Boost Retention: The Rule of 3

Clients with one policy are easy to lose.

They shop around.

They call for quotes.

They can churn fast.

But something changes at three.

What is the Rule of 3?

That’s the Rule of 3 and it’s one of the simplest ways to grow client loyalty and strengthen your agency.

It's not overselling or policy stuffing. It isn’t a guaranteed protection from churn.

But it is a pattern agents have seen for decades. Clients with three or more policies tend to stay longer.

As Robert Rothschild shared in 5 Tips for Seasoned Agents: “Sell them three policies or more and you’ll likely never lose the client — because there’s just too much to change at that point.”

Think of it like your clients shopping at Walmart (or any one-stop store).

Instead of running all over town, everything they need is in one place:

• Easier to organize

• More convenient

• Less confusing about what they're actually paying for (gaps or overlaps)

For clients, it’s just easier when several policies are managed by one agent, particularly when those policies are reviewed regularly.

So Why the Third Policy?

Most of the time, this third policy doesn’t come all at once. It's a long-term investment that comes through ongoing conversations and regular policy reviews.

This reflects how clients view their relationship with you.

Clients might see the first policy as security, the second as familiarity, but by the third policy, something shifts.

There’s more trust, commitment, and they value your guidance.

Like an exponential curve:

• Switching gets harder and harder. It’s a hassle to move everything to another agent.

• Trust develops more and more. They rely on you for more of their financial life.

• Decisions stop being about price only. They value your guidance, not just the policy.

• Emotional ties continually form. You become a trusted partner that helps protect what your clients cherish most.

As Ritter Insurance Marketing puts it: 

“This [cross-selling or multi-policy] approach transforms the relationship from transactional to strategic, making the agent indispensable and reducing client churn.”

How to Bring It Up Without Feeling Pushy

Many agents don’t get the opportunity to have these conversations. Not because they don’t care, but because they’re unsure how to start or don’t have a natural reason to reach out.

That’s where policy reviews matter.

Without them, clients find gaps later, get frustrated, and another agent steps in.

In 5 Tips for Seasoned Agents, Robert shared a simple way to open the conversation during a review:

“Hey, just wanted to say hi and thanks for your Medicare business. By the way, there are some things your plan doesn’t cover. Just trying to do our job to make sure we’re taking care of you and letting you know.”

From there, the conversation flows naturally:

• Ask questions

• Identify gaps (before they become a problem)

• Educate

When these conversations happen as part of a review, the third policy feels like relief, not a pushy sale.

Takeaway

Here’s the simplest way to think about the Rule of 3: The more integrated you are in a client’s life, the harder you are to replace.

Frequent policy reviews can lead to multi-line selling.

This isn't magic. It's a tipping point where a sale moves to a trusting relationship.