What is up-selling and cross-selling? Strategies for gyms.

You have a gym. 

Your goal is to grow and, to do that, you have to increase your revenue. 

One way to increase your revenue, without having more customers, is to increase the average ticket. That is, each of your customers spends more money in your gym. 

Are you doing anything to achieve this?  

There are two strategies that can help you achieve this: up-selling and cross-selling. Let's take a closer look at what these two strategies consist of and how you can implement them in your gym.

What is up-selling?

Up-selling is a sales technique aimed at persuading customers to buy a more expensive, upgraded or premium version of the chosen item or other add-ons in order to make a higher sale. E-commerce companies often combine up-selling and cross-selling techniques in an attempt to increase order value and maximize profits. 

Although it is a technique that is used more in some industries, it is suitable for any type of business. 

A very clear example is the airline strategy. When you go to buy a ticket, they offer you three different fares, with the middle one being the most interesting. In this way, they increase the average ticket by making the customer believe that they are offering a better product. 

Here is a key figure: 

The probability of selling to existing customers is 60-70%, while the probability of selling to a new potential customer is 5-20%.

What is cross-selling? 

Cross-selling is selling related or complementary products or services based on the customer's interest in or purchase of one of your company's products. 

It is a great way to build customer loyalty and deepen customer relationships, which in turn can improve customer lifetime value and retention.  

This makes cross-selling an excellent growth strategy. 

A very representative example is when you are shopping on Amazon and it suggests related products. For example, if you are buying a mattress, it may recommend sheets, a mattress topper or even pillows. You may find some of these options interesting and make your purchase easier. 

Up-selling vs Cross-selling 

Cross-selling and up-selling are two different practices that consist of approaching existing customers and convincing them to buy additional products or services. In the case of up-selling, the objective is to sell the customer a more expensive and advanced product than they had planned, conveying its added benefits. 

In both up-selling and cross-selling, companies must effectively use their existing and potential customer base to increase sales by offering the right additional products to the right customers. However, cross-selling never involves encouraging customers to replace their current options with more expensive ones.

What up-selling and cross-selling strategies are best for gyms?

There are many ways to increase the average ticket and make your income increase, without having to raise the fees to your customers.  

If you want to go deeper into this topic and start earning more money, I leave here this free Ebook that will help you to grow your gym with little effort.