A downsell is the video training only. No calls, no chat support, low maintenance.
It is the last-chance offer at the end of a sales call that did not close. The closer spent the call, the prospect wants in and cannot pay the main price. The downsell means the call was not for nothing. That is its whole job, and it is a small one.
What goes in a downsell?
The video training, on Skool, and nothing that needs a person every week. Video Business Academy ran downsells under a main offer that started at $4K and grew to $7K, next to the upsells and resells above it. The downsell was the training the main offer already had, without the delivery around it.
That is the point of low maintenance. A downsell that needs a coach, a client success manager and a chat channel costs what the main offer costs to deliver. At a fraction of the price, that is a loss on every sale.
So the question for every line in the downsell is whether it needs a person. Videos do not. Calls do. Chat does.
What does it do for the business?
It liquidates ad spend and covers the closer's time. A prospect who came in through ads and did not buy the main offer cost money to get on the call. The downsell recovers some of it. It sells rarely, and it is not important to the revenue of the offer.
Back-end sales to existing clients have no acquisition cost, which is why the resell engine is where the money is. The downsell is a front-end tool. It exists so a closer's afternoon is not a total loss, and that is enough.
Downsells are low-maintenance: the video training only. They sell rarely; it is a last-chance offer so the closer's call was not for nothing. Not important. It liquidates ad spend and covers the closer's time, and that is all I ask of it.
When is a downsell the wrong move?
When it has enough value to compete with the main offer. Add live calls or support and the prospect on the sales call has a reason to pick the cheaper one. The same rule that applies to a $97 community applies here: the moment it is worth staying in, it is worth not upgrading from.
It is also the wrong move as an offer to existing clients. A client who paid $7K and finished does not want the training they already have at a lower price. They have a new need. The answer to that is a real next package, an upsell or an extension, at a real price.
How does it sit with the other offers?
Above the main offer sits the premium version, the lobster on the menu. At Acquisition Ace that is a version of the main offer at almost double the price that costs nothing extra to fulfil. It sold over 1,000 times in a little under a year. Below the main offer sits the downsell, and below that the last, last downsell at $97 a month with even less in it.
Result from a named client with written permission. Typical clients of this cohort saw a range of outcomes; nothing here is a guarantee. How we handle claims.
Behind all of it, for clients who are already in, the back end: upsell one, two and three, extensions and resells. That side is where 30% or more of revenue comes from at Video Business Academy. The downsell is the smallest line on the sheet.
Further reading: Upsell, downsell, continuity: the coaching money model · Why nobody wants your $97 a month community
