"It's an old adage," writes Amanda Hinkle in an article at MarketingProfs. "Driving increased sales from your current customers is easier than acquiring new customers."

And yet, it's an old adage many retailers don't heed: In a recent survey, only 37% said they use cross-sell and up-sell programs to boost revenue from existing customers.

If your company belongs to the 63% that don't, here's how to get started:

Take advantage of available data. You already gather an array of information from an array of sources: point-of-sale and transactional systems, Web analytics, email response, and self-reported preferences. Why not put it to profitable use? You could "send an offer for a Blu-ray player to someone who recently bought a TV," explains Hinkle, "or a discount for a spatula to an email subscriber who recently viewed it online while purchasing a new cooking pan."

Deploy the right resources. "You'll likely need to involve data analysts and creative or production staff members, but the right technology can really minimize the level of resources required to set up, trigger, and time cross-sell and up-sell offers," she notes.

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