2010 resolution – Up sell and Cross sell

Want to sell more to your customers? Re-Prospect

More and more I hear sales leaders talk about up sell and cross sell with their team. The situation as we all know is that it costs 80% less and takes 50% less time to sell more to people who are buying from you, than to acquire new customers. The problem is that few sales people really know how to accomplish this task. The method that I have found to work is simply to re-prospect.

What the hell is re-prospecting you ask? It is simple, but not easy. Simply approach your customers as if you know nothing about them and have honest conversations about them and their business.

The way you do this is to start the conversation without any notion of selling anything. You have to have an initial conversation about none of your “stuff”. It is all about them and their issues, technologies, challenges, and goals. Full stop. If you can approach your customers in a way that is simply a fact finding mission, then next step will be then to talk about you may be able to help.

It works like this.

First you target the 10 customers per territory or rep or vertical that you believe should be buying additional product or service from you. Now you look at the contacts you have in this account. You probably have one that is a pretty good relationship, one or two that you know, but not well, and a couple of names of folks that you would like to build a relationship with.

Next, call your primary contact and ask for 20 minutes to talk about them. I tend to start with a Mea culpa.

“John, I am doing some yearly analysis of my clients and I realized that I don’t know or understand as much about your business as I should. Can we invest 20 minutes on the phone to talk about you and your business without it being any kind of a sales call? I just want to be well versed on what you guys are trying to do and how you are approaching this year.”

Most customers will welcome the chance to talk about themselves especially if it isn’t a sales call. (The key here is to keep your word about it not being a sales call) Once on the phone, be prepared. Do your research and homework. Be ready to ask specific questions about the industry, the challenges, his / her role, the impact the economy, partners, goals and any other pertinent topics that make sense. If you are unsure of what you really need to know, take a look a comprehensive account plan. (A spreadsheet and white paper on account planning is here)

Next, stop at 20 minutes. That is what you asked for, that is where you stop. If based on the conversations you think there is additional opportunity, then ask for another call or meeting, and be specific about what you want to discuss and why it may benefit them to talk. (They have a challenge with a growing user base, and hate their current access protocol for remote users)
Don’t forget to ask about other people in the organization that they may either impact or report to, or have other business lines. Follow this conversation with another with the other contacts that you have that you may not have such a tight relationship. These conversations may not create business this month (though I have found a deal immediately), but you will see business 30, 60, or 90 days down the road if you do this correctly.

The keys that make this work are:
• It is about them and not you and your stuff
• You are working up the relationship curve building trust and relationship
• You commit to a topic and time and stick to it
• You approach the call with humility and real curiosity
• You prepare…. Know your stuff, know their industry, know the macroeconomic issues they may be facing
• You do this to the top 10 or 15 accounts in each territory or assigned rep

If you really do learn more about the people and businesses that already buy from you then selling them more will be even easier than you thought. Good luck and good selling.