If you’re looking to increase revenue without acquiring new customers, cross-selling is one of the best ways you can do that.

It’s all about offering complementary products or services so you can maximize every transaction—all while improving the customer experience.

Sounds like a win-win, right?

Effective cross-selling helps customers find new products they genuinely need, so they’ll leave more satisfied with your business and remain more loyal, too. 

In this article, we’ll talk about the ins and outs of cross-selling, including what it is, how it works, and how it’s different from upselling.

Let’s dive in.

What is cross-selling in sales?

Simply put, cross-selling is a sales strategy used to recommend additional, complementary products/services or items frequently bought together to your customers based on their past/existing purchases.

The primary goal is to increase your revenue while enhancing your customers’ experience by offering products that are relevant to them and that add value.

For example, if a customer purchases a laptop, cross-selling opportunities could include a laptop bag or an extended warranty to complement their purchase.

It’s a less aggressive sales tactic intended to genuinely help your customers and to help you create a more effective sales plan.

Cross-selling is another personalization tactic that has a measurable impact—especially on revenue. By surfacing complementary products or services during the quoting process, sales teams can increase average order value (AOV) without additional prospecting.

How does cross-selling work?

For cross-selling to work, you need to analyze your customers’ needs and purchasing behaviors. This will allow you to suggest relevant products.

Here are a few common cross-selling techniques you can implement:

  • Personalized recommendations: Use customer data to see what products will align with their preferences and suggest accordingly.
  • Bundling products: Offer packages at a discount that combine related products, likely ones that the customer didn’t even realize they wanted. 
  • Point-of-sale suggestions: Encourage your customers to buy add-ons during checkout, both online and in-store—timing can be crucial in this case. 
  • Follow-up emails: Recommend complementary products or services after a customer makes their initial purchase.

These are all natural and helpful ways you can cross-sell. The key is to not come across as pushy so you can build trust with your customers. This will make them more likely to return for future purchases, leading to higher customer loyalty over time.

Cross-selling vs. upselling

Both cross-selling and upselling are sales strategies that aim to boost revenue. But here’s how they differ:

  • Cross-selling is all about suggesting complementary products. For example, a phone retailer might recommend a protective case and screen protector to complement the customer’s purchase of a new smartphone. 
  • Upselling, on the other hand, is about encouraging customers to upgrade to a higher-end version of a product they’re considering or in the process of purchasing. For example, if a customer is considering buying a basic smartphone, a salesperson could upsell that customer to buy a premium model with more features.

Both of these strategies can be highly effective when implemented right, leading to higher sales and customer value.

The main difference is whether customers are encouraged to buy a related product (cross-selling) or a more expensive version (upselling). 

Want to learn more about upselling? Read all about the sales technique here.

Cross-selling examples in SaaS

If you’re a SaaS company, cross-selling will often mean offering add-ons or integrations that will improve your customer’s experience with your core product.

For instance, if you provide project management software, you might cross-sell by offering advanced reporting tools or storage options so that teams can better analyze data and manage their resources.

Another example: Say you’re already utilizing PandaDoc for contract management, allowing you to create, manage, and sign contracts digitally and all in one place.

You might also benefit from a complementary solution like CPQ software, which can help make your quoting process seamless. (More on CPQ later!)

This would ultimately help you improve your sales workflow and, in turn, improve your customer experience.

Remember, it’s all about how to add value through complementary products/services.

How cross-selling benefits your business

Like any good strategy in your sales playbook, cross-selling is a win-win for both your business and your customers.

Here are the top benefits of cross-selling:

  • Increases revenue per customer: Perhaps obvious, if you sell more products per transaction, you’ll maximize your earnings and increase customer lifetime value (CLV). The best part, though, is you don’t need to acquire new customers to do so. 
  • Enhances customer experience: Your customers will appreciate getting relevant recommendations if the product simplifies their shopping process and adds value to their lives in some way. 
  • Boosts customer retention: If your customers are satisfied and find value in those additional products, they are more likely to return in the future. Simple as that. 
  • Improves efficiency: When you sell to existing customers, it can be more cost-effective than acquiring new ones. This is because acquiring new customers means investing in marketing, sales outreach, and customer education, whereas existing customers already trust your brand.
  • Strengthens brand loyalty: If your customers have positive interactions and receive helpful suggestions from your sales team, they will be more likely to engage with your brand in the long term. Consider sales psychology: if you appeal to your customer’s wants, needs, emotions, and motivations, you can better solve their problems. That means you can eventually build trust, leading them to want to repurchase from you in the future. 

How CPQ can support cross-selling

You want your cross-selling efforts to be as effective as possible, which means having the right tools in place can make a huge difference for your sales teams.

CPQ (configure, price, quote) software is one way you can make sure your pricing is fast and accurate and your product recommendations are tailored to your customers.

With automated product suggestions and pricing adjustments, PandaDoc CPQ can help your sales teams to effortlessly manage their cross-selling. This helps show complementary products to customers at the right time so they recognize their value.

“CPQ offers an opportunity to develop strategic pricing for your business that is now super easy to implement, reducing manual errors and giving time back to your reps to focus on revenue-generating activities.”

–Katie Drury, Head of Revenue Enablement at PandaDoc.

Learn more about using CPQ to maximize your pricing strategy here.

The bottom line

You have nothing to lose and everything to gain from implementing a cross-selling strategy. This translates to more revenue, higher customer satisfaction, and long-term relationships with your customers.

Remember that understanding your customers needs and values goes a long way when using this approach.

Want to learn more about how PandaDoc can work for your business? Request a free demo today or start a free 14-day trial.

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