Alan Gayle is a sales and marketing consultant specialising in the construction industry and working in the stone sector for more than a decade. In this column he offers advice on how to make an impact in the market. This month Alan reviews upselling.

When I first covered upselling a couple of years ago, I got some confused responses from readers who thought I was talking in another language. To avoid that happening this time, I’m going to stick to the basics and explain why I link upselling and diversification together.

First of all: What is upselling?

Well, to give you an example: “Would you like any cakes or muffins with your coffee?”

That question is asked thousands of times a day in Starbucks, Costa, Caffè Nero and a whole host of others. They’re offering you an additional item to increase their sales.

I don’t know about you, but occasionally I do have an overpriced cookie to go with my overpriced cappuccino.

If every barista in every coffee shop sold just one extra cookie per hour, they would sell thousands of extra cookies every year just by asking a 10-word question.

Upselling is really easy if you ask the right question at the right time.

Remember: There are only three ways to grow your business:

1. Increase your customer-base and sell to more customers
2. Increase your margins
3. Increase the amount you sell to existing customers

Upselling is all about point 3. And while lots of small business owners make point 1 their priority, it costs seven times more to get business from a new customer than it does to sell more to an existing customer. When it comes to increasing your profit, that grass is rarely greener on the other side.

So what are you going to upsell to your customers?

That’s where diversification comes in. What additional products could you offer that are related to your core product range?

A few years ago Kwik Fit added brakes and exhausts to their tyre services. They now offer full engine servicing as well.

Tesco, M&S and Sainsbury’s all offer banking services. Google has built a huge corporate empire from diversification and upselling.

Although additional goods and services might attract new customers, they’re also giving existing customers more and more opportunities to hand over their money to you.

If you sell floor tiles through a retail outlet, make sure you also offer specialist cleaning products to every customer. If you sell hand-operated power tools, can you offer the statutory PUWER testing? Many roofing contractors have created an entirely new income stream by installing solar panels in addition to their standard roofing services.

These are all examples of upselling and diversification at work in the construction industry.

Here are few KeyNOTES to remember on Upselling and Diversification:

1. It’s much cheaper to sell more to your existing customers than it is to find brand new customers
2. Do your best customers know all the products / services you offer?
3. Do you sell them everything you can?
4. What else you can sell to your existing customer base?
5. Upsell at the point of sale – “Would you like a care kit with that worktop?”
6. Make a plan. Know exactly what you want to achieve and how you intend to achieve it
7. If the extra goods or services you want to offer need specialist expertise, consider strategic alliances with complementary businesses to provide them.

Alan Gayle has worked in sales and marketing roles in the construction industry since 1993. Following a successful career with some of the UK’s leading building product manufacturers, he has worked in the stone sector more than a decade. He now runs Keystone Construction Marketing, a marketing agency specialising in the construction industry. The agency works with building contractors, subcontractors and building product suppliers to help them increase their sales and improve their margins.