Budtenders have a duty to help customers find the products that meet their wants & needs. Getting your customer to try several products is ideal, but sometimes upselling & cross-selling can feel uncomfortable. We’ll dive more deeply into the psychology of when, how, and why to upsell in the dispensary, including a good set of considerations before you upsell, how to incentivize buyers to add purchases through science-backed tactics, and tips for when to avoid upselling to the wrong customers.
One Article Discussed
[1] “How to Upsell and Cross-Sell in Retail” from Vend HQ
Episode Transcription:
So this is a good article. I know that's always hard. I know when I first started selling upselling or cross selling was difficult. I didn't know how to go about it, it always felt wrong, like I was pushing something that I shouldn't. But as you kind of learn over time, when you have something that would be good for the customer and add value, it's actually kind of a disservice not to, you could call it upselling it to them or just letting them know about it as another option. So let's jump into this article. It's from Vend HQ. So it's not cannabis focused. It's just in general selling in retail. But I did, as I read through it, thought of some examples we could cross over into the cannabis space, but most of it applies. I mean, you're selling in retail. It's really similar across different industries. Cannabis is in more of a unique position, being people are using it for medicinal ailments and things like that. And a lot of different use cases, but still when it comes down to it - selling is selling. And this is in a retail setting.
So let's start the article. Picture this - you've just about closed a sale and the shopper made up their mind to buy a product. What do you do? Do you ring up the sale and send them on their way? Or do you try to find opportunities to increase their basket size? If you picked the first answer, chances are you're leaving a lot of money on the table and you need to think about how you can increase add on sales.
Two of the best ways to do this is through upselling and cross selling. So upselling and cross selling defined. Just to get our definitions straight - cross selling means recommending a product relevant to the one that's already in their basket. An example would be recommending a matching wallet to a purse that the shopper is buying. Up-selling on the other hand means offering a pricier version of the item. Think of it as asking the shopper if they want to upgrade their purchase. So that's the difference between cross selling and upselling. Done right, both tactics enable you to increase sales while helping customers at the same time.
The key to upselling or cross selling success is doing it properly and at the right time and place. If you upsell a product that's irrelevant, or if you're selling in such a way that you're coming off as pushy, then you'll not only fail to convert the customer, but you might even lose the original sale. And this is my note added on - also losing a customer that may and probably won't return. This article is talking about some kind of apparel items, it used a wallet and a purse there, later on it talks about a blouse. I think the thing about cannabis and the huge opportunity being in cannabis or as a budtenders, these customers are repeat customers. You know, if you go buy $100 wallet or jacket or something like that it's a kind of a one-time purchase, you know, it's not necessarily a necessity all the time. But when you're using cannabis, it can be a regular thing for somebody. And so there's much more frequent and repeat buyers than there are in other industries where it's not a constant use product. So that even makes the opportunity of creating a "forever with you" customer that just loves coming to you, won't shop anywhere else, that much more of a bigger impact. Like I've said many times before, the number one thing of why I think a customer will return is their certainty or their experience in you and their certainty in trusting you as a budtender, when they come into that store - more than the product they buy, more than the store itself even, is that experience they have with you as an individual is number one going to be the biggest impact on whether that customer decides to come back and buy from you next time or go somewhere else.
The number one rule here is to always provide value. Yes, getting someone to upgrade their purchase, or to buy an additional item will benefit you. But the deal must also be advantageous to the customer. Ask yourself the following three things before delivering your spiel. Number one, does the product complement the item that the customer is buying? Upsells and cross sells only work when they're relevant to the original purchase. When you're upselling or cross selling an item, see to it that it's A. a better version of what they're buying or B. a product that goes with their purchase. So is it relevant, that's a really good point. They decided on what product they want to purchase. You've already done some talking and conversation with them, you know what they're looking for, that will allow you to connect it to a relevant product, not try to add on something that just doesn't fit for what they're looking for.
I think that could be a problem if you're at a store and it's like, "Okay, we've got these one or two items, we want to upsell they're a lower price. Let's offer these to everybody before they check out, that's our SOP." Well, those aren't, everybody's not gonna apply to those one or two products. But if you can upsell any product you have in the store or cross sell, your odds go way up of being able to actually recommend something that's going to be relevant to that customer.
So asking yourself these three things, number one was does the product complement what the customer is already buying? Number two, will this product really benefit them? So when you're upselling, see if you can apply the rule of three in your efforts. This means giving the shopper three options for their purchase. Jennifer and Daniela, the Co-owners of Convoy Boutique in Toronto, they call these three options "The Requested", "The Alternative", and "The Dream".
And I kind of like this, I hadn't heard this broken down this way before but I think this is useful. So the rule of three - the requested, the alternative, or the dream. The requested is that starting line or price point - it's accessible, easy to wear, maybe easy to consume, something that may be dressed down or up. Again, for cannabis, something used in multiple different environments or different use cases. The alternative is something that still relates to the requested item, but maybe at more of a mid price. So the requested is really what they decided they want to buy. You've already been talking to them. They like this product, I want to buy that - that's the requested product.
The alternative product is something that still relates to that, but is at a higher price point. And then the dream is one of your personal favorites, one that we know they're going to love and something that probably has a higher or more premium price point. According to Jennifer, when selling the dream, they aim to educate the shoppers as much as possible. "We love to talk about who our designers are, their names, where they're from, what they like to do, what inspired the collection. It really builds trust and creates that experience with our customers when they feel proud to own the pieces that they take home." So in cannabis that's - could be correlated to the farm, their growing practices. Maybe terpene results in edibles, you know how it's infused, do they source from a farm, strain specific? Those kind of things, telling that story kind of tying back to the product. What's going on behind the scenes, right? A customer's buying this product, you know, who's responsible for it, who makes it? Are they good people, do you like them? As you go up in price point, that kind of thing - that storytelling or talking about a product, becomes more important, versus just if somebody's shopping on price. That's not really as big of a consideration, it comes down to the lowest price tag.
That being said, so back to the article. Being genuine is key, as Daniela puts it, "When upselling you always want to remain genuine. I think that in order to create the best experience, we would never want to put that client in something they feel uncomfortable in. Similar, we would never want to only show them pieces outside of their price point. The key is to play to your audience and always be genuine with your approach." The rule of three can also be applied in cross selling. For instance, Jennifer and Daniela try to ensure that customers walk into the fitting room with at least three items. They accomplish that by recommending that - recommending products that complement what a shopper wants to try on.
So this is - if you're getting down to a product or the customer says, "Oh, I like that one. I think I would want to go with that." You know, you can say, "Oh, that's great. All right, let me get this product out. So you can check it out. And we've got one, actually two other products that are similar, some have more benefits, some have less, let me show you those as well real quick, because they're so close to what you're looking for." You pull them out, maybe that one they request is the start. The next one's a little bit up in price and the next one's more premium, but now you're comparing three different things that are all similar the customer might want versus having the one option that they initially requested that requested item. Never go over three - four and higher is too many options and confusing to a customer. Three, even two would be okay if you really don't have a third product that relates or complements their requested item. Let's say a customer is drawn to a white silk blouse I would show her similar blouses so we'll have the different styles in the fitting room or we'll pair it with denim footwear and accessories to really help that customer envision the outfit, not only in the store but when they leave.
So if a customer says I want pre rolls, you can pull out - you know if they said uplifting effects, pull out three pre rolls with the right terpene profile cannabinoids, and then maybe do different grades of flower - you know outdoor lower costs, outdoor higher, better growing condition or growing practices, maybe something like living soil. And then an indoor one if you know depend on where those price points price points are. Now they've got options. When you're cross selling, it's a little bit different right? So if they want to pack a pre rolls, all right, they make - they're like this is what I'm gonna buy. You offer them a lighter because everyone needs a lighter to light pre rolls they may not have even thought of that. The lighter may be one of the easiest add on cross selling products that exists in a dispensary. So always thinking about that's a cross sell. They're buying a joint, what complements that? That's the lighter that's cross selling. If you're to offer a more premium price joint, that's upselling as a different alternative.
All right. Point number three on the six tips for upselling and cross selling. Don't go overboard with price points. A key point when it comes to cross selling is to be reasonable, notes, the retail Dr. Bob Fibs in his excellent post on cross selling he writes, "If a customer buys a $500 blazer, it makes sense to suggest a $50 tie." That's kind of like a $10 pre rolls with a $2 lighter makes sense to go with that. "But if a customer buys a $50 tie, don't try to sell them a $500 blazer." So if a customer comes in says, Hey, I'm just looking for a lighter, especially if they say that, you're not really gonna try to push a pre roll that's, you know, $10 when the lighter is $2. You know, I think it hurts to say, "All right, we'll get you. We've got lighters right here. Is there anything else you're interested or looking for?" If they tell you no, there's really not much else to upsell, unless you have another comparable lighter, that's a little higher price point. You can do it there. But you really can't add on that bigger ticket item if that's not what they're looking for. And so that's basically what they're saying - if they, if they're buying a $500 blazer it makes sense to recommend a $50 tie, but if a customer's buying the $50 tie, don't try to sell them on a $500 blazer.
This can also be applied to upselling - get a feel for what a person is looking for and how much they're willing to spend before offering the most premium option. Consider what many airlines are doing. Many airlines offer upgrades but do so in certain increments. When someone books a trip in economy class, for instance, the airline may ask if they'd be interested in more legroom or in Premium Economy. What they don't do is push the traveler to upgrade to first class. Again, that's adding on incrementally, which goes with the right - it complements what the customer is already buying, it's not taking a huge jump into a different price tier like first class or something like that.
Point number four - reward customers for the added purchase. Giving away a reward or incentive can increase your upsell or cross sell conversion rate. Consider what many e-commerce sites are doing. To encourage people to buy more, they often throw in free shipping if the shopper spends above a particular threshold. If you're a brick and mortar store, or if you're not keen on giving away discounts when you upsell, perhaps you can incentivize shoppers with a free gift instead. Nordstrom for example is giving away a free Clinique moisturizer every time a shopper buys $50 worth of Clinique merchandise. Cool thing there for dispensaries, you know the discount works 10% off if you purchase this amount or more. But if you have a T shirt or apparel or a hat, that free gift for $50 or more purchase, so you get a T shirt or you get a hat, especially if it's your store's branding, then they're carrying that around wearing that that's, you know, doing marketing for you once it's out there. So that can kind of be a double, you know, two birds with one stone kind of approach; giving away a free t shirt that's branded with your store branding or whatever that might be or a hat or something like that. So that was that one.
Number five, use round numbers when appropriate. So this is kind of pricing, your numbers out but they're basically saying round numbers instead of the - you know, 99 cents. Instead of $19.99 use $20 dollars. I don't know, it seems like the, in the past using that, you know, $9.99. Like I remember, as a younger kid in the 90s, early 2000s, everything was $9.99. But now it seems like a lot more retailers are all rounding up. They're saying $20 -it's faster, easier. That's what this recommends. I don't know exactly the psychology there, I've heard both - that the $9.99 increases sales some amount, and then rounding it does more or less. And I've heard both things. But they did make a good point here that I really like in upselling. So what it basically says is, so if the prices on the bin tags - or say you have an item that's $20. I'm going to condense this a little bit. So you have an item that's $20 and you're selling it, customer wants to buy it. Now when you go to upsell, you could have a different item that's $30 and say, well, we have this option. It's a little more premium, but it's it's $30 instead of $20. What this is recommending is say - to say how much more it costs, not the total amount. So when you're selling the up - the premium product you can say, so this one you're interested in is $20. We also have this more premium one for these reasons. And it's $10 more. If you say how much more it is, it's a smaller number. And they can kind of compare it - how much more it is to the other one, and what value do they perceive in that price delta or difference versus, oh, it's $30. They may think $30 for you know, those things I like but not $30 worth versus all it's only $10 more, they may make that transition - according to what this is saying - to upsell little easier. And makes the comparison easier to the requested product they started with. So I thought was kind of an interesting tip. If you're upselling something just saying how much more it is than the requested one versus its total cost, I thought that was kind of cool.
And then number six, remember, it's not what you say, it's how you say it. It all comes down to a simple though often overlooked concept - it's not just what you offer. It's how you present it, says Aaron Ezra, CEO of Offer Craft, a software company that uses games and rewards to make offers and incentivize employees. And that's a good point. That's what we've just discussed on using round numbers and saying it's $10 more for the premium product versus the premium product cost $30. You're saying the same thing, ultimately, but you're saying in a different way, which kind of helps group products or make comparisons in the consumers, the customer, your customers mind as they're trying to figure things out. This one says, For example, instead of saying the sales associate - instead of the sales associate saying, "Would you also like to buy a $20 tie with your $40 shirt?" Imagine she says, "The shirt comes with your choice of one of these ties. You can take any of these, or you can give back the tie to reduce the price." Instead of deciding to make an additional purchase, this customer is now asked to actively give up the tie, which he is more likely to feel bad about doing. Keep this in mind when you're coming up with sales spiels and tactics.
If a particular offer isn't giving you great results, revise your approach and see how customers react. And that is really true. And it's been fascinating sometimes seeing in sales how just the rewording or positioning of a statement or an offer upsell cross sell really can change its success rate. And kind of how you pitch it. I always find that so interesting, just the right little tweak in one sentence, make can make a world of difference. In this example, they use of building the price of the tie into the shirt and then saying well, you could reduce the price if you don't want to tie. That would mean I guess they're selling the shirt and tie combo at $60 instead of just the shirt for $40 with the tie for a $20 extra, so your price would be a little higher. Instead of the $40 for the shirt only. Yeah, it's kind of an interesting approach. But what I love about this stuff too, is you can test all of this stuff. You know, I'm sure if you're a budtender, a buyer or manager, the owner's got to say, "yeah, we can change this or that, or how we're going to do it", you have to take these ideas to them. But things - and you know, one day I want to test this, trying this approach, the risk of trying something different, adding two prices together and reducing one, you know, combining packages or combos, try it for 24 hours, try it for a week. You know, it's kind of low risk, if it doesn't work, but you can learn so much in running these little tests, and things like that. And I also think as a budtender, if you go to, you know, your buyer or intake manager, and I was reading this article on upselling in retail stores, you know, I thought about these two products that might go together and you know, I kind of want to position them this way. You know, do you mind if I try this it could, you know, potentially really help sales? That does, you know, would really stand out to me as a manager, owner or whatever position you know, you're taking that idea to really build your own credibility and shows you're outside of the store learning these things on your own. I mean, obviously really care about the job or taking that initiative. And they're just little ideas, little tweaks, fun stuff to do test out, see what works. If you try anything out in your store, let me know or if you have any ideas of things you've tested or would want to test - anything around retail sales, the things we just covered, upselling or cross selling. I would love to hear your experience or any insights you might have on cannabis specifically and being a budtender inside of a dispensary for these things we just talked about around sales.
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