For any business to grow their revenue, it is important to retain customers for a longer time. We already know that an engaged customer is more likely to stay longer in a business. A customer can stay engaged to your brand through one product they use. But how about enlarging their engagement factor to say 2x, 3x or even more? That’s where SaaS cross-selling comes into picture.

Cross-selling is the practice of encouraging a customer to buy related products to the one they are already using for a more comprehensive solution. A simple example of cross selling is when you buy Windows OS from Microsoft, they also suggest you to buy Office 365 for a more holistic usage. 

To stay competitive in a business niche, SaaS companies have to think of providing holistic solutions to their customers. Oftentimes, these solutions demand them to create more products complementary to their main product. Hence, cross-selling becomes natural for them to offer a comprehensive solution to their customers.

Benefits of cross-selling

SaaS cross-selling has many advantages, both for the customer as well as the seller. Let’s look at each of them separately.

For Customer

It becomes more convenient for a customer to buy from a brand that is a one-stop solution for all their needs. This saves their time and effort in evaluating a brand and helps them in gaining a more customized service. 

If they choose different vendors for various products then it becomes difficult to keep track of all those companies and the persons they are interacting with. Their different invoicing tasks would be another concern along with tracking the subscribed periods for all those products. 

Hence, selecting a brand that meets all needs of a customer is always better and beneficial. For the brands providing holistic solutions it also means that they are really into the depths of their niche and know the industry inside out. So, with such a wide range of their research on different areas for which they have created multiple products, it becomes easier for a customer to trust the brand and the efficacy of solutions they provide.

For Companies

The most obvious benefit for the companies through SaaS cross-selling is increased sales revenue. Through multiple products, they can fetch more business from their existing customers. Marketing new products to them also becomes much easier and doesn’t cost them anything when compared with the huge cost of doing so to the new customers. 

Through cross-selling, companies can also create greater customer satisfaction. All the tech-support they would get for different products would be coming from the same source and that is a big relief for any customer. They don’t have to identify themselves again and again for raising issues with the products. This is possible because oftentimes, the companies use the same customer account for all the products a customer is using.

This also ensures that the customer is hooked with your brand for a longer period. The more products they buy from you, the more loyal would they be. This has a clear impact on raising the Customer Lifetime Value through both the factors – longer duration and larger revenue. The deeper integration of customer’s business with the solution provider would ensure their long-term retention.

Cross selling Techniques

For SaaS cross-selling, you have to really understand your customer’s needs. A customer success manager should be constantly in touch with the customer to understand their requirements. And when the time is right, they must approach the customer for cross-selling opportunities. Below are some cross selling tips that you can use at work.

Train your team

Most of the companies focus on only acquiring new customers ignoring the ample opportunities they have with their existing clients. Hence, to avoid such mistakes, you must train your marketing and sales team to target existing customers as well. This is one of the most important cross selling tips. Working with the marketing team to create emailers advertising related products would be a good way to start. The sales team should also be trained towards identifying any sales opportunities with the existing customers. Their sales pitch should be directed towards these customers. You need to collaborate between multiple teams to target your clients for new sales.

Consult with your clients

The way you approach your customer for SaaS cross-selling should sound less like a sales pitch and more like a consultation. You have to really listen to your customer and understand their challenges before you present your solutions. You must also know how they are dealing currently with those challenges. This way, you will have a deeper understanding of their operations and would be able to show them how your product adds value to them.

Leverage your support team

The second most informed team of customer’s pain points, other than the customer themselves, is your support team. You must analyze the kind of issues the customer has raised in the past. This will give you a great view about the most common recurring issues they are facing. When you know this detail, it becomes easier to predict the kind of solution they would need. All you need to do finally is to show how your new product can add value in resolving those issues.

Track customer journey

The first step of getting started with a new customer in SaaS business is to map a customer journey. You need to set goals which your customer would achieve through your main product. There would be a certain time required for them to adopt your product. Only after product adoption, they would reach the final stage when they have become your loyal customer and a brand advocate. This is the point in the customer journey where they would be most excited to hear about your new offerings. You should wait for the customer to reach this stage and till that time make all the necessary preparations.

Final Take

Along with business growth, there are a lot of responsibilities you have towards your customer in a SaaS business. As an industry expert it is paramount to have a holistic understanding of all your customer’s operations. A deep understanding of your business niche and its operations would allow you to come up with new solutions through new products. 

You need to spread awareness of these solutions to your customers that will show them a better way to handle their operations. And only when they see a great value in your solution, should you present them with cross-selling opportunities. Through the right cross selling techniques, you would be able to not only raise your company’s revenues but also retain your customer for a longer period.

WRITTEN BYRohan Sheth

Rohan has over 11 years of experience in client services, marketing and hospitality field. Previously, he was head of digital marketing for a hi-tech mobile application. Rohan is driven by new challenges and the possibility of making an impact on individuals and businesses.

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