The Cross-Selling Conundrum: Why Synergies Fall Short and How Companies Can Unlock Them

Cross-selling is one of the most attractive sources of growth for companies expanding their portfolios or integrating acquisitions. The rationale is straightforward: broaden the set of solutions offered to existing customers, and meaningful incremental revenue should follow. Yet despite this clear logic, many organizations struggle to capture the cross-selling synergies envisioned in their strategies.

Why Cross-Selling Falls Short in Practice

Companies rarely fail because the strategy is wrong. More often, the strategy is sound but the execution falters. Organizations assume sellers will naturally bring new solutions into customer conversations, but several practical barriers get in the way. As a result, expanded capabilities often do little to change deal sizes, win rates, or account penetration. The opportunity remains largely unrealized.

The Root Causes of Underperformance

Across industries, we see consistent patterns that explain why cross-selling initiatives underdeliver:

• Incentives that reinforce existing behavior. Sellers continue prioritizing core offerings because compensation and recognition systems reward them for doing so.
• Limited visibility into cross-sell potential. Teams lack clear insight into which customers are most likely to adopt additional products or services.
• Sellers unsure how to position new offerings. Without confidence, tools, or simple messaging, cross-selling feels risky or overly complex.
• Organizational friction. Business units often operate independently, making it difficult to coordinate around opportunities that span teams or capabilities.

These challenges create gaps between the strategic vision and what happens in the field. The result is stalled adoption and disappointing revenue lift.

Execution Levers That Unlock Cross-Selling

Companies that consistently succeed with cross-selling treat it not as an automatic outcome of expanding a portfolio, but as a focused commercial initiative. Four execution levers are especially powerful:

1. Use Data and AI to Identify the Right Opportunities

Advanced analytics and AI models help pinpoint which accounts have the strongest propensity to buy additional solutions and what specific offers will resonate. This shifts cross-selling from a broad expectation to a targeted, prioritized set of actions that sellers can confidently pursue.

2. Equip Sellers With Clear, Practical Guidance

The most effective organizations give sellers simplified playbooks, customer-specific prompts, and integration into existing tools and workflows. This reduces friction and enables sellers to introduce new offerings without needing deep product expertise.

3. Align Incentives With Desired Behaviors

When compensation and performance metrics reinforce cross-portfolio activity, sellers are more willing to expand conversations beyond the familiar. Recognition systems that highlight cross-selling wins further increase engagement and momentum.

4. Streamline Collaboration Across Business Units

Clear rules of engagement, shared visibility into pipeline activity, and coordinated handoff processes remove internal barriers. This makes it easier for teams to work together and respond to customer needs with integrated solutions.

Case Example: Capturing Real Impact

In one recent engagement, a company applied these execution levers to a targeted segment of customers. By combining AI-driven opportunity identification with simple seller tools and refined incentives, the organization:

• Increased average deal size by 25%
• Drove higher win rates within priority segments
• Exceeded full-year revenue targets without major structural change to the sales model

The effort did not require a full-scale transformation—just focused application of the right execution levers.

Conclusion

Cross-selling is one of the most powerful, yet often elusive levers for value creation in portfolio companies. Those that successfully unlock cross-selling value focus on the practical levers that drive seller behavior, while using technology to lower the friction of adopting new motions. You don’t need to rebuild the sales
organization to make progress – disciplined attention to incentives, ownership, skills support, and tools can accelerate revenue growth within a fiscal year and lay the groundwork for more durable change over time.