To generate more business from an existing customer base, salespeople employ cross-selling and upselling strategies.Cross-selling is the practice of selling additional insurance products to an existing client in the insurance industry.
Cross-selling insurance allows you to make more money without having to look for new leads. Furthermore, you strengthen your client relationship by staying current on events and changes in your clients’ lives that may necessitate new or expanded coverage. This may result in increased client retention.
Cross-selling, on the other hand, must be done correctly. You risk losing your clients’ business if you aggressively push them to buy products they don’t want or need.
Discover the strategies that successful insurance agents use to increase revenue from their book of business.
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Insurance Cross-Selling
To successfully cross-sell insurance, you must ask your current clients to purchase the appropriate type of coverage at the appropriate time and in the appropriate manner. Let’s take a closer look at each of these to help you close the deal.
Before you ask your insureds to purchase an additional policy, you should learn a little bit about them. Spend a few minutes learning more about them and asking questions that will help you identify any gaps in their coverage. Otherwise, you may suggest something that will not benefit them. And the last thing you want to do is toss insurance products at them at random to see what they’re interested in.
Here are some conversation starters to try when customers call in for quotes or current clients call with questions to help you find the perfect products to recommend. You can incorporate them into your conversation as relevant topics arise.
- Please tell me about your family.
- What is your profession?
- Can you tell me about your future plans and goals?
- Do you have any plans in place to financially protect your family in the event of your death?
- When was the last time you had your insurance reviewed to ensure you have the coverage you require?
You can better recommend insurance options that meet their needs once you understand their coverage requirements.This increases your chances of making the sale.
When Should You Sell Insurance?
When it comes to cross-selling, timing is everything. You don’t want to call a client at random and make a sales pitch. Instead, make cross-selling an organic part of your client conversations.
If a client calls with a question, provide an answer. Then, assist them in considering any current policy gaps. For example, if they inquire about general liability insurance, inquire whether they also require workers’ compensation insurance. You’ll be suggesting relevant plans at the appropriate time, and it won’t feel like a heavy sales pitch.
Maintain contact with your clients throughout the year. Aside from conducting a regular policy review, keep track of their major life events.
Send them birthday cards, congratulate them on the birth of a child (or grandchild), and write them a quick note to help them celebrate their retirement.
It’s appropriate to mention an additional insurance product that could be useful in each of these. Keep your sales pitch short and to the point, letting your client know they can contact you for these insurance needs in addition to the ones you already handle.
How Do You Sell Insurance Cross-Selling?
Now that you’ve identified the best policy to offer your client and know the timing is right, you must make the request.
Discuss the additional product with your client and see if you can assist them in obtaining the coverage they require.
During this conversation, avoid bombarding your customer. Rather than generic talking points, keep it natural and focused on the customer’s needs. Otherwise, you risk annoyance and possibly losing your client.
Here are some cross-selling techniques to help you close the deal:
- Don’t be too pushy. Drop it if your client isn’t interested right now.
- In a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) program, collect information about your customers. This software assists you in gathering critical information about your clients. The data can then be examined to identify coverage gaps.
- Discuss potential savings opportunities.
- Dispel any common misconceptions about the insurance product you’re attempting to cross-sell.
- Follow up with clients who appear to be interested.
- Make good use of technology. (For more information, see the following section.)
How to Use Technology for Insurance Cross-Selling
Cross-selling can help your insurance agency grow thanks to digital marketing and automation.
For example, you can generate sales through email marketing, webinars, and social media.
Creating an email list allows you to communicate with your clients via email. Make it a point to send out a newsletter with product information on a regular basis. Discuss the advantages of each plan and how this coverage can help you save money.
Then, with a webinar, you can go into greater depth. Make one and invite your email list. Make it a point to explain what they’ll learn so they can decide if it’s a good fit. Once you’ve scheduled it, spread the word on social media or ask your current clients for referrals of anyone who might be interested in the subject.
Once your workshop is completed, you can repurpose your material in a newsletter or as social media snippets. This allows you to spend less time creating content and more time interacting with clients.
Take the time to plan out your marketing campaigns before you begin so that the entire process runs smoothly.
What are the advantages of cross-selling for you and your client?
Insurance cross-selling has benefits for both you and your client. You get to save money, increase revenue, and simplify the sales process as the agent.
How? It is costly to generate leads. If you can sell more products to your existing customer base, you will spend less money to meet your sales targets while increasing your revenue.
Furthermore, if you’re starting from scratch each time you sell, you’ll have a lot to cover in each initial contact. When you sell more products to an existing customer, they are already familiar with the fundamentals. You have a relationship with them that you can build on rather than starting from scratch. The procedure is less complicated.
And what is the advantage for your clients? The most important benefit is that their insurance needs are met. This way, if anything happens, they will be protected.
They will also save a lot of time if they only have one insurance agent to contact for all of their insurance policies. This is because they won’t have to remember the names and contact information of multiple insurance agents or wait on multiple phone lines to speak with a representative.
Finally, if you offer discounts for purchasing two or more policies, your client may save money.
How Do You Sell Health Insurance to Others?
Some types of health insurance are more difficult to cross-sell than others. For example, Medicare has strict rules about cross-selling, so make sure you understand them before discussing a client’s other insurance needs.
A Scope of Appointment (SOA) must be completed prior to your appointment to establish parameters for your meeting with the client.
In the SOA, you can only discuss insurance products, and any marketing you do must be about health-related products and services. You are not permitted to sell your client annuities, life insurance, auto insurance, or any other type of insurance during this period.
You must also make it clear to your client that supplemental health insurance and Medigap are not part of Medicare, and you must explain the differences between them.
Other types of health insurance, such as long-term care and disability insurance, do not require a SOA, so you are free to discuss them and related products.
Look for opportunities for cross-selling.
Cross-selling is an excellent way to expand your insurance company. Even if it appears awkward at first, it will become easier with practice.
Make it a point to use your abilities with each client. Consider what other products you can offer whenever you meet with one. Pay attention to what’s going on in their lives and discuss how you can assist. You may think you’re bothering people, but customers appreciate representatives who make genuine recommendations about services that will better protect them.
Before you know it, you’ll be selling more products, increasing revenue, and expanding your business — all while spending less time looking for new customers.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
See below:
How would you define effective cross-selling?
“Do you want fries with that?” ask fast food restaurants. eCommerce sites that show “customers who also purchased” A phone retailer recommends that a customer buy a new phone case.
When is it appropriate to cross-sell?
Plan your timing. Upselling and cross-selling are frequently done at the end of the sales cycle, after the buyer has already committed to the purchase. This can be effective, but in complex sales, it is often preferable to incorporate the upselling and cross-selling process into the overall customer experience.
Is cross-selling prohibited?
Unless it contains an illegal component, it is usually benign, as with any corporate business initiative. While sales initiatives can be stupid, inane, overly aggressive, or contentious, trying to sell more products is not usually considered illegal.
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