Insurance marketing campaigns must underscore agency value

Cross-selling is one of the most powerful ways insurance agents can not only grow their business while deepening relationships with their existing clients.

Despite its many benefits, some agents are hesitant to approach clients about purchasing additional policies. If you’re afraid of bugging your clients by reaching out to them, don’t be. In fact, according to Deloitte, 60% of insurance consumers feel that their insurance agents don’t offer any value after purchasing a policy.

If you’re like most agencies, you need to spend more time reminding clients of the value you can offer. A good cross-selling or account-rounding campaign isn’t just a way to sell something else to your clients, it’s a way to remind them that your job is to make sure they’re protected, and aware of their options. Reminding clients of your value will only deepen the relationship and build loyalty with them — and as Bain & Company’s research has shown, loyal clients stay longer, buy more policies and give more referrals.

See also: 6 ways to sell more insurance in 2018

Building the campaign

Cross-selling requires strategy. You don’t want to send an email to everyone in your system who doesn’t have a particular policy you sell and ask them to buy it. That will get on people’s nerves. It’s important to narrow down a target audience and make sure you’re telling them about something that’s actually useful to them.

One example of a customer segment is people who have an auto insurance policy but no homeowners or renter’s insurance. But don’t forget the value of choosing a less popular segment that relates to a particular area of expertise your agency has.

You should create a sequence of emails to nurture whichever group you choose, and the emails should focus on education about ways clients can protect themselves above all else. Every email should encourage people to call you if they have any questions about the topic. You should hold off mentioning a specific policy until the final email in the sequence, and even then, you should emphasize that you want to offer advice and help more than the idea that you’re trying to sell something.

See also: 3 digital marketing hacks to drive more insurance leads in 2018

Always demonstrate your value

Just like so many other aspects of growing your insurance agency, making sure people know that you’re knowledgeable about how to protect them is one of the most powerful tools in the agent’s or broker’s toolkit. A big part of the appeal of having an agent is that the agent knows more about insurance than anyone else. Establishing yourself as an expert in your clients’ particular areas of interest is a powerful way to drive home that you’re the right agent for them and that they are in good hands when dealing with you.

Many times, people just need to be reminded that you’re there, that you can help protect what’s important to them, and that you care. After all, if they don’t hear from you every now and again, how are they going to remember all you can do to help?

See also: The art of personal selling in the digital age

A real world example

Let’s take a look at a commercial lines cross-selling sequence used by one of Agency Revolution’s clients, Peake & McInnis Insurance Brokers, through which they promote their Cyber Liability policies to their small and mid-size commercial lines clients that don’t have one. It’s a simple three email sequence that puts two weeks between each email blast.

1. The first email is all about “how to avoid data breaches.” It cites some information about how frequently a data breach happens, what kind of problems a business faces when it does happen, and how frequently it affects small and mid-size businesses. The email then shares a “Cyber Liability Checklist” and mentions that readers should feel free to call their agent if they have any questions about protecting themselves from cyber crime. The call to action is included at the end of both the checklist and the email.
2. The next email in their sequence highlights how to identify different types of common online scams, shares a link to a blog post they wrote about what kind of things a cyber liability policy would protect against, and explains why the policy is important. Both the email and the blog casually encourage people to call if they have any questions about how to protect themselves against these worst case scenarios.
3. The final email gets a little more direct. It emphasizes that the client’s protection is the agent’s greatest concern, and that cyber liability is a field of expertise for this agency. It highlights that cyber crime is the fastest growing type of crime right now. It mentions the cyber liability checklist and the blog article once more before encouraging people to call if they have any questions about protecting themselves.

This is a great campaign because of how well it positions this company as an expert on this increasingly important issue. It reminds clients that even if they don’t have a policy with the company for that type of coverage, the brokers are still providing real, valuable resources — because at the end of the day protecting their clients is what’s important to them.

Even if someone doesn’t buy a policy because of this campaign, they’re going to remember how knowledgeable and friendly these brokers are. When they do decide they need to protect themselves with a policy, Peake & McInnis will be at the top of their mind.

See also: 5 ways to sell more insurance policies and sleep better at night 

Segment your list

Segmenting your list and importing that information into your email system can be a cumbersome task, but it’s more than worth your time, especially when you use a communication platform to take a lot of the work out of this task by integrating directly with your management system, similar to Agency Revolution’s platform. This allows you to segment lists based on policies, history with your company, and more — all in the same place you build and send your company’s communication. But whatever tools you use to help facilitate it, cross-selling is a crucial part of your client management and one that you shouldn’t shy away from. Your clients will appreciate it!

Rick Fox is the president of Agency Revolution. He can be reached at rfox@agencyrevolution.com.

The opinions expressed here are the author’s own.

Read more columns by Rick Fox:

The 4 elements of ‘brand voice’ in insurance

Insurance agents and online reputation management

Here’s how to establish your insurance ‘marketing cadence’