While many of us are watching the Wells Fargo hearing recordings, you may have noticed a focus on the marketing tactic of cross-selling on the Senate floor. As a Marketing Consultant working with customers across industries-including Financial Services-I thought we should take a look at what cross selling is and what it means as a marketer and as a customer advocate.

Why Cross-Sell?

The goal of cross-selling is to provide additional products or services to current customers who may have a need. Cross-selling may appear pushy or invasive, unless the customer's best interest is always top of mind.

How to Cross-Sell Well

What can we do to advise our customers on cross-sell best practices through marketing?

1. Be Transparent. Be transparent to your current customers about the topic/purpose of your message, especially if it's outside of their core product holding. For instance, if you are messaging checking account customers about the benefits of your savings account, highlight savings account in communications such as email subject lines and body copy so they're not taken off guard if they are used to receiving emails about their checking account.
2. Be Helpful. Take the approach of simply presenting your full product portfolio with a helpful, informative tone. For example: Did you know we also have...? Here's how it can help you. If the message comes off as forced, out of the blue, or unwelcome, you could turn your current customers off completely. Think customer service, versus hard selling. Especially when it comes to Financial Services, customers want advisors they can trust. Be their Financial Services provider they appreciate and trust.
3. Pre-Select Your Audience - Use Data-Driven Decisions. Identify the most likely audience segments who are eligible to apply for or have an identifiable need for the additional product before sending communications to them. (Example: You're pre-qualified for a credit line increase. Here are the benefits. Have questions? Let us help.) If you focus on your customer and pre-identify targeted segments of your audience to whom a cross-sell marketing message most applies, you're providing a customer service to them so they don't have to go find their own solution.
4. Be Efficient for Multi-Product Customers. Streamline communications for customers with multiple products or accounts. Make it easy for customers to manage multiple accounts by providing them with a consolidated statement of all accounts or products (if legally acceptable) and educate customers on how they can manage and keep track of all accounts in one place, such as a mobile account. Now, there's a new benefit on the table for customers who have multiple products-they can manage all accounts in one place which provides security, convenience, and simplicity.
5. Respect your Customer's Decision. Provide an avenue for customers to opt-out of communications related to products they don't have an interest in or are different than the one they signed up for.

Cross-Selling Can Help Both Customers and Companies

The bottom line: Helping customers understand the benefits of all of your products is a way to help them along their customer journey with your company. It's a form of customer service and a traditional form of marketing. Take retail for example. Let's say you bought a pair of pants from your favorite retailer. They thank you for your purchase in an email and recommend most popular sweaters to accompany the style and color of pants you purchased. This is a way to bring additional product and service offerings to your loyal and existing customers since you may be able to help serve them better. Just make sure the experience has the customer's best interest in mind, and if they're not interested in another product, no sweat!

About the Author:

Rebecca Otis is a Marketing Consultant at Salesforce, collaborating with clients to optimize their digital marketing and email marketing and mobile programs with the latest tools, technologies, and trends top of mind. She is also a blogger, writer for NBC Chicago, and speaker for groups like Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses, BlogHer, Startup Institute Chicago, University of Indiana Kelley School of Business, and DePaul University. She serves on the Social Media Club Chicago Board of Directors and was named an Austin Business Journal Women of Influence Profiles in Power Rising Star Finalist in 2012 after founding her own marketing consultancy. She's an avid Linkedin-er too. Let's connect @RebeccaOtis.