The importance of Upselling and Cross Selling in medical sales (Part2)

This is the second post about upselling and cross selling where I’ll be talking about how to effectively implement these two often misunderstood tactics.

You can check part 1 here to understand the basics.

How to effectively upsell and cross sell

1. Keep customer focus

Active listening is one of the most important skills of an effective sales rep. By listening actively, the sales rep can anticipate the customer’s aspects, such as the available budget, main needs, what are the customer’s problems, what is not working with the current solution, what other products the customer is considering, and when the customer will need the solution, etc.

Moreover, by listening and observing the customer, the sales rep will be able to adapt the communication to the customer’s personality type and adjust the pitch, the product, or service in order to create and communicate the value to the customer and avoid any misjudgments.

The proper upsell or cross sell should always consist of products that create a clear benefit for the customer and suits the customer.

2. Be a sales consultant

Become an expert in what your customers’ needs and wants are. It seems obvious; however, several times I’ve seen poor sales force training produce modest customer interactions, disappointing sales results, and awkward attempts to upsell and cross sell. 

In my opinion, a medical sales rep needs to have a deep knowledge of the product and its use, but this is not sufficient, this knowledge must be sustained by a solid understanding of the medical condition, competitors, and substitute products.

In this way, instead of simply trying to “sell” a product to a potential customer, you can suggest ways that your different products can serve your customer. Understanding your customer’s business and how it relates to your product is fundamental. Find ways where the customer can improve by using your product or service. This expert understanding can make you become a sales consultant versus just a salesman.

Last, to generate the sale that is best suited for each customer, the sales rep must be able to compare other products, provide success stories from other customers, and demonstrate deep knowledge of the customer environment.

3. Limit the suggestions

I’m sure that everyone has already experienced an awkward attempt at upselling or cross selling.

When upselling or cross selling it is important to not overdo it, suggesting a couple of well-targeted recommendations that suit customers’ needs and preferences is the best way to generate an effective sale. Another key point about limiting suggestions is to understand the budget available for the purchase. A rule of thumb is never to exceed more than 25% of the cost of the original item under consideration. 

To support the upsell, increase the acceptance, boost confidence in the product and encourage the customer to invest, the sales rep could use a couple of strategies like a free trial or money-back guarantee. In this way, the customers can experience the more expensive product directly and understand what suits them better.

4. Be proactive but not pushy

Take the time to explore and understand what issues and problems your customer might have with standard products. Take the customer’s perspective, so you can figure out solutions on behalf of your customer. This approach will make it easier to sell because you know what the customer needs and you can clearly explain the benefit ahead of time.

You should not wait for your customer to come to you with a need or ask for an upgrade or a complimentary product. Normally, customers don’t know about advanced solutions, upgrades or complementary products unless you present them.

5. Follow good practices

Many medical device companies train their direct sales force to upsell products and services and offer rewards and bonuses to push this kind of conduct. The problem arises when the training on how to correctly upsell is insufficient and the incentives become prevalent. A poorly trained sales force can make the incentive program the focus and thus offend a loyal customer. Moreover, the risk of breaking the trust between the customer and the sales rep is real when the attempt to upsell is wrongly managed.

Using active listening the sales rep must become aware of the customer’s background, available budget, and other needs allowing the sales rep to understand what the individual customer may value. Another technique of upselling is creating the need for an extended warranty or a package of after-sales service showing, for instance, the risks of post-purchase damages.

Ethics

Upselling and cross selling, if not properly conducted, can become unethical sales techniques leading to win-lose or lose-lose relationships. Pushy sales rep taking advantage of the customer and even selling products to unaware customers has nothing to do with these sales strategies.

Final Thoughts

Upselling and cross selling are often misunderstood; for many of us, it might bring up images of sleazy sales reps trying to get their quota by selling us extra stuff we don’t need. If you’ve seen as I did terrible upsells and cross sell for years, then it’s understandable that you might be hesitant to try or suggest these strategies.

In my opinion, one of the biggest missed opportunities in medical sales lies in uncovering a customer’s needs. Not exploring and understanding the full picture of the customer environment leads to assumptions, which could lead to a customer choosing a different product or service.

Missing potential sales on already established customers with cross selling or upselling is missing the opportunity to exploit the full product portfolio.

Hopefully, these two posts have shown you that upselling, and cross selling can be honest and valuable in growing your business, and they don’t have to be pushy or sleazy.

Have you used or seen any great upselling tactics that I missed, or are you struggling with thinking about how to offer upsells to your customer? Let me know in the comments below and don’t forget to subscribe.