Ensure Success Before the Upsell
We recently bought a used car for our family. It had built-in satellite radio.
This intrigued us as we haven’t had a car with this feature before.
I was excited to try out the new satellite service and see it was something we’d like to enjoy.
The radio company sent us paperwork in the mail describing all the amazing channels we’d have access too and extolling the greatness of their service.
However, there was nothing on how to actually get the satellite radio working in our car.
Our radio is stuck on the “trial mode” and we can’t figure out how to activate our service.
In the midst of this confusion, I started getting repeated phone calls from an unknown caller. At first I ignored these calls (as you might too), but eventually answered to find out who kept calling me.
To my surprise it was the same satellite radio company.
Immediately after saying “hello”, the representative launched into a sales pitch for paying for the radio service for a full year.
Never did she ask how my trial was going or what I liked about it.
Never did she ask if I was able to get my trial working to my satisfaction.
So with these underlying concerns and troubles that I’ve had, she had zero chance of making the upsell.
When your customers are having trouble or are dissatisfied with your service, there is no way they will want to give you more money.
You must first find out what is happening with your customer, then move to offer them more products or services that would meet their needs.
If your customers aren’t successful at first, your primary concern should be making them successful before anything else.
Once your customers are happy and using your product or service, they will be more receptive to other offers you might give them.
Think: customer success first, then the upsell.
