Have you ever wondered what upselling is and how it works? Upselling can be a great strategy to earn more in your business.
There are tons of different things you can offer to increase revenue. Then, it won’t be such a devastating hit when enrollment drops during the summer.
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What Is Upselling?
Upselling is where you offer something extra to your clients or customers to entice them to spend more money. It’s not a scam, so you can do upsells and cross-sells ethically.
You also don’t have to come off super salesy to upsell your clients or students. But doing so can help you increase your revenue, especially when you know you’re approaching a slower season.
Upsell Ideas for Musicians
If you want to give upselling a try, you may not know where to start. Consider the following ideas.
Bundle Music Books
One of my former piano teacher would bundle piano books in with the monthly tuition. She would go buy a bunch of copies of standard books and keep them for whenever a student needed them.
Then, instead of me having to go shop for a book, I could get a copy from her. And she would charge me or my parents a little extra on the next month’s tuition to cover the cost.
If you get a bulk discount, you could charge your students what they’d pay anyway. But since you paid less, you can include the profit as revenue in your music business.
Create Unique Exercises
Maybe you can never find music books that cover everything you want to teach your students. Consider using notation software, like Symphony Pro, to create your own exercises.
Then, you can charge students or parents extra for the exercises. You can also upload the sheet music to your website and sell the files to anyone. Even people who aren’t your students can buy the exercises and use them.
If you have private students, you can ask them to buy the file for an extra fee. Then, you can charge them more on their next invoice to increase your revenue.
Sell Practice Guides
Another great option for upselling is to create and sell practice guides for popular pieces for your instrument. Then, you can offer up the guides to your private students who need a bit of extra help.
If you have a waitlist for private lessons, you could also promote the practice guides there. Then, people who want to study with you but can’t yet can still learn from you.
Composers can also sell practice guides along with their sheet music. You could write up a list of tips to help performers learn your works. Then, you can charge more for a bundle of the sheet music and practice guide.
Offer Chamber Groups
Private teachers can charge extra to students who participate in studio chamber groups. After all, you have to spend more time choosing music and coaching those groups on their pieces.
Playing with other musicians is a great way for students to learn and grow. That can help you market the extra service and convince parents it’s worth it. And you won’t have to teach as many private lessons to make more money.
You can then plan recitals or other performances for your student chamber groups. Of course, if you have to bring in a pianist to accompany the group, you can charge extra to cover that cost.
Host a Summer Camp
With summer fast approaching, you may be scared of losing out on income if students stop taking private lessons. But the summer is the perfect time to host a camp for a week or two.
You can upsell private lessons to students who enroll in the camp or vice versa to help make more money. And you can upsell fall lessons to camp participants to secure your income for the following months.
Hosting a summer camp is a great way to teach more people than you can teach in private lessons. You can even partner with other local music teachers to help promote the camp and fill up all of the available slots.
Design a Practice Journal
For some musicians, a practice journal is a super helpful tool. You can track your practice sessions and write down what you accomplish or what’s frustrating you.
If you know a practice journal could help a lot of your students, consider making one that you can sell to students or parents. You can add the cost to the next lesson tuition payment for people who are interested.
Plus, you can deliver the files electronically to save on printing costs. Then, you’ll be able to earn more profits from the sale. And you can sell the journal on your website even to people who aren’t in your studio.
Set Up Bulk Discounts
Another option to upsell clients is to offer bulk discounts. For example, a teacher may offer a slightly lower rate to families who have multiple kids enroll in lessons.
A repair technician might offer a small discount on repairs of a second or third instrument. If you sell sheet music, you could offer a discount to anyone who orders at least $50 or $100 at a time.
These discounts can help encourage people to spend more at once. Then, you’ll make more revenue. Just make sure you don’t discount services so deeply that it affects your bottom line.
What Are the Different Types of Upselling?
One type of upselling is to offer a product or service upgrade. An example of this would be including a practice guide with sheet music.
You can also upsell with higher product quantities. Then, there’s offering some sort of protection or guarantee, such as on instrument repairs.
Finally, you could offer an extended service protection. So if something goes wrong with an instrument after repairs, you may fix it for free.
How Would You Upsell a Customer?
Upselling can feel awkward, especially if you’re not the most comfortable with sales. To avoid this, ask your customers what they want, and create upsells accordingly.
You can also incentivize upsells with small discounts. Then, people can feel like they’re saving money and getting something of value.
Finally, don’t be afraid to follow up with people who maybe don’t engage with an upsell the first time. They may not be ready then, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t interested.
How Do You Upsell Without Turning Off Customers?
Make sure any upsells you offer a relevant to your target client. You should also make it as easy as possible to select and purchase the upsell.
Finally, the more you know your customers, the easier it will be to talk to them about your offers.
Final Thoughts
Upselling is a great way to increase your revenue in your music business. Be sure to consider a few ideas that you can try.
Then, you can prepare for the slower seasons and avoid a huge drop in income.
And if you’re wondering how to promote your upsells? Enroll in The Instagram Marketing & Sales Academy.