Increase Your Follow On Sales
You might ask, "What is a follow on sale?" A follow on sale is
the sale of any product or service that comes as a direct result
of a previous sale. An example of this type of sale would be
selling an upgrade to a an existing software product As we have
discussed in other articles, there are companies out there
making much more money from follow on sales than from original
sales. We have also discussed some specific strategies for
increasing your follow on sales, strategies such as: mentioning
your complimentary products on the thank you page that should
follow your order page, giveaways, free training courses, e-zine
subscriptions, and mailing lists. All of the strategies
mentioned above are excellent ways to increase your follow on
sales but they are not the only techniques you should be
employing. I have also found the following methods to be very
successful. 1. If you ship a physical product, include sales and
order information for your complimentary products. At minimum
include a picture (preferably full color) of your product and a
URL that the customer may visit to get information or order the
product. A toll free number is a great item to include here.
Also include a postcard for the customer who does not have ready
access to the Internet. 2. If your product is electronic, like
software or an e-book, include an ad for your additional
products. This option should be used with caution, people do not
like to be nagged by products they paid for. Have the ad come up
only the first time the product is used or have a disable button
on the pop up. 3. Establish a "private" area of your web site
and grant access, for free, to any customer purchasing your
products. In the unique content of this "private" area you have
the opportunity to do some follow on selling. 4. Consider
gathering more information on your customers, such as mailing
address, date of birth and telephone number. You will need to
decide if providing this information is mandatory or optional.
There is the potential that some customer will not want to
provide such information. Making it required information may
cost you some sales. Guard the information you collect carefully
and use it only for the purposes defined in you privacy
statement. Send a thank you letter for purchases, send your
customers a birthday card and follow up with them via telephone
to be sure that they are satisfied with the product. These are
all opportunities for follow on selling. 5. On your order form,
ask customers if they want to be notified of new products,
updates and upgrades. Maintain a separate mailing list for those
customers who indicate their willingness to receive this
information. You could also offer the option of allowing the
customer to be notified via postal mail. As mentioned before,
the follow on sale is not easy to master. It is a delicate
balance between salesmanship and becoming a nuisance. As with
most powerful tools, these techniques hold the promise of great
success or spectacular failure. Take the time to test and refine
your methods before attempting widespread application with real
customers. With practice and careful application, these
techniques will contribute greatly to your profits. And as
always, that is the real bottom line.