Enough With the Upsells Already! by Karon Thackston ? 2005
http://www.learn-copywriting.com
It happened twice during the same week. All I wanted to do was
make a purchase, and they were making every effort to keep me
from it (or so it seemed). Why would a business who wanted me to
buy from them so badly put enough roadblocks in my path to make
me want to click off the site and go someplace else?
The roadblocks that almost kept me from purchasing were repeated
upsells. You know the kind. You go to a site and add something
to your cart or speak with a person on the phone and tell
him/her you want to buy. Then it starts. The upsells.
But Wait? There's More
"As a special offer - only for people who buy today - you can
also get?" I'm a copywriter so I understand the power of
upsells, and one, maybe even two, is a good thing. Lots and lots
of people will add more to their carts (or agree via telephone
to buy more) when given the chance to upgrade or buy exclusive
offers at the same time. But there is such a thing as overdoing
it.
The robot-like sales clerk just about blew the order! I called
to buy a book I'd seen advertised. As soon as the salesperson
said, "I've got you down for one copy of the book, but - just
for people who call today?" I knew I was in trouble. One upsell
offer came. Then another. "We have a special bonus for you, too"
followed by "Because you're a health-conscious person, we'd like
to give you this special surprise for 30 days absolutely free."
I am not exaggerating when I say there were 10 upsells in a row.
Stop It Right Now or I'm Leaving
I finally couldn't take it anymore. I interrupted and told the
clerk that I wanted the book and only the book. If he was able
to stop reading from his script and process the order for my
book, I'd still like to buy it. If he was not able to do that, I
would hang up the phone.
He couldn't do it! He floundered around, flipping through the
pages, trying to think of what came at the end of all the
upsells. I guess he'd never gotten that far before. The sale was
stopped. I didn't order the book after all. I was so frustrated
and aggravated by the time I hung up the phone I could have
screamed!
A few days later, it happened again. I was at a website,
transferring a few domain names. After I added the transfer
service to my cart, the upsells started. Page after page came
for hosting; domain parking; useless, mass search engine
optimization; anonymous WhoIs registration - you name it! Did I
buy any of the offers? No. After reading the first one or two, I
scrolled - without reading a word - through FOUR more pages of
upsells before reaching the final order page.
Don't Abuse Upsells
What happened here? Like so many other good things, the upsell
is being badly abused. What started out as a wonderful marketing
tool has ended up on what seems to be a drug-induced rage. Do
upsells still work? Yes. If they are handled properly.
When someone adds something to their shopping basket or calls to
place an order, by all means offer them special deals to
increase sales. This strategy has worked to bring in additional
revenue for decades. Don't, however, bombard the customer with
upsell after upsell. Not only will the effect be completely lost
after three or four attempts to make additional sales, but
customers will also quickly become irritated. They may even hang
up or click away to another site.
Use common sense when adding upsells to your marketing mix. If
you, personally, wouldn't want to sit through an additional 20
minutes of sales pitches on the phone, don't make your
customers. If you wouldn't want to scroll through page after
page of bonuses and specials, your customers won't want to
either.
The greed involved with hounding people to buy additional items
or services can very often have the reverse effect. Instead of
adding more to their shopping carts, your customers may decide
to avoid the aggravation altogether and leave. Keep your upsells
focused and to a minimum for the best results.
About the author:
Copy not getting results? Learn to write SEO copy that impresses
the engines and your visitors at
http://www.copywritingcourse.com. Be sure to also check out
Karon?s latest e-report ?How To Increase Keyword Saturation
(Without Destroying the Flow of Your Copy)? at
http://www.copywritingcourse.com/keyword.
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