How to Automate Upsells in Thinkific and Increase Student Lifetime Value

Your happiest students are your best future customers. Here’s how to automatically offer them more of what they love.

What happens after a student clicks "Complete" on your final lesson? For many course creators, the answer is "not much." You might send a congratulatory email, but then the relationship goes cold. This is one of the biggest missed opportunities in the online course business.

Your most valuable audience isn't cold traffic from a Facebook ad; it's the student who just successfully finished your course. They trust you, they've achieved a result, and they are primed to learn more from you. By not having a system to automatically upsell them to your next product, you are dramatically limiting your **Student Lifetime Value (LTV)**.

The Problem with Manual Upselling

Maybe you try to upsell manually. You export a list of course completers from Thinkific every month and send them a one-off email blast about your other courses. This approach has a few major flaws:

It's Not Timely: The best time to offer the next step is right when they've finished the first one and are feeling accomplished. A month later, that excitement has faded.
It's Not Scalable: As you get more students, this manual process becomes a huge time sink. It's one of those admin tasks that gets pushed off and eventually forgotten.
It's Impersonal: A generic email blast doesn't feel special. It feels like marketing, not a personalized recommendation.

The Automated Upsell Engine: A Smarter Approach

Imagine a system that works for you 24/7, presenting the perfect offer to every student at the exact right moment. That's the power of an automated upsell engine. Here’s how it works:

Trigger: Course Completion in Thinkific

The entire sequence kicks off the instant a student completes 100% of your course. Our system gets an immediate signal from Thinkific, and the automation begins.

Step 1: The Immediate "What's Next" Email

Within minutes of completion, the student receives a personalized congratulatory email.

Subject: Congrats on finishing [Course Name]! Here's what's next...
Body: Celebrate their achievement first and foremost. Then, plant the seed for the next step in their journey. "Now that you've mastered [Skill from Course 1], the next logical step is to learn [Skill from Course 2]. I created my [Course 2 Name] course specifically for graduates of this program. Keep an eye on your inbox in a couple of days for a special offer just for you."

Step 2: The Targeted Offer (2 Days Later)

Now that you've framed the next course as the logical next step, you present the offer. This email focuses entirely on the benefits and transformation of your next course.

Subject: Your next step: A special invitation to [Course 2 Name]
Body: This is a sales email, but it's warm and targeted. "Hey [Name], a couple of days ago you finished [Course 1 Name]. As a thank you for being a fantastic student, I'd like to offer you an exclusive 20% discount on [Course 2 Name], which will help you achieve [New Outcome]." Include testimonials and a clear call-to-action.

Why This System Works

This automated approach is powerful because it's built on psychology and timeliness.

It Capitalizes on Momentum: You make the offer when the student's motivation and trust in you are at their absolute peak.
It Feels Personal: The sequence is a one-to-one conversation triggered by their specific action, not a generic broadcast.
It's 100% Passive for You: Once built, this engine runs on its own, generating revenue while you sleep or work on your next course.

Ready to Maximize Your Revenue Per Student?

You've already done the hard work of creating great courses. Let us build the "done-for-you" automation engine that sells them for you. We connect the tools and build the workflows that turn one-time buyers into lifelong students.

Book a Free Growth Audit