How to cross-sell insurance products to boost your revenue

How to cross-sell insurance products to boost your revenue 

One of the first laws of business is that it’s more expensive to win a new customer than it is to retain an existing one – as much as five times the cost! Which is why frontrunners such as Amazon turn to the magic of cross-selling to grow their businesses. The retail giant attributes 35% of its sales to cross-selling and upselling. Increase your revenue by tapping into your existing client base – we share tips on how to spot cross-selling opportunities and how to cross-sell add-on insurance products and more comprehensive cover.

1. Spot the opportunity and act accordingly

There are generally two types of cross-selling situations. For each one, tailor your approach and sales techniques accordingly: 

• Customers who already own the product: They’ve bought insurance cover from a competitor, but you want to switch them to Santam and your business. These prospects respond best to repetition (regular check-ins), selling your expertise, selling the benefits of your product, and follow-ups.
• Customers who don’t already own the product: These customers either don’t have insurance cover at all or don’t have the type of coverage you’re trying to sell them. The key with them is to educate them about the types of insurance cover available and Santam product benefits, to identify a need, and then to sell. 

2. Gather as much information as possible 

You can collect a lot of useful information at the quote stage, so make a point of finding out everything you need to know about a client’s other policies and belongings. For example, someone might contact you for watercraft insurance, but there is nothing preventing you from asking if they are satisfied with their home and car insurance. 

3. Implement a good tracking system 

The success of cross-selling depends largely on how well you keep track of client information – what their business does exactly, what cars they drive, where they live/work, what policies they have, when they expire, etc. It must be easy to pull up any client record and to see, at a glance, what products are the best cross-selling opportunities for them. Invest in a good client relationship management system so you can easily track client information and past communication.   

4. Comparing to similar client profiles 

Amazon is great at this sales technique – their introduction of “Customers who bought this item also bought” and “Frequently bought together” was cross-selling genius. You don’t have to name names, but you can easily use this technique by casually mentioning other customers with similar businesses/belongings and the type(s) of add-on/optional products they chose. With Santam, intermediaries have access to a handy home contents profiler – a tool that enables you to identify potentially underinsured clients by comparing a client’s information against Santam clients with similar profiles. 

5. Using marketing to cross-sell 

Make a list of current and new clients, and work cross-selling into your marketing activities – email, print advertising and/or social media campaigns. Be sure to use positive client testimonials to convince potential clients to work with you. It might be time to relook your marketing plan so look out for free templates such as these to kick-start your planning and positioning.

Someone might not be ready to switch insurers or require a new product yet, but it’s always good to plant seeds. Just make a note to follow up one month, and again six months later, and stay on top of your client’s changing circumstances to remind them when additional cover is necessary. Software such as Workpool makes for easy task and workflow management – such as setting follow-up date reminders. It can be hard to know what to write as a ‘just checking in’ email each time so see how Hubspot switches it up with 16 sales follow-up email examples or add its free CRM tool to your Gmail or Outlook mailbox to send standardised introduction or follow-up emails. 

6. Best times for cross-selling

We recommend that you keep in constant contact with your clients to ensure that they have adequate cover for their belongings or business, and to flag any unhappiness or uncertainty before they feel the need to change their policies. On the plus side, there are certain known ‘triggers’ for cross-selling to look out for:   

• Change in policy: Whether a client is starting a business, buying a boat, or buying a car for a student child – any change in policy is your opening for cross-selling. However, don’t wait until there is a change – constantly keep in touch with clients and remind them to regularly review their cover.
• Policy review: Not everyone has or makes the time for a proper policy review, so create a number of key questions that would allow you to identify a new cross-sell opportunity based on any changes in your customer’s life. Even if a client wants to save costs or wants to switch insurance companies, you can use the opportunity to cross-sell products. 

For more advice and tools to grow your business visit our intermediary advice page.