{"id":6607,"date":"2019-11-14T10:07:18","date_gmt":"2019-11-14T09:07:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodpecker.co\/blog\/?p=6607"},"modified":"2026-03-23T20:06:56","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T19:06:56","slug":"upsell-cross-sell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodpecker.co\/blog\/upsell-cross-sell\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Upselling and Cross-selling and How to Apply These Techniques in a SaaS Sales Process?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although an e-commerce sales<\/span> process greatly differs from the sales<\/span> we usually cover here, I believe there are some tactics that can be taken from it and applied to your own SaaS<\/span> sales<\/span> process<\/ins>. For instance, upselling or cross-selling on the order value. Let’s see\u00a0how\u00a0you can\u00a0use e-commerce’s tactic of upselling and cross-selling to boost your sales<\/span><\/ins>.<\/p>\n

What do “upselling” & “cross-selling” mean?<\/h2>\n

When you go to Starbucks, the barista usually asks you, “Do you want an extra shot of espresso in your coffee?” Something\u00a0similar happens in McDonald’s where you’re asked whether you want to supersize your order. Well, that is upselling<\/strong> in real life. The seller<\/span> wants to up the value of your initial order.<\/p>\n

Cross-selling<\/strong> is when you’re offered an attractive accompaniment to the thing you’re ordering. For example, you’re offered fries to your burger, or to step outside\u00a0of the culinary world references, you’re buying a new camera and you can get a discount on memory cards. All in all, customers buy an additional thing to their initial order.<\/p>\n

Relevancy is key in upselling and cross-selling<\/h3>\n

The success in\u00a0upselling and cross-selling comes down to the relevance of the offer.\u00a0A prospective buyer can’t be persuaded to up the value of their order unless they can buy something relevant at the right time. That\u00a0“relevancy” factor is\u00a0decisive here. E-commerce stores are great at using it.<\/p>\n

Whenever you’re ready to make a purchase, AI shopping assistants<\/a> on e-commerce stores may remind you that you can either get more value by upgrading your purchase or buying an additional item. They do it at the right moment — when you’re about to check out. And since most B2C customers buy on the whim, checking out lends itself as a perfect opportunity to buy more.<\/p>\n

Here’s an example of cross-selling. Sports shoppers want to buy a sports team jersey. They added it to the cart. Immediately after,\u00a0the e-commerce store offers them a hat. The hat is relevant. It’s the same sports team hat. Will they buy it?<\/p>\n\"shopify\n

Or see an example from Amazon. Shop visitors want to buy an Xbox One. They will need a game to use it, so the shop will collect Amazon product details<\/a> and offer them a combined deal. Isn’t that a relevant suggestion?<\/p>\n\"upselling\n

Those are just quick finds. But I’m sure that any big e-commerce stores have cross-selling and upselling figured out.<\/p>\n

How to translate that into SaaS sales?<\/h2>\n

SaaS<\/span> sales<\/span> specialists also try those techniques. Upselling and cross-selling techniques are usually\u00a0implemented on the pricing page. As soon as\u00a0a website visitor has decided to buy a subscription, they check out your pricing page, so the right message on a pricing page can persuade them to buy more. And why wouldn’t a pricing page work at upselling and cross-selling? After all, it fits the relevance principle. A customer is ready to buy.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, there’s a major difference between B2B<\/span> and B2C customers. Rarely does a B2B<\/span> customer buy on the spot. The majority of B2B<\/span> buyers need\u00a0to develop a relationship with you or your product in order to make a buying decision.<\/p>\n

Use\u00a0the relationship that you have to up the deal value<\/h3>\n

You can leverage\u00a0a relationship you have with your current customers<\/span> and try to upsell or cross-sell to them in the future. You can\u00a0increase the value of what they’re buying. But when? I would say that when the relationship between you and your customer<\/span> is at\u00a0its strongest, it’s best to hit them up with an upselling\/cross-selling proposal.<\/p>\n

Let’s say\u00a0you clinched the deal some time ago. Yet, the time passed and you grew your offer. In the meantime, they developed their business<\/span>.\u00a0It’s a perfect opportunity for selling to them.<\/p>\n

So, you have the first part covered. You have a relationship with them. But how can you tell if you fulfill the relevance principle?<\/p>\n

Relevancy\u00a0depends on what success means\u00a0at your company<\/h3>\n

Relevancy stems from customer success at B2B<\/span> companies. Once your customer is judged by you to be successful, you can cross-sell or upsell to them, as your offer to invest more in your product would make more sense to them. It’s all because they feel that they’re truly getting value from your product. It’s reasonable to invest more.<\/p>\n

No SaaS<\/span> companies are the same. They target different industries, different sectors, different decision-makers. Therefore, customer success means something different to each of them.\u00a0After\u00a0you define\u00a0customer success at your SaaS<\/span> company, you know when it is relevant to upsell or cross-sell on your product.<\/p>\n

Upsell and cross-sell with email<\/h3>\n

Email is your secret power that unlocks an upsell and cross-sell potential at your SaaS<\/span> company. Why would you use email<\/span>? It makes sense because email<\/span> is professional, scalable<\/a> and it can be automated unlike a phone call or face-to-face meeting, so it can be used to follow up with clients around the globe. Let’s see how to approach upsell and cross-sell via email<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Now, when you have the success factor defined at your company, let’s ask your Customer Success Team to find those customers for us. In our case here at Woodpecker<\/span>, such customers would be the ones who have all\u00a0deliverability settings properly configured, have sent over the magic number of emails<\/span> in their campaign, and have nice email<\/span> statistics with just a few bounces and a lot of email<\/span> opens.<\/p>\n

And how would you <\/span>describe your successful customers<\/span>? Brainstorm with your Customer Success Team to find that out.<\/span><\/p>\n

How to write an upsell email?<\/h2>\n

When you have your successful customer segment ready, it\u2019s time to prepare your upselling campaign. <\/span>Since we already have a good business<\/span> relationship with them, we don’t need to worry about following a recognized email<\/span> structure like the one in this blog post about\u00a0cold email copy<\/a>. It’s enough to check when you contacted them the last time as well as who was responsible for the contact and use this info as a reference.<\/p>\n

Have a look at this upsell email<\/span> example:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n <\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
\n

Hi {{FIRST_NAME}},\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s been some time since our last chat. How is everything going? I hope your experience with our {{SNIPPET_1}} has been great so far.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As I mentioned in the previous email<\/span>, we\u2019ve just released a new feature – {{SNIPPET_2}} – that I think you may find useful. Would you have 10 minutes this Wednesday for me to show you how it can improve your {{SNIPPET_3}}? In return for your feedback, I\u2019d like to offer you a {{SNIPPET_4}} discount.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Best<\/span><\/p>\n

Lisa<\/span><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/article><\/span><\/p>\n

When you get down to writing your own upsell email<\/span>, try to follow the same pattern. Have these points in mind:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  • leverage your relationship with the customer,<\/span><\/li>\n
  • don\u2019t be pushy and too salesy,<\/span><\/li>\n
  • offer value. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    These are the three pillars of effective upselling and cross-selling a SaaS<\/span> product.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Takeaways<\/h2>\n

    I hope you feel inspired to create your own upselling\/cross-selling process. I would love to leave you with those few takeaways:<\/p>\n

      \n
    • you can learn a lot from e-commerce businesses<\/span><\/li>\n
    • relevancy matters a lot for your offer to strike the right chord<\/li>\n
    • define a success factor and create an upsell\/cross-sell strategy around\u00a0it<\/li>\n
    • use email<\/span> to upsell\u00a0or cross-sell on your B2B<\/span> offer<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Are you going to give it a try? Please don’t hesitate to share in the comments how it goes.<\/p>\n

      \n