something needs to be streamlined whether it’s the models or the selling and contracting process.
5. It’s about value, not only the products
The easiest way to upsell and cross-sell is to show the customer that your products and services add value to their lives. That’s all it is. Pitching add-ons should always involve showing the customer how it can solve their problems, and meet their needs. This way you boost your chance of the sale, and you invest even more into the customer relationship.
6. Track and Measure Success
Yay, another spreadsheet! Sorry, but it’s true – teams have to track the success of their upselling and cross-selling strategies so that tweaks can be made where necessary when things aren’t working.
Or get it all in one solution: how automation sorts upselling and cross-selling for you
It could take quite a while (and a lot of resources!) to get through all the steps above.
The good news is that there’s one solution that gets it done in one fell swoop. Automating all these processes, not only frees you and your teams of the boring, repetitive tasks, but cuts way down on errors, and misses no opportunities any longer.
Here’s what an end-to-end solution can give you:
- Automation recommends the best pricing models that suit your offerings, no matter how complex they are. These recommendations are agile and adjustable and are instantly enacted.
- It breaks down the silo between your revenue and sales teams- there are no more costly mistakes that cut into your margin or invoices that slip through the cracks
- Loss-making orders are a thing of the past because automation gauges how much your customers are likely to spend
- It uses data and analytics to identify which customers are ready for an upsell or cross-sell, suggesting appropriate products or services based on customer behavior. It then automatically feeds the info to the right salesperson at the perfect time. So upselling and cross-selling don’t feel pushy.
- All sales data is available in real time, and accessible by whichever teams need it.
Sounds good, right?
Why not let automation make life easier for you and save your margins?
If you want to maximize your revenue, then placing upselling and cross-selling into your pricing model is a must. There’s too much money to be made by shifting some of your energy onto your existing customers rather than focusing only on customer acquisition!
Using automation doesn’t just make this process easier, but almost completely relieves your teams of all the time and effort and admin that comes along with it. That means they can finally focus on what brings in the most revenue – selling and making your customers happier.
And that means you’ll have the time and the headspace to finally focus on your vision for the future of the company.
Say goodbye to missed opportunities and boost your growth with Bluefort’s cutting-edge automation solutions. Learn how our end-to-end system streamlines pricing models, breaks down silos, and maximizes customer value.
