---
title: "Cross-Selling: Definition and Examples"
description: "Cross-selling is selling an existing customer a different product or service that complements what they already buy, such as adding a security product to an..."
path: /glossary/cross-selling
family: glossary
updated: 2026-10-17
html: /glossary/cross-selling
sources:
  - "https://www.salesforce.com/sales/cross-selling/"
  - "https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/cross-selling"
facts:
  term: "Cross-selling"
  also_called: "Cross-sell, Cross selling"
  category: "Sales"
---

# Cross-selling

Cross-selling is selling an existing customer a different product or service that complements what they already buy, such as adding a security product to an existing cloud contract. It grows revenue per account without the cost of winning a new customer.

## What Is Cross-Selling?

**In short:** Cross-selling sells something different that fits with what the customer already has; upselling sells more of the same thing, such as a higher tier or more seats.

A CRM vendor that moves a customer from its basic to its enterprise plan is upselling; one that adds its marketing automation product is cross-selling.

Existing customers already trust you and have passed procurement once, so a cross-sell usually moves faster than a new deal. It also raises net revenue retention, and a customer who depends on two of your products has more reasons to stay.

## Cross-Selling Example

Example: a company sells payroll software to 400 customers and launches an expense management product. It targets the 120 customers with more than 100 employees, where expense claims are a known pain. 18 buy in the first quarter at $6,000 a year each, adding $108,000 in annual recurring revenue without a single new customer.

## Cross-Selling in Practice

In B2B, cross-sell opportunities often sit in other departments. The marketing team that buys your product may have colleagues in sales or support with a related problem. Account managers map those teams, ask the current champion for an introduction and reach out to the new department with a reference to the existing relationship.

## FAQ

### What is the difference between cross-selling and upselling?

Cross-selling offers a different, complementary product; upselling offers a more expensive version of the same product. HubSpot's web hosting example: adding a domain and SSL certificate is a cross-sell, moving to a higher-tier hosting plan is an upsell.

### What is an example of cross-selling in B2B?

A payroll provider selling its expense product to existing payroll customers, or a cloud provider adding a security product to a compute contract.

### When is the best time to cross-sell?

After the customer has seen value from the first product, for example after onboarding or a business review that shows results. Offered too early it reads as a pitch; offered when a related need shows up it reads as help.

### Is cross-selling the same as expansion revenue?

Cross-selling is one source of expansion revenue. Expansion revenue also includes upsells, such as higher tiers and more seats, and usage growth from existing customers.

## Do this in Ken

### Do This in Ken

Find more people at a current customer in Ken Search, then reach them with a Campaigns sequence that mentions the team already using your product.

- Link: [Do This in Ken](/features)

## Related

- [GTM Glossary](/glossary): Every GTM term, grouped by topic.
- [Upselling](/glossary/upselling)
- [Net revenue retention (NRR)](/glossary/net-revenue-retention)
- [Customer success](/glossary/customer-success)
- [Customer lifetime value (CLV or LTV)](/glossary/customer-lifetime-value)
- [Account executive](/glossary/account-executive)
- [Ken features](/features)

## Sources

| Source | URL | Checked |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Salesforce: What Is Cross-Selling? | https://www.salesforce.com/sales/cross-selling/ | 2026-10-17 |
| HubSpot: What Is Cross-Selling? | https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/cross-selling | 2026-10-17 |

## Changelog

- 2026-10-17: Page published.