Listening In: Cross-Selling Strategies That Increase Policies Per Clients

Your existing book of business is one of your strongest engines. Harnessing the art of the cross-sell can increase client retention by 6 percent.

New business can be flashy and exciting, and as an independent agency owner, you should absolutely be thinking about bringing in new clients. However, selling into your existing client base and increasing policies per client is one of the best ways to amplify your revenue, increase client satisfaction, and drive a retention engine for your business.

According to a study published by MarshBerry, monoline clients retain at a 5.4% deficit when compared to clients with two or more policies. When a client reaches five-plus policies with your agency, they retain up to 8% more than monoline clients. These numbers aren’t miniscule, and could make a big difference for your business.

Now, I understand that not everyone needs five-plus policies with your agency. Cross-selling is not just about upping policies for the sake of it; this revenue stream is also your opportunity to be a trusted partner to your clients and show them you’re listening to and anticipating their insurance needs.

When I look at agencies successfully cross-selling their existing clients, I see them primarily focusing on:

• Listening to their clients during casual conversations, and at renewal.
• Leveraging education and experience as their unique sales angle.
• Delivering quality advice when it counts for their clients.
• Leading with an advisory mindset before a claim happens.

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Listen to your clients during casual check-ins and leading up to renewal.

I recently hosted a webinar with my industry colleague, Amy Malzo, National Strategic Business Analyst, SVP, at Brown & Brown. Amy and I spoke at length about the importance of agents listening to their clients talk about their lives, and using that empathy to build their cross-sell strategy. I highly recommend checking out our chat, Amy is full of amazing insights.

When you’re thinking about account rounding, it’s best to shape your cross-sell strategy to what your clients are actually telling you. When you touch base during a claim, renewal, or just-checking-in conversation, take note of what your clients are sharing. Here are some things a client may share that should set off your cross-sell alarm bells:

1. A clients’ family is thinking of purchasing a new home.
2. A client has mentioned speaking to a contractor about a new addition.
3. A client shared they’re starting to plan for a family.
4. A client is starting to consider starting their own business.
5. A clients’ daughter has a birthday coming up and will be getting her own car.

When clients bring up life changes to you, even casually, turn those conversations into moments of curiosity that drive a soft sell. Something as simple as, “That’s really exciting! Let’s talk more about what this means for your plan,” is a gentle reminder that you’re a trusted insurance advisor.

You don’t have to have the quote ready in the moment, either. Make sure you’re taking notes in your management system, and keep clean client data in your AMS so later on, you can leverage marketing automations to serve your clients educational content that relates to their next chapter or anything major coming up soon.

“For example, if there’s a hurricane coming, we can say, ‘Okay, take everybody in this zip code, send them this message.’ Not every tech has the ability to do that, and to me, that just adds value to our customers when you can reach out to them, and say, ‘Hey, do you have everything you need? Are you ready in the event that a hurricane does happen to hit your area?'” – Amy Malzo

Getting and staying in touch with your clients, not just around renewal, is key here. I recommend having a business texting tool to help you do quick, simple check-ins with your clients. People look at texts as venues for more casual conversations, so you may encourage your clients to share with you just by sending them a friendly message timed before their renewal date.

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Use educational content as a major cross-sell advantage.

When you listen to your clients’ needs, and when you know your book of business deeply, you can build your educational content streams and marketing calendar to be as timely as possible.

If you’re aware of upcoming natural disasters or other major events that are localized to a part of your client base, use that to help craft a marketing calendar that adds value and subtly cross-sells on your behalf. Remember, you’re the insurance expert and a timely email about all the coverage components for a storm may open someone’s eyes to adding a policy with you.

You don’t have to mine your data by hand. There are plenty of time-saving tools out there to help you leverage your management system data to build a targeted cross-sell campaign.

Our Fuse marketing automation platform has a robust content library full of professionally-written content that aims to help educate your clients and wrap in that soft sell. We have dedicated cross-sell campaigns built in, and the flexibility for you to build your own content to reflect your agency’s voice and needs.

No one likes feeling as though they’re in the middle of a transaction. Leveraging educational pieces and adopting a consultant mindset helps offset the sensation of being sold something, even if that additional policy exists to help your clients have the best coverage possible. Insurance will always be about trust first and policies second, so think of leading with your expertise as the number one trust builder.

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Deliver quality advice across multiple channels to help your clients feel confident.

We know education is a trust tool, but it can also be a great means of boosting your other marketing channels. Beyond just sending content via email to your clients, think of the cross-sell conversations you’re having as blog topics.

Whether you’re using our Forge website platform and its built-in AI tools to help you draft and host these blogs, or you’re writing blogs from scratch on your own site, having an array of educational cross-sell content across channels helps people see you know the ins and outs of your insurance products. Again, this is a major boost for trust and increasing policies per client.

A monoline client is far more likely to round out their account with you if they revisit your website and see several strong blogs about the very coverage gaps you’re helping them fill.

A cross-sell opportunity helps you grow your business, but it also helps your clients lead more secure lives. Most people know they need more coverage than they have, but they don’t know what they need, when they need it, and at what cadence should they be looking at their account.

You never want a client to feel undercovered as life happens around them. The best thing you can do is advise them ahead of a potential disaster. That’s where your experience and your content come in to help them make better decisions.

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One easy cross-sell win you can do today.

Open up your management system and take a look at your calendar. Ask yourself: what major weather events are coming up in one zip code in your area? Use that answer as your targeted cross-sell angle. This helps you prioritize timeliness over volume, which always feels more human.

Prepare a personalized cross-sell campaign around flood insurance for your clients who only have home with you. Break it down into an educational piece about the differences between flood and home insurance, and give them an easy way to contact your agency to learn more about rounding out their account.

You can repeat this for any other coverage gaps you find when digging into your management system data. Remember: empathy and listening before selling are the keys to an effective cross-sell. Your book of business is rife with opportunities for you to grow your agency, and increase client retention as you demonstrate keeping their needs top of mind.

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Want to learn more?

If you’re ready to take the next step, our complete insurance marketing platform offers the tools and features your agency needs to stand out and succeed.

From marketing automation that keeps you connected with clients and boosts retention, to insurance websites designed to drive growth, and a suite of marketing tools to meet your needs, Agency Revolution is everything you need after your AMS.

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Frequently asked questions.

Why should I focus on cross-selling to existing clients instead of just pursuing new business?

Cross-selling into your existing book of business and increasing your policies per client is a proven retention strategy, and we all know client retention compounds to business growth. In addition, the longer you keep a client with your agency, the more likely they are to also refer you to their friends and family.

How do I know the best time to have a cross-sell conversation with a client?

Listening is key. When you’re touching base with your clients, pay attention to any mentions of life changes or plans for the future that could be touchpoints for discussing their account and policies.

How does educational content help with cross-selling?

By leveraging strong educational content and your experience as an agent, you turn the cross-sell conversation from a sales transaction to an advisory moment. Your clients will feel taken care of, rather than being sold to, because you’re putting together content that speaks to their unique situation.