Cross-Selling: Offering the Right Product to the Right Customer at the Right Time

Abstract

Cross-selling is an old and valuable technique used by salespeople to increase order size and to transform single-product buyers into multi-product ones. More recently, cross-selling has evolved into a strategy for customer relationship management. This article starts with a discussion of the benefits and pitfalls of cross-selling as a strategy for customer development within the context of CRM, oriented towards increasing the firm’s share of the customer wallet, broadening the scope of the relationship with the customer, and increasing customer retention. This discussion is followed by a review of some of the analytical tools for identifying prospects for cross-selling, and by a discussion of technological and organizational requirements for the successful implementation of cross-selling.