Quick—what part of your job do you enjoy the least? If you’re like most salespeople, you probably said prospecting. All the cold emails, the endless follow-ups, the calling, and the relentless slog of “no” after “no.”

While there’s a time and a place for prospecting, if you’ve already got a long list of current clients, you may be wasting your time on finding new ones.

Why?

Because you can upsell your current clients to a premium product more easily than you can bring on new customers. And when you do so, you can drive more revenue, greater client loyalty, and higher commissions than going the old prospecting route.

This guide shows you how to upsell like a pro. Inside, we’ll look at the massive benefits of upselling as well as The Proven Product Upselling Framework that takes all the “huh?” out of this underutilized sales strategy.

Upsell Definition: To effectively encourage current clients to purchase a more expensive, upgraded, or superior version of the product they have now. 

Simple, right?

When you convince your current clients to purchase a newer version, you’re offering an upsell, meaning a better version than what they’re using today.

This, of course, deviates from the normal routes of prospecting (i.e., attracting new customers) because it focuses on your existing customers.

Some examples of upsells include:

Upselling is often confused or conflated with cross-selling. But in fact, the two are slightly different. Let’s take a look at the definition of cross-selling to see how.

Cross-Selling Definition: To effectively encourage current clients to purchase an entirely new product, usually on the basis of the product they have now.

Rather than getting an upgraded version of a product, they’re getting a new one entirely.

Let’s look at an example.

Say you’re shopping for organic vitamin C supplements on Amazon. You’ve found a brand with some great reviews, so you decide to purchase from them. But as you’re about to add the supplement to your cart, you notice they offer a higher potency version and decide to upgrade to that version instead.

That is an upsell.

As you make your way through the checkout process, you’re taken to a “Because You Liked…” page that offers products you may like based on your purchase of the supplement. Products like other supplements, natural teas, and organic skincare products.

That is cross-selling.

See the difference?

Now that we’ve got a better handle on what upselling is (and what it isn’t), the question becomes, “Why do this at all?” I mean, why work on a whole new process to bump your existing clients up to another version?

Should you even bother?

As you might’ve guessed, the answer is a resounding “Hell yes!” But why? What makes focusing on the upsell sales technique so beneficial for you?

There are four main reasons why upselling beats out traditional prospecting.

It…

First and foremost, focusing on driving new sales from existing clients is substantially easier than closing deals with new customers.

Here are some stats to drive the point home.

When you put your efforts into the clients you already have, you’re bound to see more success than blind prospecting.

“We all know the stats that show how hard it is to get a new customer compared to keeping your existing ones. So if you show genuine curiosity in how things are going with existing clients, it means you've got to spend less time scrapping about creating content, less time making cold outreach because you're maintaining your existing customer base through being genuine through being passionate about their outcomes, which in result, is going to help you hit your quotas or break your quotas and obviously make more commissions.” – Interview Sam Dunning, Marketing Expert

When you work with existing customers, you’re going to drive more revenue (and earn higher commissions) than seeking out new leads.

Let’s look at the numbers.

It isn’t just easier to work worth existing customers then. It’s also much more profitable. Convinced yet?

The more you can get current clients to invest, the more likely they are to remain loyal—provided you follow through on your promises, of course.

That boosted loyalty increases their customer lifetime value (which is great). But equally importantly, it skyrockets the chances of earning a referral from those clients.

And referred customers are worth their weight in gold.

Here’s why.

Boost loyalty, earn referrals, and rake in the profits. What’s not to love here?

Finally, when you upsell your current clients effectively (using the framework below), you’re demonstrating that you understand their needs. You get them. And when you show that, you’re doing wonders for rapport building.

Let’s look at just a few more stats.

Upselling isn’t just about bringing in more sales. It’s about showing your current clients that you really do understand their needs. And that can go a long way.

Clearly, there are some very real (and very lucrative) benefits to upselling your current clients.

But let’s face it, no one likes change. And unless you can really sell an upgrade, you’re likely to hear a lot of “Thanks, but no thanks.”

That’s why you need to take a strategic approach. One that zeroes in on paint points, offers quantifiable benefits, touches on risks, and drives real urgency.

Enter The Proven Product Upsell Framework. Successful upselling here we go!

This framework has seen real-world success in turning lukewarm clients into enthusiastic buyers of upsold products. And when implemented properly, it takes the question mark out of upselling completely.

All you have to do is:

“Every single move you're going to make, whether it's a renewal or an upsell of any type, starts with identifying and documenting results, anchoring and justifying their faith in you.” – Interview with Tim Riesterer, Chief Strategy Officer of Corporate Visions

The first step of the framework is to document how you’ve already helped your client. This is the sturdy, logical foundation on which your upselling pitch is built. After all, B2B buyers make decisions on hard numbers, not just sales savviness.

When it comes to new vs. current accounts, it’s all about how you treat the status quo.

For instance, with new accounts, you want to attack the status quo. Productivity could be better. Efficiency could be better. Bottom-line earnings could be better.

But with current accounts, you’re actually attacking and defending the status quo. You’re defending it because you don’t want clients to head to your competitor. And you’re attacking it so you can convince them to upgrade to your premium product.

There are a couple of ways you can do both at once. But the best I’ve found is by sending them a value-rich quarterly report.

The quarterly report isn’t difficult to create. And sending it to clients before having an upsell conversation is incredibly effective at driving change.

In it, you should include six separate elements.

Upsell Pro Tip: Your report should aim to offer value, not just prime the client for an upsell. As such, you need to frame it as a source of information they’ll actually want. 

If it’s a blatant and shameless attempt to push them towards purchasing a new version of a product they already have, it can have a serious backfire effect that spoils the rest of the framework.

“When we provide value for someone, it's giving them the tools to make a better, faster, more effective, more efficient decision than they would have without our input.” – Interview with David J.P Fisher, Sales & Networking Expert

Your quarterly report has already laid a solid foundation for this step with the industry insights, detailed improvements, and cost of changing aspects.

With that information in hand, it’s time to extrapolate.

How will your client’s business change in the upcoming years? What are their competitors doing that they aren’t? And do the products your client uses now suitable for offering that same competitive advantage?

Equally importantly, where does your client want to be in the future? What goals can you help them achieve that might otherwise be out of reach?

It’s time to put your research skills to work here. As the more nuanced and specific you can get, the better.

When you’ve identified your client’s changing needs, it’s time to talk about how your product addresses that need gap.

How does your premium product help them achieve their goals? How does your premium product get them to where they want their business to be faster than ever?

Using “what if” scenarios here is a great sales tactic. Try getting them to vividly imagine what it would be like if they achieved their future goals using your product.

Beyond simply priming them for a “yes” answer, this technique also helps the client clearly see that something is needed to achieve those goals. And if you’ve done your job, they’ll know it’s what you’re offering.

Upsell Pro Tip: Research is going to play a major role at this stage of the framework. If you can pinpoint some of the biggest pain points and growth opportunities your client is facing, you can leverage them to better sell your premium product. 

Plus, it also shows you’re truly invested in the relationship and understand their changing needs. And that builds trust. 

“I think the age-old relationship-building, rapport-building, really doing our research and understanding that person and the organization and making that connection, finding a way that we can demonstrate our expertise and show trust. I think that's critical and probably more important now. We just need to do it in a different environment, because some of the other things we used to do, like break bread together or physically shake hands, we can't do those anymore.” – Interview with Ray Makela, Author, Speaker, & Business Executive

Once the buyer understands that their needs have changed and you can offer them more value than before, you need to pull on the other end of the spectrum of pain.

So far, we’ve been focused on how things are going to get better when they work with you. Now though, we need to shift to discuss the pain they will face if they don’t.

Now we need to double down on the fact that there is a risk to the buyer if they don’t keep up and enable us to support them.

This turns the upsell from a “nice to have” to a “necessity” in the mind of the buyer.

You can do so by tapping into the six forms of risk.

The risk of not changing comes in six different forms. If you can explain one or more of these forms of risk of not changing to your buyer, you’ll immediately get them pushing towards an upsell contract.

Upsell Pro Tip: Don’t overdo it when hammering in the risks. Usually highlighting just one or two will get the ball rolling. But be sure to pinpoint which are most important to the buyer. 

“In exchange for giving you the time to have one of these meetings, you're going to be bringing the kind of evidence that is useful to them personally and professionally in that organization and the project or job that they're working on.” – Interview with Tim Riesterer, Chief Strategy Officer of Corporate Visions 

By now, you’ve proven to the client that you’ve brought them real, tangible value with your product. You’ve demonstrated that their needs (and the industry at large) are changing around them. And you’ve given them a few reasons to sweat by outlining the risks of not upgrading.

For some clients, these three steps alone will be enough to motivate action. But for others, fear of change may still be causing some hesitancy.

That’s when it’s time to break out the urgency-busting big guns—the instant discount.

This instant discount should be the motivator that gets the client to sign on. But this isn’t any discount. Instead, it’s a time-based discount. And it’s only valid until the deadline is up.

Urgency is the last straw before deciding to buy in. It’s the straw that broke the camel’s back, as it were. And if you’ve successfully performed the three previous steps, it should be the final piece of motivation your client needs to purchase your upsell.

Below are some best practices to follow when creating your trigger event.

Upsell Pro Tip: A trigger event doesn’t always have to be price-related. You could also offer complimentary onboarding, expert consultations, additional products, or other creative incentives. But remember, they all have to be tied to a deadline to drive real urgency. 

“Understanding your audience is always the first step. So, I think so much of sales is doing your homework, doing your preparation, and knowing what those trigger points are. What are the things that are going to move these people to actually respond in the way that I want them to? So, that's where I always start, is let's figure out who our customer is, let's figure out our audience, and let's speak their language.” – Interview with Robbie Crabtree, Senior Lecturer at MIT

The upsell is one of the best ways to generate more revenue, instill more client loyalty, and even bring in more referrals than ever. Best of all, upselling to existing customers is more efficient, effective, and profitable than fishing for new clients.

And to do it strategically (and successfully), all you have to do is:

So before you go spending 80% of your day on prospecting, try reaching out to your current buyers and upselling them on a premium version of their current products. When you follow this framework, you’ll be surprised how easy earning a “hell yes!” can be.

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