One of the most important services can provide is the art of up selling and cross selling. The reason why these services are so valuable is because it maximizes the potential of every phone call. To up sell and cross sell can mean an average of forty percent additional gross sale per telephone call. MPC Call Centers attack the up sell and the cross sell in three different ways. The first is through technology, the second is through training, and the third is through statistical analysis.

Call center Up selling is the method of moving the caller up to a more expensive version of what they are already purchasing. To up sell the caller is to get the caller to buy an enhanced or deluxe model of the product that is already being purchased. When a caller exposes what their needs and interest are, this opens the door to the art of the up sell. These callers often are educated to the benefit of moving up to a better alternative than they are considering.

Up selling or to up sell is often times used to sell the caller multiple versions of the same item. When the caller has set their mind on what they are buying and what they are spending, the ability to get that caller to buy multiple versions of the same item becomes enticing to the consumer, who has already established a mindset for the actual value of the said item or items.

Defining Cross-selling and Upselling
One reason why contact centers that sell do not realize their revenue potential is a misunderstanding of what selling means, says Tom Stanfill, founding partner and CEO of Aslan Training and Development.

“Everybody — from executives to managers to reps — has to understand that the customer drives your ability to cross-sell or upsell,” he says. “It’s not simply a case of, ‘Do you want fries with that?’”

Sure, you’ll be able to sell a few extra orders of fries just on timing, adds Marc Lamson, who joined Aslan after Stanfill helped him to guide the service center at his former employer, American Power Conversion, into a sales environment. But are those really the kinds of numbers you can depend on?

Profiling Agents Who Can Service and Sell
Bringing a sales mission into the service center can be disruptive, to say the least. How do you preserve service levels while achieving sales goals? This is where hiring is key, so it was surprising that only 16.9 percent of respondents to the Transcomworld survey added prehire testing to determine agent skill-sets for cross-selling and upselling.

Recruiting also needs to be considered, says Tara Reynolds, vice president of Customer Marketing and Acquisition for Prudential’s Individual Life Insurance business.

Prudential has a very small direct sales program, as it relies heavily on getting leads out to its face-to-face sales channels. Among its hundreds of service agents, only 30 actually handle sales—and then only with customers who choose to work over the phone rather than with a local agent

Outsource up-selling and cross-selling services
Contact Up-selling services and cross-selling services refer to telemarketing or online selling of products and services handled by representatives at inbound call centers. Up-selling is when a customer’s attention is drawn to a better quality and higher priced product or to the savings to be made by buying a larger quantity of a product.

Cross-selling is made when the customer is given to understand the advantage of buying a related or associated product. It is basically educating the potential customers about the choices available to enable them to make informed decisions. An estimated 30%-40% of the time the upgraded or additional purchase is made, which is a very significant boost any business can hope for.