I admit that I actually enjoy being upsold. That's partly because it's what I do for a living. It's also because I want to make certain that I've purchased the right thing for the problem I'm trying to solve.

That means I've got two all wheel drive vehicles in Northern Virginia because it sometimes snows here and I just might need to pick up the kids at school in the middle of the day.

And it means I've got the 8 GB iPhone instead of the 4 GB version because I might get stuck on a plane for a few hours and just might need a few more Van Halen albums to while away the time.

Give me a good value proposition, with clear benefits, at the right time and I'll buy.

Just don't give up after the first time, if I don't buy. Be persistent, like Checks Unlimited.

I was in the market for business checks and went with Checks Unlimited to purchase a set of 3-up checks. During the online ordering process, I was offered a special 9" x 13" binder in which to store the checks.

I was in a hurry or wasn't quite paying attention, so I declined and completed the sale. The checks arrived via UPS seven days later.

How to upsell remotely

The checks were perfect, but unwieldy given the size of the form. I was kicking myself for not purchasing the special binder, when what did I see but an insert with the perfect headline and offer.

"Did you forget your accessory products?" it presciently asked, with the exact binder I needed on the front of the flyer. A 25% savings and free handling offer sealed the deal.

What I did next was totally out of character.

Be careful of what you ask for

Even though I purchase almost every single business supply online, I picked up the phone, called the 800 number and placed the order for the binder. My records show I completed the sale in five minutes and nine seconds.

I did this without realizing how I'd ordered because Checks Unlimited did a great job in telling me to call the toll-free number.

As you can see by the front of the flyer at the right, they prominently display the 800 number along with the promotion code for the offer.

The CRE tells me I can "Save time!" by using the 800 number on the back of the envelope as well as in the postage stamp location.

This example shows how a marketer can move a hot prospect down a conversion path, even when the conversion path--in this case the 800 number--isn't natural to the buyer.

Consumers will tend to do what you ask them to do, even if it isn't natural to them.

Was this the best ordering path for Checks Unlimited? Yes, they closed the sale, but would I have ordered online anyway (the answer would have been yes) and might I have ordered more accessories via the online channel?

The answer, of course, lies in a series of tests. I wouldn't be surprised if the push to 800 number ordering wasn't the result of a sophisticated set of tests that yielded a better ROI than a push to order online.

When was the last time you looked at your upsell and accessory sales opportunities and tested your conversion path(s), not only the scripting and copy, but also the channel in which you ask the customer to respond

Look at your upsell promotions through the eyes of the consumer and see if what you're asking them to do makes sense. Then test it all to produce the highest yield and the most repeat customers.

Summary and takeaways

1. Don't give up on the accessory sale. Most often the "no" you receive on an upsell is really "not now." On delivery of the product, use that excitement as a platform for additional sales for products and services the customer missed during the initial sale.
2. Get that second sale. In the non-profit world, we used to say that the only purpose of the first gift was to set the stage for the second. The difference between a one-time buyer and a second-time buyer who's on the way to becoming a habitual buyer is huge--check out the premiums charged for list rental for a multibuyer select. Make aggressive offers to get the customer to validate their initial belief that they did the right thing by purchasing from you in the first place.
3. Be cognizant of your ordering pathing. Are you trying to steer customers into ordering online or via an 800 number or both? Have you tested segmenting your customer base and driving certain customers to preferred ordering vehicles?

What have you done to increase your upsell performance lately?

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For the first time in a long time I took a few minutes to run through the Valpak co-op mailing I received last week.

After a few minutes of looking at the offers, I came up with a short list of things to consider if you're using Valpak (or other co-ops) as a marketing channel.  The short list is powered by my own past experience and might stimulate you to think of some other ideas.

Before I get started, here's a rundown of what I found inside.  There was a total of 43 inserts inside the envelope (which featured, bizarrely, a promotion for the television program CSI: NY on the OE and which distracted me from the 1:50,000 possibility that there might be a check for $100 inside).  I sorted the inserts into three categories:

1. National advertisers (19, 44% of the total).  These included Netflix, DirecTV, Verizon, Omaha Steaks and others.  Of those, 4 (27%) of the inserts did not use the standard 8 1/4" x 3 1/2" format and instead paid additional for a heavier and/or different stock insert.
2. Regional/franchise (8, 19% of the total).  Included here were ads for the local Gold's Gym, Kaiser Permanente and Molly Maids.  Of these, only 1 (12%) of the inserts deviated from the standard insert.
3. Local advertisers (15, 35% of the total). These ranged from local dentists to home improvement providers to Anthony's, a restaurant down the street--which included some coupons that might finally get me to take the family there!.  Only 1 insert (7%) strayed from the Valpak standard format.

Valpak ran one house insert, promoting an offer of $350 to target 10,000 homes for new advertisers, a CPM of $35.

We can immediately see some ideas, just from this basic sort.

The national advertisers, who have the biggest budgets for testing, are behaving differently than the smaller advertisers.  They are much more likely to use a heavier or different-sized insert than the local advertisers.  This is a great idea, as those ads, including ones from Dunkin' Donuts, Discover Financial Services and Netflix were more likely to fall out and be noticed.  As those ads were also larger, they had more room for promotional and offer copy and, in the case of Discover, provided a full credit card application.

Very smart and our key takeaway from the national advertisers: Don't be afraid to ask for and pay for extra weight and different formats.  In a cluttered environment such as a Valpak envelope, it's critical you stand out because you've only got seconds before the promotion is trashed.

I did see some flaws with the national advertisers.  While Omaha Steaks--a quality direct response marketing-led organization--provided a promotion with strong offer and call to action, Verizon provided a piece completely devoid of an offer. (See my Featured article on Monday to see more about Verizon).

While the local advertisers tended to use the standard Valpak format, I noticed that they were much more likely to have heavy use of offer- and benefit-laden copy.  Words such as "Free" and coupons (complete with dashed lines) featuring the savings amounts were very common.

On the other hand, the local advertisers creative tended to be weaker.  They were somewhat more cluttered and, in some cases, it was difficult to see the offer pop from the page.  This is possibly the case of the advertiser trying to save money on creative by either using a Valpak standard format or using a very inexpensive agency.  The takeway here is don't scrimp on the creative, once you've taken the plunge to buy the media provide a compelling offer.

When was the last time you looked through your co-op mailings or Sunday supplements?  Taking a few minutes to sort through them might help you uncover some interesting new ideas for those media or for others.

Summary and takeaways

1. Vary the stock and size of your promotion when in a competitive environment like a co-op mailing.  While it will cost you more, it's even more important that you stand out in these types of media due to the low open rates.  Check your competition and test what you've seen them do.
2. Don't scrimp on the creative.  Yes, it's a low-response medium, which means that you've got to watch the costs closely, but because of the short attention span it's critical that you don't hide your offer by making it difficult for the prospect to quickly see what you're offering.
3. Test two inserts.  None of the advertisers in this mailing had two pieces, but I've seen strong success by inserting two pieces.  Best of all--if you can manage it--is two inserts of unique size/shape/weight, at the front on either side.  You'll pay significantly more for this trick, but it almost always pays for itself, as you'll got noticed regardless of which side the prospect looks at first.

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