The 3 Hidden Techniques Of In-Person Upselling

Upselling is easier than ever if you have an online business, because you can bundle like products together, offer modular services, and allow someone to see it all from the comfort of their own home or device. But in-person upselling is a little harder. After all, most people are aware of sales tactics now. Moreover, you need a certain charm, care and attentiveness to really convince someone to buy more from you. It’s not easy.

However, sometimes you can use techniques which have been made to suggest, but not explicitly recommend or push towards more purchasing. If you can do that, then the hard work that comes from being your best sales-self isn’t quite as pressing. It might not make a bad salesperson perfect, but it could help someone with care and charm achieve something more. Here’s how restaurants and storefronts do that:

Thoughtful Product Placement

Storefronts can use a bit of clever design to influence what people buy without a hard sell, and a good example is how you place products on a shelf. A business might put higher-margin items at eye level where a customer is more likely to see them, or place things that are often bought together next to each other, which gives you an arrangement that feels natural to a customer, so it doesn't come across as a sales tactic. 

Upselling is essentially in service of making a customer happily give you more money through easy and intuitive means, and without that intuitive, they won’t. A person might just grab an extra item because it's right there in front of them - we’ve all done it. As such, it’s a wise idea to think about how your store layout can guide a customer through their journey.

Have Means Of Taking Payment Right There

The moment a customer decides they want to buy something is when they are at their most receptive, and having a way to take their money without sending them to a separate counter is a powerful way to close a sale. This is especially true if a customer has just been convinced to buy an additional item.

Mobile POS terminals, or staff with payment devices, can seal the deal right where the customer is. It’s an effective way to capture an extra sale without the customer having time to reconsider or get frustrated. A business can use modern credit card processing solutions that are quick and easy to use, so you can take payments right on the spot without any hassle. This removes any friction from the buying experience.

Consider A Referral, Trial Or Taste System

Sometimes a sale is less what a customer buys right now, but what they might buy later on, and offering a small referral card, a free trial, or a little taste of something new is a very subtle way to upsell. That introduction can make a person feel like they are getting a bit of extra value, and it also introduces them to another product or service that they might love and decide to purchase later. 

So for instance, a bakery could give out a sample of a new cookie, or a salon might give a free small trial bottle of a new shampoo. This approach builds trust and shows that you are confident in your products, and you may be able to cinch the upsell next time.

With this advice, we hope you can more easily nail in-person upselling.