The Upside of Upselling: How to Add Revenue Without Adding Burden
By Meghan Ely, OFD Consulting, Richmond, Va.
How does one maximize profit over a limited number of revenue-generating days each year, face increasingly tougher competition and the ebbs and flows of a finicky economy, and still achieve some semblance of life balance? Many planners feel it necessary to increase volume to increase profits, taking on more clients, working longer hours, and making greater sacrifices but to what end? How can planners “work smarter, not harder” and still take home the rewards they deserve for their effort and expertise?
The Solution
The solution is simple—upselling. This highly successful sales strategy involves identifying add-on services and products your existing customers may need and granting them the ease and opportunity to secure them through you. Upselling is “smart” work versus “hard” work. It leverages the fact that you already have a relationship with your clients, and that they trust you inherently. Your credibility is an asset that can be monetized through upselling techniques. It is also a win-win concept, wherein you become more profitable, and your clients’ needs are being met with quality and convenience.
Get Started with Strategic Assessment
The first step to add upselling is a strategic assessment of your customers’ needs. The most effective way to do this is to listen to your clients. Keep a keen ear out for opportunities during your consultations and planning meetings. Or create a post-wedding survey—specifically soliciting input into other services your clients wish you offered or giving them a list of products and services you might offer to gauge whether or not they would have considered obtaining them through you. Also, listen to your colleagues. Find out if they are aware of gaps they wish could be filled for your mutual customers.
Brit Bertino, CSEP, of Brit Bertino, Event Excellence, based in Las Vegas and Santa Monica, Calif., sends out a questionnaire that allows her team to learn more about their couples and their guests. “When clients check something that is high-importance on the questionnaire, it allows us to upsell that particular wedding element,” says Bertino. “If it is of low importance, we know we should stick to the basics. The questionnaire helps us customize our clients’ experience.”
Go with what you know
Your first option is to expand on services within the realm of planning, which doesn’t require a huge shift from what you already know. Couples might need more help at the rehearsal dinner or post-wedding brunches. Perhaps your bride is complaining about capturing guest responses. Consider RSVP tracking as an add-on to your planning packages. Create an a la carte or hourly option to address individual needs and allow customization of base services. Bertino offers concierge services to her busy clients. “We get requests for last-minute show tickets, alterations, dry-cleaning, and personal shoppers, among others, allowing us to not only upsell and maximize revenue, but to truly serve a client need.”
Get Creative in Your Offerings
Consider offering a service entirely different from planning. For this to be successful, the other service must be an organic match; something that makes sense given your expertise. You can’t just start offering photography, for example, if you don’t have the training and equipment. Some planners have found a natural fit by extending their services to include event design and small rentals, for example. Be mindful, however, of any business you take away from other vendors in your region, especially long-time friends and colleagues and those who are in a position to refer to you often. If needed, reach out as a professional courtesy to inform them prior to your launch.
Find an affiliate marketing program
A more high-tech approach to upselling is to participate in an Affiliate Marketing program. These online tools allow you to work with a recognizable, reputable brand and represent their products. You collect payments and an affiliate organization sends you a check for sales or traffic generated from your referrals. Although the structure varies from company to company, you essentially agree to partner with a product or service, and receive a commission based on sales to your customer base. There are passive affiliate marketing arrangements, where you can create a page of products on your website. A popular example is the Amazon Associates program. Or, you might explore more active arrangements like the Sandals affiliate program, in which planners offer honeymoon or destination wedding packages to their clients and earn commissions based on sales.
For Pam Duval, MBC™, owner of North Carolina-based Promised Hearts, a partnership with Sandals was ideal. “It seemed like a perfect win-win solution for my company. I promote a brand I truly believe in, make my couples very happy by showing them how they can afford the vacation of a lifetime, and earn revenue for Promised Hearts, along with free nights,” she says. Virginia-based planner Dana Briggs of Elegantly Yours Events added online affiliate marketing to her website. “The benefit to me was the ability to create passive income without taking up additional internal resources,” she says. Though they took different paths, both Duval and Briggs agree that it’s imperative to align yourself with companies that complement your brand.
Grow your business through sales
The keys to upselling are to critically evaluate your customer’s needs and to create a plan to fulfill them using the skillset or resources available to you. Loyal customers will appreciate that you can fill common gaps in-house and minimize their work and worry. You will benefit from increased revenue, leading to higher levels of job satisfaction and the ability to pursue new opportunities. And you will strengthen your reputation and market influence.
