Mastering the Art of the Upsell as a Freelancer
McDonald’s was on to something when they introduced the supersize: the customer got a sizable (albeit unhealthy) portion increase for just $0.24. It offered big value to the customer, and all those almost-quarters added up quickly for the company. Freelancers should take note: how can you upsell your freelance services to earn more revenue?
What Is Upselling?
Upselling in freelancing is where you intentionally increase the value of a client’s projects or services. Your goal is to encourage your clients to purchase a better version of the service they want, or at least add complementary services to their existing project (that’s called, cross-selling, by the way).
The result: more value to the customer and more revenue for you!
Why Upsell Your Services?
I see every upsell opportunity as a win/win. Obviously, freelancers are going to win by increasing the top line. You’re selling more services or expanding your projects with the clients you already have instead of chasing new business.
But your clients need to win, too. That’s where the real value comes in.
When you upsell (or cross-sell) your services, the client automatically gets more value from what you offer. It might be higher quality work or a better outcome, for example. Or it could be major time-savings when you can handle something they were going to do themselves. Anytime you can remove a pain point from your client’s life, the better you look and the more valuable you become.
Personally, I made an extra $2,000+ last year just from upselling!
What Can Freelancers Upsell?
Finding ways to upsell your freelance clients gives you unlimited potential to make more money. You don’t have to raise your prices or acquire new customers to grow your business. Plus, upselling is easier when you have clients that already know and trust you. They’re more likely to buy from you when you have that existing relationship.
The question is: what can you upsell?
As a content writer and marketer, I started my business writing blogs for clients. Just blogs. But then I learned that successful blogging goes way beyond the blog content itself.
I later partnered with an agency that introduced me to the art of the upsell. In addition to blog content, the agency offered a “content upgrade” to help their clients promote the blog after it’s published.
It included:
A meta description
3 lines of social media copy
3 email subject lines
Email newsletter copy
An answer to 1-2 questions on Quora
Copy for a downloadable related to the blog post
Copy for a website pop-up to get the downloadable
That’s a whole big bunch of extras! Guess how much it cost the client? Just $99.
All that extra marketing stuff would have taken an internal team hours to create. It might have even involved more than one person, depending on the team size. They would have had to spend time reading the blog to figure out how to best promote it via social media and email. They would have had to spend time searching Quora for related questions they could answer with the blog. But for $99, they could let someone else handle it for them.
I’ll give you another example: Fiverr.
I’m a top-rated Fiverr seller with more than 2,200 orders across three gigs. Something I love about Fiverr is that I can create “base” packages, then customers can add on extra services as needed.
I do this because I realize my clients value different services and options in different ways. For example, a new client who has never worked with me is more likely to add on a plagiarism report. They’ll feel more confident in my work when they know it’s 100% original. Someone I’ve worked with for years already trusts me and doesn’t need that report.
Some clients are picky about the images that go into a blog post and would rather choose images themselves. Others would rather defer to me so they don’t bear the time and expense of finding stock photos. Some clients are tech-savvy enough to load their own blogs onto the website. Others will gladly pay me to do it for them.
Learning what to upsell gets easier as you go. Just look for clues in your conversations with clients to see what’s important to them and how you can enrich their experiences.
How to Upsell Your Freelance Clients
Successful upselling goes back to something I’ve said many times before: be the leader in the relationship.
When you understand what your clients need and want, their end goals, their desired outcomes, and their priorities, you have a much better chance of offering them something valuable.
When I do upsell, I don’t try to throw in the whole kitchen sink. I only offer options that will give them real value. I align my offers with their needs. Because it’s obvious when you’re grasping at straws. Aimlessly offering upsells to a client might make them wonder whether you have their best interests at heart, or just your own. That’s not a way to build trust and repeat business.
Timing is everything when upselling. I don’t go into any new project with upselling as a core focus. My first priority is to see if their needs are a good fit for me, and how I can be a good fit for them. When you get this right first, upselling feels more natural.
Freelancers: what are some ways you increase your value and revenue with every customer? Share your ideas below.