Can we talk about that pushy upsell strategy I swore I'd never use?

I've been managing a small web design roster here in Portland for about 3 years, and I always laughed at the idea of offering a 'priority support tier' mid-project. Felt like a car dealership move, you know? But last month a repeat client's launch got messed up by a plugin conflict, and I mentioned the tier as a joke. She actually signed up for the $150/month plan within 4 hours, and then two other accounts asked about it the same week. The kicker is I never pushed it, I just listed the option on an invoice like it was normal. So is this legit niche service or are we all just wearing a used-car smile without noticing? Has anyone else had a tactic they hated become their steady income?

2 comments

2 Comments

haydenhayes19d ago

Funny thing, I had the exact opposite happen. I swore off monthly retainers for years because they felt like a way to trap clients. Then one client asked if I could just keep their site updated and handle small changes for a flat fee, and I said sure out of pure laziness. That one arrangement turned into a yearly contract, and now about 60 percent of my work is retainer stuff. Meanwhile the upsell thing you mentioned, I tried that once with a rush delivery option and it just sat there for months before I took it off the invoice. People are weird about what they will pay for, and it never matches what you expect.

abbyf7918d ago

60 percent retainer income from one lazy yes is honestly the best accidental business model I've heard all week. And yeah, the rush delivery thing probably flopped because nobody actually believes "rush" means anything anymore, ha. What finally made someone bite on it for you?