The best way for an insurance agency to grow is to not only bring in new business but to continuously round out existing accounts. This is why focusing on cross-selling to your current book of business is so important.

Selling policies to fill gaps in your customers’ coverage is likely something you do all the time, but do you know when the best time to cross-sell policies is and how to do it well? 

Knowing which products to cross-sell and to whom is the key to getting the best results.

Start by asking more questions, regularly

If you don’t already, schedule regular check-ins with your clients and follow up with them throughout the year to see what has changed.

Asking questions during these check-ins helps you identify when clients might be looking for additional coverage and which products you should cross-sell.

For example, your client may have a teenager who is learning to drive. They will be looking for auto insurance for their new driver soon and you can help.

Regular check-ins go a long way in building better relationships with your clients.

Our personal and commercial lines checklists will give you a starting point for these conversations.

When you learn about changes in your clients’ lives or business, mark them on their account in your agency management system. 

These notes will give you a practical guide to identify customers to whom you will be able to cross-sell.

Your notes will also help you with something that’s critical to cross-selling but is often overlooked: grouping client emails into lists.

Creating the right lists Before you can start cross-selling, you’ll want to make sure you are offering the right products to the right clients.

Look through your notes and put clients who mentioned similar things into lists, for example:

• Clients who mentioned they’re looking to buy their first home
• Clients who are thinking of purchasing a new vehicle
• Commercial clients who are hiring more remote workers
• Commercial clients who mention they work with contractors

And now that you have the lists, you’re ready to draft your cross-selling messages.

If you use ClientCircle, we already built these lists for you. We have more than 20 ready-to-go templates and automations you can use to cross-sell to the right lists without the manual work.

And these lists are automatically updated based on the policy data in your management system.

Have a custom list? No problem. You can upload it and send your message with just a few clicks.

The best times to cross-sell your clients

You’re asking all the right questions, you’re creating lists to make sure you reach out to the right clients with the right offer, but the question remains: when is the best time to cross-sell? You can cross-sell at certain times or based on the type of policy you’re selling.

Timing

Renewal time

Cross-selling insurance usually works best close to a customer’s renewal date because that’s when they are already thinking about their coverage. Make sure you communicate with your clients throughout the year, that way, renewal time doesn't seem like one big sales pitch.  

Natural disasters

The natural disasters affecting homeowners in your area will determine when it makes sense to cross-sell this coverage, but it is always good to bring this up when a client has a homeowner’s policy with you. Bringing up flood insurance prior to the rainy season or fire insurance before the peak dry season can help your customers stay protected. 

Growing businesses

As your commercial clients grow their businesses, you can help them make sure they have sufficient coverage. As business owners start adding employees, let them know about the protection they need through workers’ compensation and employment practices liability (EPL) insurance.  

Similarly, as their investment in technology grows, they are more susceptible to cyber attacks. Anyone can be targeted by internet scams. You can help your commercial clients get ahead of this by offering cyber insurance before it is too late. 

Large purchases

People need insurance after they buy a car, a home, a boat or another recreational vehicle. Make sure your clients know to reach out to you as soon as they make a large purchase so you can help them protect it. And when someone gets another policy for their latest purchase, make sure they know they can save money by bundling their home and auto insurance if they don’t already have both with you. 

Policies

Umbrella coverage

Personal umbrella insurance is a valuable add-on when a customer bundles their home and auto insurance with you. Consider cross-selling umbrella insurance soon after a customer with an existing auto policy purchases a home policy and vice versa.  

Commercial umbrella insurance is an affordable way for business owners to make the most of the commercial coverage they already have with you. Bring up the value of umbrella coverage with your existing commercial accounts when you write new policies for them and during their renewal period.  

Life insurance

Purchasing life insurance becomes top of mind for most people after a major life event like starting a family, buying a home or getting married. Generally, people start thinking about these things in their 20s and 30s. 

There are many myths about the costs, terms and benefits of life insurance. You can debunk these common misconceptions with your customers and show the value of getting life insurance at any age.  

Personal lines policies for commercial clients

While not all people are business owners, all business owners are people. If you have commercial lines clients who don’t have their home, auto and life policies with you, talk to them about coverage outside of their employment. Commercial clients are no different than personal clients and want to be cared for and protected in the same way.

You don’t have to do all the work yourself

We know that cross-selling can be difficult. Building lists, knowing exactly when to send a message and deciding what to say takes a lot of time. 

That’s why we created ready-to-go cross-sell automations for both personal and commercial lines to help you sell more with less work. 

With just a few clicks, you can send a cross-selling message or configure a campaign of any kind using the lists you already have or ones we can help you create.  

 We integrate with most agency management systems, making the process easy for you.