Imagine you could generate 20 to 30 percent more sales from your existing customer base. And at marginally higher acquisition costs that are almost negligible.

Hardly any other topic is accorded such great strategic importance in sales organizations, and yet it is usually implemented remarkably poorly: We are talking about cross-selling (X-selling for short)Cross-selling means that two salespeople from different divisions introduce each other to an existing customer in order to increase sales by selling products from the other division.

This is one of the safest and most cost-effective ways to increase sales with existing customers - with extremely low acquisition costs and a disproportionately high probability of closing a deal. Why is that the case?

The reason for this is that the customer already has an existing relationship with your company and does not have to build up trust first (with the associated costs).

Unfortunately, the reality is often that you agree on certain goals, create a joint pipeline and then get started. Disillusionment quickly follows, as the desired successes fail to materialize and joint selling tends to be characterized by mistrust or insufficient commitment on the part of the sales team. Does this sound familiar to you?

In the following, I will list three factors that determine whether the

X-Selling will now also work for you:

1. Culture of cooperation

Many companies initially invest a lot of time in creating SOPs that describe the operational process of X-Selling and define rules for it (such as who retains customer sovereignty and when, how bonus payments from jointly generated business are handled, etc.), and overlook something in the process The decisive factor: initiating the necessary behavioral changes and creating and anchoring a culture in the sales organizationwhich makes successful and, above all, sustainable X-Selling possible in the first place.

If your company has different divisions or lines of business that are assigned to different teams that only sell this one particular product, it will inevitably be the case that one team generates more sales than the other. There can be many reasons for this: a better market position, greater sales team strength, better product features, a better reputation, etc.

The members of the team with the higher turnover will hardly feel obliged to help the other team. Why should they, as it would only mean more work for them!

2. Make your employees part of the solution

The mission must be clearly and unambiguously specified from above and its execution must be supported. So this is about the "What". Unfortunately, however, the "How" determined from above, and that is precisely the cardinal error. It is absolutely essential to first clarify this in a joint workshop, what both sides gain from the changed procedure.

Let the employees affected by the measure define the “how” later! In the vast majority of cases, they will be able to assess much better what works and what doesn't in the collaboration, as they have already known each other for a long time.

The team with the highest turnover for example, can benefit from the weaker team by surprising existing customers with clever new product ideas. In this way, it can turn an already large customer into an even more diversified customer and, above all, reduce dependence on one division. Covid-19 has clearly shown us how important it is not to be dependent on just one division and thus achieve increased resilience.

In this phase, it is particularly important to get skeptical employees on board as early as possible. Give a clear goal unmistakable and link this to clear KPIs!

If certain employees continue to prove unruly, it is worth asking yourself whether they would rather pursue their own agenda than that of your company, and whether they are compatible with your corporate culture at all.

3. Regularly review and “update” your X-Selling process

Think of your new X-Selling process as an MVP (Minimum Viable Product). Once you have thought it through at least 80 percent, just get started. Always remember: perfectionism is a weakness, not a strength!

You can create a version 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 etc. of the process in a similar way to software manufacturers or telephone manufacturers. The more experience you gain and the more mistakes you make and learn from, the better and more robust your process becomes.

The only important thing is that you continuously improve this process and that there are certain people - from both sales divisions -, who monitor this.