Last week, I received a report from a colleague, John Goodman, Vice Chairman of Customer Care Measurement & Consulting (CCMC) that was based on a 2021 Customer Delight Study conducted by CCMC. There was a section in the report titled Monetary Delighters that detailed the benefits of cross-selling to customers, offering a good value for the money, and providing extra value to customers. The emphasis was placed on being a consultative partner with the best interest of the customer in mind as opposed to being pushy or aggressive.
The report states that cross-selling can be an effective tool, not only for increasing your revenue but for improving customer experience and customer loyalty. Agents should feel comfortable making suggestions based on the customer’s needs and recommending additional products to the customer. The key is to know when cross-selling is appropriate and to intelligently match products or services with the customer’s needs. Some customers don’t like being sold to, but if they feel you are making an effort to accessorize or help resolve a current issue, they will walk away feeling delighted.
Earlier this week, I was at the website of Gary Farrell Vineyards & Winery attempting to buy a case of Pinot Noir when I experienced a hiccup on the shopping cart page. I phoned customer support and the wine club manager, Kila, answered. She accessed my online order and resolved the issue. Before completing the order, she engaged me in a brief conversation about my experience with the winery and its varietals. When she learned of my wife’s preference for Pinot Noir, she pitched the members-only selections of limited and library wines that we could access as wine club members.
After summarizing the three levels of membership and informing me that, as a top-tier club member, I could save 20% on today’s wine order and avoid the $38 shipping fee, I enrolled.
In the CCMC Customer Delight Study, cross-selling was rated as the #1 delighter for increased willingness to spend. By selling other products or services that were useful or tailored to the customer, they would spend an average of $676 more with the company. Additionally, 77% of the respondents who were delighted through cross-selling will talk positively about the brand via word of mouth. CCMC discovered that respondents would talk to a mean of six people. John Goodman explained, “For each customer delighted by cross-selling, it’s reasonable to assume that it will result in three new customers via word of mouth.”
I estimate Kila took an extra five minutes to ask questions about my history with the winery and wine preferences, educate me about the benefits of wine club membership, and apply discounts/waive fees totaling $140. As a result, she closed a pending $400 sale and initiated three more sales over the next year creating another $1,200 in revenue. Brilliant.
