How to Upsell Your Jewelry

...and make more money on each sale

© by Robert Mayer; all rights reserved

Do you upsell your jewelry? If not, you're leaving money on the table.

Upselling is a fundamental strategy for increasing your profits substantially. It can make the difference between barely breaking even and earning a nice profit.

A display of freshwater pearl rings
(Robert Mayer)

What is Upselling?

Upselling is the act of helping a customer decide to purchase more of your jewelry.

This usually takes the form of an "upgrade" or a "little something extra" on top of their main purchase. They are usually small, additional purchases that the customer doesn't have to put a lot of thought into.

While generally smaller overall, upselling adds up to big money.

Why is Upselling so Profitable?

Consider this example:

A customer is buying a beautiful Tahitian black pearl necklace from you for $40. She has already decided to do so and is reaching for her purse.

You remember that you also have great sets of pearl rings for $5 and pearl earring studs for $10 available. You recommend these to her as a beneficial match for her necklace, allowing her to try them all on at once.

She is convinced that all three items would make a great outfit. You also recommend that she purchase a small, inexpensive jewelry cloth for $2 to keep her jewelry clean and shiny at very little cost to her.

She agrees and happily pays you $57 instead of the original $40 that you would have received had you only sold the necklace.

In just a couple of minutes, you made an extra $17! Last time I checked, only doctors, lawyers, and sports stars make $17 every two minutes. Add jewelry artists to that list!

As you can see, upselling is highly profitable and one of the best uses of your time.

Upselling is Easy

The best part about upselling is that it is practically effortless.

The hardest part of making the sale is over, as your customer has already decided to make a purchase. You've already established rapport, identified needs, summarized, presented benefits, asked for the order and handled objections.

Upselling is simply the final step in presenting additional information and products to the customer. It should be done in an assumptive manner, as if you think the customer is already interested in purchasing more related items.

Common Mistakes in Upselling Jewelry

There are a few common mistakes when upselling that are very easy to avoid:

1. No attempt is made to upsell.


2. The salesperson comes across as pushy and ignorant of customers' needs.


3. Upselling is made in an unconvincing manner that does not explain the benefits of buying the additional product, and customer generally refuses.

Strategies for Upselling

Assumption is the key. You need to reasonably assume that your customer would naturally want or need the item you are upselling.

The item should somehow be related to what the customer has already decided to buy. This makes the pitch more natural.

Stacking pearl bracelets
held together by magnetic hematite beads
(Robert Mayer)

Begin the upsell by briefly describing the benefit of purchasing the item or upgrade. If possible, state one of its unique qualities. To avoid being pushy, ask for permission to continue describing the item if the customer is interested.

Many thoughts and emotions are triggered in the mind of the customer, and this should be taken into account when upselling.

Because of this, upselling is rarely direct.

Rather than asking, "Would you like to see my collection of rings?" you should say, "I have a great ring that would go perfectly with with that bracelet!"

You should then proceed to show the customer your recommendation.

The first way of asking prompts a yes-or-no response in the customers' mind, while the second method allows you to lead the customer into making another purchase.

It is also important not to simply list your products and what they're made of.

While it is important that your pearls are grade AA and have a thick nacre, this is secondary compared to the perceived benefit of owning the pearls. First, you should describe this benefit.

For example, if the customer is purchasing a bracelet and you have a ring or two that go great with it, then you should describe this as the benefit:

"I have a beautiful ring that would go with that bracelet! The colors are perfectly matched and really accentuate each other. They would go together with any outfit."

You could also say, "If you love pearls, then you'll love this ring!" This is an example of how to describe the benefits of an add-on product without going into boring lists of specifications.

Be sure to keep the needs of the customer in mind.

For jewelry, a small polishing cloth can be upsold as a perceived need that the customer had not thought about before. However, if the customer is already buying a necklace, for example, it's unlikely that she will be persuaded to buy a second one at that moment.

Ask yourself, "Does this suit the customer?" before offering an additional item. This mindset allows you to upsell more effectively and with integrity.

Otherwise you may come across as pushy and out of touch.

Other Strategies for Upselling

There are many different ways to upsell products, not necessarily confined to add-ons or upgrades. For example:

1. Package items that go well together as a set.
   
   For example, you can do this by putting a matching pair of pearl earrings, a necklace, and a ring or bracelet together. The price should be lower than if the customer bought all the items separately, giving an incentive to purchase them all together.
   
   It also takes a lot of work and thought out of the hands of the customer, making it easier for them to appreciate the set already put together. This generates higher sales than if you sold everything individually.


2. Create discount levels.
   
   For example, if a person buys $50 worth of jewelry, they receive a 10% discount. If they purchase $100 worth, then they receive 15% off, and so on.
   
   This encourages people to make an additional purchase so that they receive the discount benefit, which can translate into higher sales revenue for you.




Tahitian black pearl necklace
(Robert Mayer)


3. Offer an immediate discount on certain items.
   
   For example, "Buy 1 ring, Get the 2nd half off!" This provides a quick incentive to purchase the product.
   
   If your margins are very high, you can even offer "Buy one, get one free" to encourage instant gratification.


4. An add-on doesn't have to be extra jewelry or polishing cloths.
   
   It can also be a service. For example, you can offer to gift wrap all jewelry purchases over $25 for free. This is a very low cost way to gain a tremendous amount of appreciation from the customer because you are solving a problem and taking a cost off their shoulders. It also encourages you customer to buy at least $25 worth of items!


5. Upselling doesn't even need to be an item or service at all.
   
   One great way of upselling it by doing a hands-on demonstration.
   
   For jewelry, this includes wearing some of your jewelry in an appealing way as well as encouraging your customers to try it on and model it in the mirror. This is a fun and easy way to get your customers excited about your jewelry.

Conclusion

The bottom line is that upselling is big money.

In the world of jewelry sales, there's plenty of room to upsell additional products and services to your customers. If you are buying bulk wholesale jewelry and reselling it, then you will have a lot of room to work with when making these sales.

Upselling is an imiportant technique for making more money with your jewelry business.