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May 31, 2009 at 08:00 PM
You have a senior client you would like to up-sell. They have a need, but don’t yet know it, and you aren’t really sure how to approach them. I would suggest that you use “bridging.” Bridging is a set of techniques you can use to sell or upgrade clients from your products or services to a higher level or a larger quantity of products and services.
This is particularly important because not only will they buy from you more quickly than they would with a cold call, but there is a high likelihood you will be able to retain them as clients longer as they buy more products and services.
Why worry about upselling when they have already done business with you in the past? The biggest reason is to keep your client over the long term. You also want to provide products and services to those who already trust you.
The numbers tell the tale. According to one study done by LIMRA, there’s a 35 percent client retention rate over five years with one product or service, but if you sell two products, the number jumps to 56 percent. Sell them three or more products and there’s a 92 percent chance they’ll stick with you over five years.
The more products you have with the client, the longer they will stay with you. Banks are a great example: When they gain your checking account, they are much closer to gaining your next car loan, CD and securing your retirement
accounts.
