Security Sales & Integration February 2023 - 44

Management
Upsides of the Upsell
successful upsell or cross-sell plan.
Upselling and cross-selling training: We've
Any plan starts
with a strategic
vision and overall
blueprint, and
a total company
commitment.
heard technicians say, " I'm not a salesperson. "
Hearing that is the perfect reason why they are!
We've learned that consumers have a positive
experience with installers. Installers can offer
additional products simply with their recommendation.
Some companies have perfected
the art. Upsell kits were widely used in the old
Interlogix days. The customer-appealing cardboard
or soft-sided kit, about the size of a small
briefcase, was brought into the home or business.
A company logo's tabletop protector was
put down first and then the briefcase kit was
placed on top of the protective mat and set on
a table. The kit contained items that the customer
did not purchase and could change out
prior to arrival to accentuate the upsell items.
The tech would leave the kit open during the
installation process and refer to the items as appropriate.
Many companies moved away from
the kits as they migrated to iPads to accomplish
defray costs. In addition, if they don't have the
internal resources, they may be able to step up
and pay for you to hire an industry marketing
professional to assist your company. This may
require a sales commitment on your part, but it
should be a win-win proposition. Lastly, if you
plan to upsell with tangible products, deliver
a forecasted sales plan to the vendor so that
they can build sufficient product to meet your
needs. This is especially important due to supply
chain issues.
Dollars and cents: Every program initiated
at a company should be measured; sales goals
to actual
sales consummated, customer engagement
and how the program is positively
impacting your attrition, customer satisfaction,
expense vs. reward. A robust separate compensation
plan should be established for upselling
and cross selling. Certainly, cross selling in the
commercial segment should yield more compensation
to the teams. We have discussed the
installation team upselling, but remember that
this is a total company commitment. If a lead
comes into the company as a commercial intrusion
lead (only) and the salesperson sells intrusion,
video, and access, they should be rewarded
handsomely. If the lead taker can quickly prime
the potential customer of additional products
and services offered by your company, a spiff
should be paid if the cross-selling opportunity
becomes a sales reality.
We've heard technicians say,
" I'm not a salesperson. " Hearing
that is the perfect reason
why they are! We've learned
that consumers have a
positive experience with
installers. Installers can offer
additional products simply
with their recommendation.
the same goal. However, something must be
said about tangibility and letting the customer
ponder on the exposed security or connected
home items in the kit that they may have not
purchased at the time of the original sale.
Vendor assistance: There is plenty of help
available to your company as you roll out or
perfect your plan. Make use of your partners
and seek help from their marketing teams.
Whether your program is upselling or cross
selling products, platform services or VSaaS,
your partner's marketing teams can help with
literature in any format, website landing page
design, sales, and marketing material and provide
your company with co-op dollars to help
44
Security Sales & Integration FEBRUARY 2023
Bounty of Benefits All Around
We have long known that the more the consumer
is invested in your company economically,
the longer the relationship will last.
That increase in relationship time directly
positively impacts the RMR paid to your
company over time and increases the value of
your company as will.
In closing, any upselling or cross-selling
opportunity is about serving your customers
specific needs. It's solution-based selling at its
finest. It should be your company's goal to educate
the consumer on things that they may
not be familiar with but will, if presented and
appropriately sold, add additional peace of
mind the day the installation and for many
years to come. SSI
KIRK MacDOWELL is President of MacGuard
Security Advisors and a member of
the SSI Editorial Advisory Board. He can be
reached at kirk.macdowell@macguard.com.
securitysales.com
ELNUR/STOCK.ADOBE.COM
http://www.securitysales.com
Security Sales & Integration February 2023

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