Upsell Without Upsetting!

Photo courtesy of Thinkstock.

You’ve probably dealt with pushy retail salespeople who make you feel uncomfortable because they keep asking you to buy stuff, even though you’ve said you’re not interested.

MORE Travel Agent

FAM Trip Roundup: New Orleans, Peru and More

ShoreTrips: Authentic Adventure

Reinventing Adventure Travel

This happened to me at a famous tourist T-shirt store recently. My friend only wanted one T-shirt, but the sales girl followed us around telling us at least three times that there was a special price if she bought two. When she saw that effort wasn’t working, she annoyed us by leading us to another five or so more items that we had no interest in buying.

We finally made it to the cash register and her last attempt was to ask if we would like to “round up” our purchase for some charity. For a good cause, we finally relinquished to her sales tactics. As we left, we both said that the shopping experience was exhausting.

You know what I’m talking about, right? You know that it usually sends people searching for the nearest exit. Still, there’s no question that selling the extras when selling travel can benefit your clients and your bottom line. Upselling is offering a more expensive version of a product, such as a five-star property versus a four- or a three-star. Cross-selling is offering a complementary product, such as travel insurance or pre- and post-tours.

With the rise of online sales, a customer call may be the only chance you have to form a personal connection with your customer. This makes it even more important to upsell or cross-sell correctly. Here are a few ways to do just that:

Keep them talking: People love talking about themselves. The better the conversation, the longer a customer stays engaged, the more they tend to spend and the greater the chance they will become a repeat customer. Conversation helps build a relationship, showcases your product knowledge and makes the customer feel like you’re their friend.

Ask open-ended questions: You don’t want your customers’ response to be “yes” or “no” because you can’t learn anything about them. Ask them where they have traveled in the past, what their best vacation experience was and what was their worst trip and why. This process will reveal products or services that you can offer.

Ask what they want: Ask them what they like to do while vacationing. If they love to see the sights, let them know that you would be happy to help them pick and book the perfect tours with their package. Let them know this is the best way to make sure the trip will be “hassle-free” and no time will be wasted.

Try to fulfill needs: Effective upselling should always come from a desire to identify and fulfill needs, rather than push a product without much concern for how it fits the client’s profile. Otherwise, you give them the impression that you don’t care about their needs, just their money.

Sole problems: The answers to your open-ended questions will help you suggest products that your customers might need to solve a problem expressed during your conversation. If you’re suggesting a higher-end tour package than the one they initially wanted, always make sure you are prepared to explain the features, benefits and why this product is better suited to them.

Suggest the right product: Your customers may not even realize that what they need is a better product or a different package. If you truly know the travel products you sell and are actively listening to what the customer is saying, you are well positioned to suggest the appropriate product for their needs.

Sell more value: When you upsell, you’re promoting increased value in the form of convenience, prestige or something more concrete. It’s saying something like, “For just a little more money, I think you’ll be so much happier with — a larger rental car, breakfast a hotel within walking distance to downtown.”

Not every upselling story has a happy ending. How you handle rejection can send a message to the customer about how genuine your recommendations really were. Effective upselling requires patience, detailed observation, resilience and some skill.

Remember, sometimes your clients will say “no,” but they will say “yes” more often than you think!