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When you think of upselling, think of fast food restaurants. Really! They pretty much perfected the art with their “would you like fries with that?” and their “would you like tomake that combo a large?” Asking for a bigger sale might seem tough, especially since the customer just willingly opened their wallet, but in McDonald’s has proven that the upsell works. Sometimes all you have to do is ask.
An email is the perfect opportunity to ask for the upsell when you’re running an ecommerce business. You probably don’t want to mention additional products in your thank you and confirmation emails, but you can touch base between purchases to prompt further sales. For that, you need an awesome upsell email. The very best emails can convince the buyer you’re just trying to help.
What does an awesome upsell email look like? Let’s dive in.
Personalized Greeting
Let your buyers know right away that you recognize them. An upsell email with a generic greeting will make it look like you’re just out to make another quick buck. By using their names, you instead let them know you’re providing information that has been prepared with only that one person in mind.
Show the Recently Purchased Item
Anyone who opens the email will immediately see the item they purchased and congratulate themselves for their cleverness. You foster good feelings right away, which keeps them reading. The next thing you’ll do with the reminder is let them know your forthcoming recommendation has something to do with the item mentioned. Since the first purchase was such a success, they’ll probably stick around to see what else you can do.
More importantly, you anchor what you’re suggesting to what they’ve done before. By explaining to customers that this isn’t a random recommendation, but rather a recommendation personalized to them based on your expertise, you’re on your way towards building the most valuable kind of ecommerce business.
Provide the Suggestions
You’ll experience the greatest success if your suggested items are related to a previous purchase in some way. Maybe additional accessories for a tech purchase, or a bag that matches the shoes they recently bought. This shows them you’re really paying attention and not just holding your hand out for more money.
If there are no associated items, show products that may relate in other ways. If the buyer often purchases contemporary romance books with alpha heroes, show other books that fit those criteria. If someone recently ordered chrome wheels from your auto supply, suggest a custom gearshift.
Ask for Help
No matter how sophisticated your automation program is, you still won’t get it right every time. That’s why you should offer your buyers the chance to tweak the recommendations.
Include a link that leads to your site. You can either let them downvote products that don’t interest them or simply ask for more information to better predict their interests. More customer data is always a good thing, no matter how you get it.
Contact Information
Always include your contact information with every email to your customers. This allows them to reach you with any questions (or complaints) they may have. Be sure you have more than just an email address or your website address, too. Buyers want to know they can talk to a real person whenever necessary.
Social Sharing Buttons
Don’t you want those buyers telling others about your products? Let them share your suggestions with the world You might be surprised at how often they tell their Twitter followers about the items you offered. Click here for a tutorial on creating social sharing buttons in under five minutes. If nothing else, it’ll give them a direct link to your social media accounts which they can follow whenever they choose.
Opt-Out Option
You never want to say goodbye to your customers, but that doesn’t mean you can keep them against their will. No matter how long you’ve been sending your suggestions, they might decide one day they no longer want to receive them. Maybe they’re on your site every day anyway. You can console yourself with that possibility.
What else do you think should be included in the perfect upsell email? Have you seen any lately that convinced you of a company’s genius? We’d love to hear your thoughts!
