21 Insurance Sales Tips For Young or Inexperienced Insurance Agents

Selling insurance is different from selling everything else.

Insurance is one of the most expensive things people buy and they can�t see it, touch it, or hold it.

You�re selling ideas. You�re selling trust. You�re selling promises.

You�re selling yourself.

This is such a huge challenge that most insurance salespeople quit in the first 2 years and many agents are afraid to hire inexperienced salespeople.

I hate to see young producers fail and even more, I hate seeing agents miss out on the largest pool of cheap, passionate, and open-minded talent.

That�s why I created this resource. To help young insurance salespeople be successful and encourage hiring agents to consider young and inexperienced applicants.

If you know a young insurance salesperson please pass this article along to them. And if you are one:

Follow these 21 tips to be an inexperienced but insanely successful insurance salesperson:

1) Dress More Professionally

Obviously, if you dress more professionally clients are more likely to take you seriously. I don�t need to convince you of that.

But when you�re the sharpest dressed person in the office your coworkers and your boss will take you more seriously and most importantly, you�ll take yourself more seriously!

Sometimes confidence comes from the outside in. If you look the part everyone, including yourself, will start to believe it.

2) Avoid Using �Young� Slang

Have you ever told a client or prospect that you were �all about� customer service?

Do you express agreement by saying things like, �Gotcha�, �Right on� or �For Sure�?

Don�t get me wrong, I believe in being yourself and not apologizing for it, but when you�re trying to sell, the more you speak like your prospect the better success you�ll have.

If your prospect doesn�t use those terms it�s harder to earn their trust when you do.

3) Find Common Ground

Regardless your prospect�s age or background there�s always something you have in common.

Find it.

Did you grow up in the same neighborhood? Like the same baseball team?  Shop at the same grocery store? Do you both love your family?

Ask questions and figure it out so you can focus on the commonalities and skip over the rest.

4) Ask Prospects About Their Kids

If you�re trying to sell to someone much older than you, try to find out if they have a child or grandchild your age and ask a lot of questions about him or her.

You�ll prime their brain to think about their loved one. This makes your prospect more likely to buy from you since they would want someone else to do the same for their child.

Plus, while you may be young and inexperienced, if you�re more polished than their child you�ll come off as a real professional by comparison.

5) Reference Combined Experience

Remind prospects that they�re not buying only from you.

�I passed my licensing exam 3 months ago and I�m so lucky because our office has over 45 years of insurance experience! In fact, every single policy I write is double-checked by the owner of the agency.�

If experience may be an issue for your prospect, make sure they know you�re up to your ears in it.

6) Learn From Experienced Coworkers

Technology has created a very unusual situation in the business world.

It makes younger people think they�re smarter than they are.

As a tech guy myself, I know it�s hard to take advice from someone you just watched peck away at a keyboard to write a one sentence email.

But I also know more multi-millionaire insurance agents than almost anybody and I have found almost no correlation between their tech abilities and their success.

That�ll change for your generation, but learn everything you can from those who�ve been around.

7) Be Enthusiastic

Have you ever seen an infomercial without enthusiastic people?

Everybody likes enthusiasm and as a young salesman, you can display unbridled enthusiasm without looking like an idiot.

People will just think you�re young and have a lot of energy.

They�ll like it. And they�ll buy into it.

8) Follow the Markets

If want to relate to a more mature and professional audience, follow the stock market.

You don�t have to be an expert, just know enough to ask questions that don�t make you sound stupid.

After you�ve qualified someone by asking if they follow the market, ask something like, �What sectors do you think are going to do the best in the next quarter?�

And don�t turn into one of those Cramer wannabees who think they always know the sleeper stock. It�ll make you look inexperienced to someone who has followed the market for years.

9) Listen to Your Phone Voice

Record your voice on the phone while talking to some clients.

Do you sound smart?

Do you sound confident?

Do you sound like a little kid who picked up the phone in Daddy�s office?

10) Sell to Other Young People

There�s one group you have a huge advantage with in selling� other young people!

And guess what�

There�s millions of them!

Millions buying homes, millions getting married, starting businesses, having kids, buying expensive stuff!

Go get them!

11) Don�t Ignore Sales Fundamentals

I�m sorry to burst your bubble, but Facebook, Twitter, Text Messages and QR Codes don�t sell insurance.

People do.

Of course there are tools that can make things easier and more effective for agents, but social media will never replace the basics.

Read �How To Win Friends and Influence People� by Dale Carnegie. It was written in 1936 and teaches you how Teddy Roosevelt, Henry Ford, Benjamin Franklin and a lot of other old people become successful long before Mark Zuckerburg.

Everything in that book is just as relevant today as it was 75 years ago.

12) Speak Less, Listen More

As a young or inexperienced salesperson, there�s always an impulse to demonstrate your knowledge.

You want prospects to see you know your stuff because you�re a bit worried about it yourself.

The more you talk or explain things they didn�t ask about, the more obvious it is how much you don�t know.

And the more likely you�ll elicit a question you can�t answer!

13) Bring Up Age First

The best way to avoid an objection is to bring it up and overcome it before the prospect has a chance to.

Make a joke about your inexperience and be open about it.

Once you�ve brought it up, you have the excuse to explain why your prospect shouldn�t be concerned.

(you�re well-trained, you�re licensed, you ask questions when you don�t know answers, etc)

Here�s the greatest example ever.

14) Be Better Prepared

If your inexperience makes you feel inadequate as a salesperson then find a way to get around it.

Work harder, work longer, learn more about your products. Have an answer for every possible question.

Read books about sales, listen to sales audio tapes, go to seminars about sales.

Get in front of a mirror, a colleague, or a friend and practice your sales scripts, practice your rebuttals, your closes.

Nothing comes to you. Prepare yourself and go get it.

15) Expect to Live In the Trenches

Selling insurance is hard, hard work.

Insurance agents you see with big houses and nice cars playing golf around the world didn�t get there overnight.

They sold and sold and sold.

And sold more.

It�s the only way to become super successful in this business and if you want to be successful you�re going to have to do it too.

16) Become a Marketing Expert

You can�t rely on the agency or carrier you work for to come up with all the marketing ideas and generate leads.

Here�s a few marketing resources to get you started:

• Free Marketing Book for Insurance Agents
• 100 Insurance Agent Marketing Ideas
• 100 Insurance Social Media Marketing Ideas
• 100 Insurance Lead Generation Ideas
• Insurance LeadFinder Tool

You�re not just a salesperson, you are a marketer.

17) Don�t Spew Features

When you�re new to selling it�s common to focus on product features rather than benefits.

At some point you learned all 10 features of a product and you�re anxious to prove your knowledge by telling customers about all 10 of them.

Unfortunately they don�t care about all of them.

There�s maybe one or two features that interest them and  you�re better off asking questions to identify the client�s needs so you can explain how your products will satisfy those needs than trying to explain everything.

Don�t spew features on your clients; identify their needs and satisfy them.

18) Don�t Use Jargon

Nothing says �bad salesperson� more than using jargon to someone that doesn�t understand it.

There is no better way to show prospects you don�t give a %&#! about them than by using terminology no one outside your industry should know!

When you�re new, you have a unique advantage of being able to relate to clients as an outsider. People will actually relate better to you if they feel like you�re still on their side. You haven�t crossed over to the �insurance salesman� side.

Don�t use jargon, it only makes you look like you�re hiding something.

19) Recognize and Act on Buying Signals

I�ve witnessed a lot of new salespeople shoot themselves in the foot because they didn�t know when to shut up.

When someone is ready to buy, let them do it.

If it�s that important to explain everything then go ahead and do it� after you get their signature and a check!

20) Don�t Sell on Price

I get it� people are shopping on price, they�re comparing on price, and they�re buying on price.

You buy everything on price too, right?

Wrong.

Here�s the bottom line:

If you honestly believe people only buy on price then quit today. You�re in the wrong business and the industry doesn�t need you.

We�re not going to survive with a bunch of price-checkers. The entire industry will suffer if you don�t get out now.

Need some ideas for selling value?  Read this.

21) Embrace Your Youth

Be crazy. Be reckless. Be passionate. Be young!

No one ever had a mid-life crisis and became an insurance salesman. Don�t be afraid to breathe some life into this business!

Smile. Laugh. Be fun.

Who would you rather spend an hour talking about insurance with?

Don�t Just Read This Article:

1. Make a list of strategies that are going to help you.
2. Develop an ACTIONABLE plan to follow through.
3. Share this resource with every insurance school classmate or young co-worker so they�ll owe you a favor.
4. And click �Like� to show me you want more material for new salespeople.

Good Luck!

Alternatives to COBRA Health Insurance

COBRA insurance offers you the ability to continue on your current employers insurance plan for up to eighteen months after you have terminated employment. You can use COBRA whether you have quit or if you have been fired. COBRA insurance usually has a high rate because you pay the full premium, including what your employer paid on your behalf. If you are tempted to go without insurance, it is important to remember that you can face fines by not having insurance through the Affordable Care Act. When you feel like you cannot afford health insurance, it is important to realize there are other options available to you. 

• 01

   Short-Term Health Insurance

  

  ���

  One option is to get short-term health insurance to cover the lapse between your current insurance and the insurance that you will get from

  your new employer. One of the advantages of this insurance is that the application process is quick. This insurance may have coverage limits, and is not meant to last longer than a year. Some policies are for a specific length of time. Other policies just have a limit as to how long you can qualify for the plan. Most short-term health insurance policies do not qualify as insurance under the Affordable Care Act, but may help fill gaps in your coverage.
  

  Short-term health insurance also has strict rules regarding coverage. If you are pregnant or if your partner or spouse is pregnant, you might have a difficult time qualifying for a short-term health insurance policies. Additionally the policy may have a low life-time and annual limit since this is not supposed to be a long-term solution. 

• 02

   Health Insurance Through Your State's Health Exchange

  Under the Affordable Care Act, you may qualify for help paying for your health insurance through your state's health insurance exchange. Losing your job and health insurance coverage counts as a qualifying event and you may be able to qualify without waiting for open enrollment. This is a viable option, and all policies will meet the Affordable Care Act health insurance requirements. 

  These plans may be a good option if you meet the income requirements for them. However, if you do not then you will need to look at the independent health insurance policies that are also available. 

• 03

   Independent Health Insurance

  Another alternative to COBRA insurance is an independent health insurance policy. There are policies that have good coverage at a lower cost than COBRA insurance. This is a good option if you do not have preexisting conditions or if you are single. This insurance policy can last for as long as you want it. The rates may increase each year. You can choose a deductible and copayment plan that best fits your needs. Your health insurance agent can help you make sure that the plan qualifies for the Affordable Care Act guidelines.

  You can look for these plans online or you can find an insurance agent that specializes in health insurance. Some companies may have agents just for its policies. You can also look for an independent agent that will show you a variety of policies from several different companies.

• 04

   High Deductible Health Insurance

  A high deductible health insurance plan is an excellent alternative to COBRA insurance. These plans have a lower monthly premium, but you have a high deductible to meet before coverage kicks in. This is a great solution if you are looking for ways to save money during difficult times. You can set up a health savings account in conjunction with a high deductible account.

  This is a good option if you think you will not use the insurance, but want to have it just in case. This type of policy will protect you from the most expensive health costs, but you will need to pay completely for your doctor visits until you meet your deductible. 

• 05

   Consider Using Your COBRA Option

  Additionally, you should consider the cost of COBRA and the coverage it provides when you make the choice. At times the coverage offered may be very good or you may need this type of plan because of your family or preexisting health conditions. Carefully consider the monthly premium costs as well as out-of-pocket costs for this plan when looking at your other options.

  COBRA gives you sixty days to determine if you need coverage. You may choose to wait with this option if you know you will have coverage in sixty days and then pay the premium if you end up needing the insurance. If you do this, you may face penalties under the Affordable Care Act though. 

• 06

   Choose the Right Alternative

  In order to make the correct choice for your individual situation, you should look at all the options available to you. At times the cost of COBRA may be less expensive than the alternatives. You may also go with short-term health insurance while you are waiting for approval on a high deductible or independent health insurance plan. If you have a family, you may want to consider using different insurance for each family member depending on the history of the individual. You should avoid things like health shares, which sound like health insurance, but really are not.

How to Sell Insurance On Value Instead of Price � 14 Sales Tips

What do computers, monkeys, and my 3 year old daughter all have in common?

They can all sell insurance on price alone.

A professional insurance salesperson (like you) must be able to connect with prospects and help them understand and internalize the value of the insurance you�re selling.

If you only sell insurance on price, you will eventually be replaced because:

1. There will always be another company with lower rates.
2. When people buy from you just to save money, they�ll leave just as fast.
3. A call center employee can quote more people faster and cheaper than you.
4. A website can give millions of quotes per second even faster and cheaper.

I�m not an idiot. I know that price is the primary driver of insurance sales. But I also know that selling on price alone will be the downfall of you, your agency, and the entire agency sale model.

Here�s 14 tips you can implement today to sell insurance on value.  Not one of these tips takes more than a little conscious effort.

1) Talk About Claims

When shoppers come to you for a quote they�re only focused on one thing � the price.

It�s your job to make them recognize and internalize the fact that they�re making a decision about more than just how large of a check they�re going to write every month.

Explain the claims process and how your agency helps guide customers through it as smoothly as possible. Use a specific example of how your process helped a previous client have a better experience.

Find every way possible to talk about claims � it�s the best way to get people thinking outside the price box.

2) Ask Why They Bought That

When you find out what kind of car, home, motorcycle, etc. the prospect owns ask them: �What made you choose that one?�

It�s very rare that someone responds with, �It was the cheapest.� Instead, they�ll say, �It had the best crash test ratings� or �It�s is in a really great neighborhood with amazing schools� or �After all these years of working hard, I deserve a few nice things�.

An expensive insurance policy is certainly not as cool as a brand-new Harley but getting prospects to answer this question aloud will remind them that they don�t make every purchasing decision on price alone and you will activate the part of their brain that makes more value-oriented decisions.

3) Ask about the worst accident they�ve seen

What�s the worst car accident you�ve ever witnessed? Seriously� stop reading this article right now and think about it in your head�

Got it? Have you re-lived it in your mind�s eye?

Now tell me you don�t care about anything but saving 15% off your car insurance.

Of course this example is geared toward auto insurance, but you could adjust the concept for property, life, disability and just about any other type of insurance.

4) Ask About Communication Preferences

During your sales conversation, ask your prospect how they like to communicate with companies they do business with. Do they prefer to use the phone, send emails, meet face-to-face, online accounts, text messages?

Once you understand how they like to communicate, it�ll be a lot easier to frame the benefits of your agency around that. Make sure your prospect knows that you�ll be there to communicate with them in the way that fits their life.

Don�t brag about your iPhone app if the prospect doesn�t have a smartphone and don�t oversell the convenience of an agency website with online customer service if your client prefers to speak to a human on the phone. In either case they�ll perceive that they�re paying extra for benefits they don�t value.

5) Educate Your Prospects

No matter what your prospects tell you, most of them don�t understand how insurance works. If you can explain it to them in a way that makes sense without being condescending you�re already providing an incredible amount of value!

When clients see how well you understand insurance they�ll  feel more comfortable about the decisions you�re guiding them to make and they�ll feel more confident you�ll be a positive resource in the event of a claim.

Experts don�t just spit out a bunch of terminology. The mark of a real expert is the ability to explain a subject to anyone regardless of age, background, or education. Don�t lecture; ask questions and engage.

6) Explain The Discounts

When you identify discounts your prospect qualifies for, take time to explain how much money each discount saves, why they qualify, and why the carriers offer that discount.

People love discounts, and when they see how well you understand discounts they�ll trust that you�re getting them all the discounts they�re entitled to and will see the value in buying through an agent like you.

Explain to prospects that you regularly check their policy to make sure they�re getting every discount they deserve.

7) Talk About Your Experience

If you�ve been in insurance for a while, find ways to get this point across to every prospect. One way to do this is by identifying something that your prospect is very experienced in to make a comparison.

If you�re brand-new, that�s okay too. You can reference the combined experience of all your coworkers. �In our agency, we have over 30 years combined experience in insurance.�

If you�re inexperienced and so is everyone else, well� I guess you can just skip this one.

8) Explain That Having an Agent Doesn�t Raise The Price

Okay, so YOU know it�s not more expensive to have an agent but everyone else doesn�t.

In fact a lot of people assume buying through an agent is more expensive. (Of course, it doesn�t help that some rotten insurance companies have developed marketing plans around this lie)

Explain to prospects that agents are field underwriters who allow carriers to provide more accurate rates for every risk. There�s a lot more room for fraud when people get insurance through a website and that makes the honest people pay more.

A good agent who understands rating criteria and discounts can be a real asset when it comes to getting the cheapest price. Make sure your prospects know this.

9) Explain Your Licenses and Certifications

Most people have no idea how hard it is just to get licensed to sell insurance. They also have no idea how many hours of continuing education you�re required to keep up with and some of the advanced designations have taken you years to achieve!

Don�t be afraid to toot your own horn. Just find a way to work it into the conversation naturally.

10) Ask About Their Last Claim Experience

It�s probably already part of your quoting process to find out about the last insurance claim. Ask a follow-up question like, �How did your claim experience go?�

Sometimes you�ll get lucky and stumble into someone who had a bad experience and your claims handling processes might offer clear advantages.  But even if they had a wonderful experience, forcing your prospect to mentally �re-live� the claim experience will pull them further from the �only price matters� mindset.

11) Ask About the Potential Cost of Not Buying

Compare how much money someone could save by not buying your insurance policy with the potential cost of not buying it.

�If you don�t buy this life insurance policy you�ll save $25 a month� But what�s the potential cost of being diagnosed with cancer after making that decision?

�If you don�t purchase higher coverage limits you�ll save $10 a month� But what�s the potential cost of becoming disabled in a major accident after making that decision?

When you pose questions like this, make sure you let the prospect think through and answer themselves before stepping in. It�s important for them to internalize the point of the question.

12) Ask Questions and Listen

It�s hard to sell the value of your products and agency when you don�t know what�s most important to the client.

We�re inclined to believe everyone else thinks just like we do. Most salespeople mistakenly believe the product features and benefits most appealing to them will also appeal to our clients and this can lead to selling the WRONG value.

To find out what product values to focus on ask more questions. Here�s an example: �What�s the second most important thing to you about insurance? I�ll assume price is number one��

13) Help Clients Earn More Discounts

I�m not talking about identifying new discounts or educating clients about discounts (I mentioned those both earlier). I mean actually helping them get discounts that they don�t currently qualify for.

Will an online defensive driver class save your clients some money? Email them a link to a website where they can earn it online.

Client can�t afford life insurance at the smoker rate? Connect them with a local or online program that can help them quit.

Can a home security system drive down the price of their policy? Refer them to a local security company.

BONUS TIP: try to get your clients a discount with the other service to deepen your value even more.

14) Don�t Apologize For Your Price

I get it. I know everyone wants to save money on insurance � me too. I also know most of your sales happen because of saving people money. But guess what:

Sometimes nice things cost more.

Does the Mercedes salesperson apologize because you can�t get an S-Class for the same price as an Kia Forte? Of course not, he believes it�s a better car and it�s worth the extra price.

If you don�t believe your product is better than everyone else�s and worth the price either convince yourself otherwise or don�t expect long-term success.

I�m confident that local insurance agents will survive against threats like online direct writers and call centers but it will not happen unless you can sell value.

Start selling more VALUE today, or we�ll all face the consequences tomorrow!

Wrap up

Do you know another agent or producer that sells exclusively on price?

Don�t lie, I know you do. 

Send them a link to this article. I promise they�ll thank you.

Hope this helps,

29 Ideas to Cross-Sell More Insurance to Current Clients

Sometimes cross-sales fall in your lap.

�Do you guys also do life insurance?�

Beautiful thing, huh?

Most of the time though, you have to work hard to make it happen.

I�ll assume you�re already good with the ones that fall in your lap, today I want to give you a bunch of ideas for making cross-sales happen.

So I did a little �brain-dump� and came up with 29 different ways you can cross-sell more in your insurance agency.

If you get an idea or two please share this resource with a colleague and if you have ideas to add let me know in the comments below.

1) Know the Two Types

Did you know there are two distinct types of Cross Selling situations?

Prospects who already own the product - These people already bought the coverage from a competitor but you�re trying to get the business with your agency.

The key with them is repetition, collecting the x date, good follow-up and selling the benefits of your agency.

Prospects who DO NOT already own the product - These people don�t currently have the type of coverage you�re trying to sell them.

The key with them is product awareness, education, creating a need, identifying interest, and then selling.

These aren�t complete opposites, but they do require different approaches and sales tactics.

If you�re currently treating all cross-sale prospects the same, take a few moments to think about how each one requires a different approach and how you can address it best.

2) Develop an Established Cross-Selling System

It�s great if you read my articles and get a few ideas to implement here. That�s why I write the darn things.

The trouble is that most agents �think� they�re going to use a few new ideas, some of them really do, but very few make changes to the procedures and systems they use in their agency to make process improvements last.

The only way to create lasting success is to establish formal systems for processes in your agency like cross selling.

And this article is the perfect resource to help you put something like that together. Use it and do it!

You don�t have to write a manual, just make a list of what you want to do in each of the most common situations and share it with your staff.

3) Identify the Target Product(s) For Each Customer

Assuming your agency doesn�t specialize in specific lines of insurance, there are probably at least 4 different products that each of your customers could also buy from you.

And there are probably a bunch more that aren�t even relevant to each client.

Find a way to prioritize the best products to cross-sell each client and get this information front and center for your sales and customer service folks.

4) Establish a Tracking System

If your plan is to remember which products are the best cross-sale opportunities for each client, or to just always cross-sell the same one or two lines to everyone you�re not cross-selling efficiently.

Ideally, you�d be able to pull up any of your client�s accounts and see, at a glance, what products are the best cross sale opportunities for them. Having information like this top of mind when you�re looking at a client�s account will make a huge impact in how often your salespeople bring up the cross sale conversation.

In addition, it�s also great if you could pull up a list of all the clients who are prospects for each type of insurance. This is helpful for email, direct mail, or other campaigns that are oriented around awareness of your different product lines.

While we�re at it, you�re also going to need a way to keep track of X-dates for each month.

5) Handle Immediate Needs First

Be careful not to push cross-sales too hard during an initial sale.

It�s fine to plant seeds, but your prospects aren�t remotely interested in buying a second product from you until they know you can take care of the first one.

I�ve witnessed a lot of agents pushing too hard for additional lines when it�s clearly obvious the prospect only has one thing on their mind.

Respect your prospect, listen to your prospect, and put their immediate needs first.

6) Designate a Cross-Selling Leader

Pick one person in your agency and put them in charge of getting everyone to cross-sell more.

That way someone will always be paying attention to the goings-on in the agency and what could be done to boost cross-sales.

There�s also the possibility that your producers will embrace the concept more if it�s not coming from you.

This doesn�t even need to be a salesperson. In fact, the person who answers your phones might be the best one!

You can give them a little extra commission for all cross sales the agency makes and the first thing they should do is read this article!

7) Follow Up For It

I understand many agents have the philosophy of �I want to sell every policy I possibly can while I have this person�s attention�

I get it and I think it can work for some prospects and for some salespeople.

But I personally think it sends the wrong signals to push too hard for additional lines during an initial sale and I think it�s better to focus on providing an amazing purchasing experience.

It�s a judgement call and you have to do what you�re comfortable with, but remember that once they become your customer, you�ll have plenty of opportunities to follow up for that cross-sale.

8) Don�t Raise The Price Too Much Today

There�s a reason the Super Jumbo Monster popcorn only costs $.35 more than the kid�s size at the movie theater.

People�s minds get set on paying one amount and they�re just not going to dip too much further into their wallet in one purchasing event.

So if your life depends on making a cross-sale today, remember you�re far more likely to upsell them a renter�s policy than a life insurance policy.

9) Everything We Sell Sheet

InsuranceSplash readers have all heard this one before because I mention it all the time.

Create a one-page flyer that shows all the different products you sell. It doesn�t have to be �salesy� it can just be a checklist.

Take every new client through it and use it to guide your policy review conversations.

A nice added bonus is that you�ll get more referrals when all your customers know everything you sell!

Bonus Tip: Create a page on your insurance agency�s website that serves as the online version of your �everything we sell� sheet. This way you have something to email customers and share on social media.

10) Get X-Dates

X-Dates, (or expiration dates) are insurance slang for the date when a client�s policy with another carrier or agency is set to expire.

The idea is, �if I can�t quote your home policy today let me know when it renews and I�ll reach out to you beforehand�.

I see many agents that are so head-over-heels-in-love with quotes, they miss out on cross-sale opportunities being over-aggressive for the quote when they should just be asking for an x-date.

To me, asking someone who�s not interested to let you quote them is the equivalent of saying, �please let me try to sell you something that you�re not interested in because it�s important to me.�

Asking for an X-Date is like saying, �I understand you probably only care about your home insurance once a year, and I�m willing to respect your feelings and wait.�

11) Book of Business Audits

Does your CRM let you run audits of your book of business to identify people with one line of insurance but not another?

For example, auto insurance clients who own homes but don�t have homeowner insurance from you?

Or self-employed people who don�t have business insurance.

Parents with children and no life insurance.

You get the point, right? I�m thinking different audit ideas might make a good article in the future�

12) Be a Broken Record

Most cross-sales don�t happen the first time you suggest an additional line.

Most cross-sales don�t happen the second time you suggest an additional line.

Most cross-sales don�t happen the third time you suggest an additional line.

I could go on� Am I making my point?

13) Learn The Policy-Change Triggers

Some agents argue that every single change your customer make to their policy can be a cross-sale opportunity.

I can�t disagree, even if it�s just because the client is actually thinking about insurance for once.

But there are certain policy changes that are RED FLAG indicators of a cross-sale opportunity.

Let me paint the picture with a crystal clear example:

Back in 2009, I called my insurance agent in Philadelphia to find out if I�d get any discount for becoming a parent. (The carrier I worked for offered such a discount) and would you believe that dumba** didn�t ask me about life insurance?

I would have bought it from the first person that asked, and it should have been him.

14) Practice Cross Selling

Like anything in life, don�t expect to be good at sales unless you practice.

And that certainly includes cross-sales.

I wrote an article to help you, check it out.

15) Bump Commissions for Cross Sales

I know some agents that pay LESS commission for cross-sales.

Are you kidding?

Did you know a customer�s retention rate jumps each time you sell them an additional line of insurance?

Build incentives into your producer�s commission structure so they get even bigger bonuses for cross-sales than for sales to new customers.

Theoretically, producers should prefer cross-selling over other methods since the prospect is usually more receptive but it doesn�t hurt to give them a nudge in the right direction.

16) Take Cross-Sellers Off the Phones

This is a spin on the one above it about commissions.

One of the ideas with cross-selling is that it prevents you from cold-calling.

What about driving home that fact by letting producers who make a cross-sale skip out on an undesireable cold-calling activity for the day?

It�s a perk, but the real value is the lesson it teaches your salespeople: take care of, service, and upsell your existing customers and you shouldn�t need to work so hard to find new ones.

17) Ask Cross Sale Related Questions During Quotes

When you�re gathering information to give someone a quote, they don�t know what questions you really need to ask.

You can ask anything!!!

Use that time to find out everything you need to know about their other policies and insurance needs during the quoting process.

What�s that you say? People want their quotes quickly� You don�t have time to ask extra questions?

Well then send them to E-surance. (that�s a joke, don�t really do that)

18) Sign Off Sheets

I think this probably works best with life insurance but I�m sure you could use it for just about anything.

The basic idea is, you make clients �sign away� their right to a free quote for that other line.

There�s nothing legally binding to it, it�s just a conversation starter.

Conversation starters are good for cross selling.

19) Policy Reviews

Do I really need to add this one? I mean, every agent knows the main point of a policy review is to cross-sell.

Right?

Well actually, here�s an idea you might not have thought of. (it�s new to me� just popped into my head now)

Create a �Mini-Policy Review� for the people who will never take the time to go through your formal review process. Just ask a bunch of quick questions that would allow you to identify a new cross sale opportunity based on any life changes in your customer�s life.

Questions like, Did you have any kids, get married, retire, etc?

Keep it short and sweet so you can give it to every single customer in your book.

Your clients are constantly getting married, having kids, buying motorcycles, starting businesses and lots of other things that can lead to cross sales and I bet most agents are missing 90% of that information.

20) Prepare Them For Your Cross Selling �Experience�

Tell your customers upfront:

�I�m going to bug you about this other line until you buy from me.�

Make a joke, explain how you�re going to, or just give them some information and let them know you�ll talk about it in the future.

You don�t have to cross-sell during the initial process, but if you set the stage for it you�ll be glad you did later on.

21) Learn the Benefits of Having Only One Agency

One of the biggest reasons people won�t bring all their lines to your agency is because they don�t see the value.

A lot of times you can�t beat the price of their other policy so you better have some benefits ready to give them about why it makes sense to work with just one agency.

Here�s a few examples to get you thinking, fewer coverage overlaps, multi-policy discounts, being a preferred customer, easier communication, simpler life, policy reviews that are more relevant, etc.

22) Start By Cross-Selling Renters Coverage

It�s the easiest thing to cross-sell, right?

It�s cheap to begin with, many people have to buy it, and it can often get a multi-policy discount on a much more expensive line.

So if you�re just getting started with a cross-selling initiative or bringing in a new salesperson have them start with the renters.

23) Get Around �Do Not Call�

I�m not a lawyer, although I do play one on this blog. 

I�m pretty sure that if one of your customers is on the �Do Not Call� list you�re not allowed to reach out to them about a new line of insurance.

However, if that new line of insurance gets them a discount on the line they already have with you� then you�ve got a conversation starter that is focused on a product they�ve purchased from you, which (I�m pretty sure) is 100% legit.

If you think this is unethical or illegal then DON�T DO IT.

24) Cross Sell Other Agents� Clients

This one�s more for the captive agents.

Most of the carriers I know don�t transfer commissions when a customer changes their agent of record. (trust me � it�s better that way)

However, cross-sales are usually okay to capture commissions because the money deserves to go to whoever makes the sale.

So if you service other agents� clients in your agency, DO EVERYTHING YOU CAN TO CROSS SELL THEM!

What have you got to lose?

Obviously you�re going to want to check with your sales manager to see how situations like that work. While you�re at it, why don�t you share this article with them� maybe they�ll start giving better advice. 

25) Use Partners

Obviously, cross-selling helps you make more money, but it also helps your retention.

Because of the boost in retention, even if you only sell one type of insurance it still makes sense to try to cross-sell your clients to another agent in your �network�.

If nothing else, when you refer your client to an friend of yours for other insurance lines, it�s less likely another agent will be trying to cross-sell the policy you sold!

26) Use Social Media

I know �use social media� should go without saying, but there�s a deeper point I�m trying to make here.

I see a lot of agents promoting their �bread and butter� insurance lines on their Facebook pages.

But think about this� since most of your followers are probably already customers (I don�t know anyone other than me that follows agencies they don�t buy from) chances are most of your followers already have the main lines of insurance with you.

Social media is a better place to raise awareness of the lesser known lines of insurance so you can cross-sell more!

Just something to consider�

27) 74% of People Who Bought This Also Bought�

Just a little social psychology trick here, tell your prospects that most people who buy the product they have also buy this other product.

It�s kind of funny, because there are many times people won�t trust what the salesperson says about something, but if the salesperson says �this is what everybody does� they�ll go with it.

And by the way,

When you use random numbers in your made-up statistics, people believe them 83% more.

28) Sync the Renewals

This is just an objection rebuttal I thought of for the person that wants to buy one new policy today and wait until their other policy renews to switch to you.

�We can wait, but if we can switch the other policy over now it will put all your renewals in sync. You�ll only have to think about insurance once a year, you can come in here and talk to us about everything at once, and you�ll always know right before Easter is when you handle all your insurance.�

Just a thought�

29) Be Patient And Keep Cross Selling

Cross selling is a unique sales situation because you�re going to have lots of chances to interact with the prospect.

In some ways that�s good because you don�t have to be too aggressive.

But it can also be bad because it�s too easy to say, �I don�t want to irritate my customer� or �I�ll talk to her about it next time�.

The key is to develop processes that take both extremes into consideration and force you to go down the middle with everyone.

The more you talk about cross-sales with your customers, the more cross sales you�ll make.

I promise.

Here�s What to Do Next:

1. Go through this list and write down any new ideas you�d like to implement
2. Add these new ideas to your current process and keep track of the results.
3. If you found value in this article, spread the love and share it with a friend or manager.

I hope this helps,