Have you ever struggled with upselling? Would you like to expand revenue from your current accounts? Want to get your team more involved in upselling? All it takes is some strategy and a change of mindset to reap the benefits of upsell opportunities.

In this episode, we’ll cover:

• #1 worst agency sales mistake.
• What works for digital agency upselling?
• 2 ways to make upselling less salesy.
• Are you selling your agency short?
• How to train your agency team to upsell.

Today I chatted with Daniel Hodge, Head of the Wix Partners Program. Danny and his team build relationships with digital marketing agencies. Over the years, he has seen and heard it all from digital agencies. Everything from what is work to what doesn’t plus all the good and bad strategies for growing digital agency business. He’s sharing some great ways you can improve your upsell strategies right away.

#1 Worst Agency Sales Mistake

There’s a ton of experts out there sharing best practices, but Danny said he’s actually seen a lot of “worst practices.” The top among them is the mistake of making it impossible for site visitors to get in touch.

The site design might be amazing, but oftentimes the call to action is lacking. Either it’s unclear, buried, or simply non-existent. Sure, the big agencies can get away without a call-to-action because they already have a reputation.

However, medium and smaller agencies tend to model them even though what works one doesn’t necessarily work for others.

What Works for Digital Agency Upselling?

Danny says he is seeing agencies the size of 5-50 employees growing fast over the last year or so. He believes this is largely due to their ability to be flexible and work quickly during the pandemic when a lot of businesses need to increase or improve their digital presence.

But, how can you take existing clients and turn them into more revenue? It all starts with not disguising the upsell but understanding the opportunity from day one. The best way to do this is to ask questions like:

• What are their business needs?
• What will a digital presence do for them?
• How can we enhance their digital presence to meet their business goals?

When you understand early on, you can put together a plan with 3, 6, and 9-month check-ins. Then look at the client’s business with an eye to the future. So when you make a recommendation it doesn’t sound or feel like an upsell. It’s simply executing another part of a long-term plan in order to meet their goals.

Then position it like: If we’re successful with “this”, then you might need “that”. Then it’s just a natural next step instead of an upsell.

2 Ways to Make Upselling Less Salesy

1. Align on what success looks like. What does a successful engagement look like for the client 6 months down the road? Have them define success and it gives you an idea of how realistic they are. (Plus time to reel them in if needed!)
2. Be proactive rather than reactive. Agencies usually provide dashboards and reporting all the time. But instead of just reporting activity, start making recommendations on what could make the results even better.

Are You Selling Your Agency Short?

The key to strategic upsells is positioning your agency as an advisor. But, Danny believes agencies are selling themselves short. Clients end up viewing them as a commodity instead of an authority. Agencies often market themselves as being good at web design, development, and SEO. But they leave out the part where they can also remarketing, lead generation, and much more.

You don’t have to be a full-service agency. However, you can explore different tools and technologies that may help you broaden the success of your service offering.

How To Get Your Agency Team to Upsell

It’s very common that the agency team is resistant to upselling to clients. They feel weird or awkward getting salesy. And let’s be honest, Project Managers are finishers or completers. They like to check items off their ‘to do’ list. They definitely don’t want to add more tasks. So it is against their nature to bring on more by suggesting an upsell. They are really good at execution but usually not so good at generating more work or upselling.

Danny says you have to make upselling more about client services and less about “selling”. Your PMs might be resistant to make a sale, but when you reposition it as enhancing client success they may be more receptive.

Another way to get team buy-in is to get them aligned with your agency goals. If they believe an upsell just puts more money in the agency owner’s pocket they aren’t motivated. But if you have a bigger picture goal about ways your agency can impact the industry your team will care more about sales successes.

Want to Partner with Other Digital Agencies?

When you join forces with Wix agency partners, you’ll unlock a community of agency partners that can help you grow and scale your agency faster than ever.

The Wix Partner Program is ideal for freelancers and digital agencies that design and develop websites for their clients. Check out Wix.com/Partners to learn more and become a member of the community for free.

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