When Apple was gearing up to launch its Watch, the tech giant developed a rigorous training program for retail employees. At its heart: upselling. If customers want the Watch, maybe they also want to upgrade their iPhone so it is more compatible. If they don’t use an iPhone, perhaps they should start so they’re “ready for the Apple Watch later.” And if they make the purchase, why not swap the plastic sport strap for leather or steel? Upsell opportunities around every corner.

Whether your company offers glitzy gadgets, practical software or old-fashioned insurance policies, you can learn a lot from Apple’s upsell best practices.

The Art of the Upsell

The art of upselling is essentially the art of asking the right questions. Doing so enables you to determine what the client wants or needs. Apple retail salespeople, for instance, ask customers questions such as:

• Tell me about how you use your iPhone.

• How do you see yourself using the Apple Watch?

• What interests you most about the Watch?

• What features do you like best or use most on your iPhone?

Training advises retail representatives to “listen for clues that reveal what [the customer cares] about.” This is critical advice for any salesperson within any organization. The ability to understand consumers is at the crux of upselling.

To arrive at this understanding, ask open-ended questions to encourage full, meaningful answers that clue you into the consumers’ wants and needs. And listen – carefully – to the answers.

Marketplace Behaviour

Understanding marketplace developments is another crucial key to upselling. For example, if you are selling products into a store, you must ensure that it is in a prime position. While placement isn’t a concern for Apple in its own stores, even this behemoth has to ensure its Watch is prominently positioned in other retail environments, such as John Lewis or Curry’s.

If a competitor’s product is taking up prime real estate on the shelves or sales floor, inquire why. Does your client need a better product? Do their customers want something different? Is it a need or desire you can fill?

When You Only Have the Good

Some companies plan products with an eye on good, better, best. The Apple Watch sport band, for instance, is good. It works; it keeps the watch on your wrist, as it should. The Milanese steel mesh or Venezia leather bands do that with a magnetic closure and sleek style. And the steel alloy Reserve band charges the Watch as you wear it.

Frequently, though, start-up and young companies do not consider upselling; they do not pre-plan the features, enhancements, add-ons or improvements that they can layer onto their offerings. So, what if you hear your clients asking for something different, and your company simply doesn’t have it?

Developing Better and Best

It’s your task to bring this information back to your decision-makers. If the product is one that exists and can be purchased, sales leaders or executives often want to try it out. This allows them to get a handle on what it is people are asking for. Is there anything else on the marketplace that’s similar?

If not, is this something that your company can develop? How? Is there a market for it? Are multiple clients asking for a product like this, or just a few? How are you going to position the product, and how does it add value to your existing products? How is it going to impact pricing? Point of sale promotions? Et cetera and et cetera.

Design, development, marketing and sales teams have to work together closely to turn consumer demands or wishes into actual, viable products. It’s not a simple, or a quick, process. At its culmination, you need to ensure you don’t have a “me too” product but instead one that adds value not only to the consumer but also to your overall portfolio.

While you don’t want a “me too” product, there’s no reason not to take a “me too” approach to upselling. Apple is hardly the only company that excels at delivering on customer expectations; using their upselling best practices – asking open-ended questions, listening, monitoring product placement and developing new (better and best) solutions – yours can be one of them as well.