Cross-Sell, Upsell & Downsell

Upselling offers an existing customer a higher-value version of what they have; cross-selling offers a related, complementary product; downselling offers a cheaper alternative when a customer is about to churn or decline.

All three are generally cheaper than acquiring a new customer, because they're targeted at people who've already demonstrated trust and intent to buy — this is a large part of why expansion revenue tends to carry much better unit economics than new-customer acquisition.

Downselling specifically shows up most often at the cancellation or checkout-abandonment moment — offering a lighter plan or a discount rather than losing the customer entirely — and is a standard churn-reduction tactic in subscription businesses.