This blog post was originally published on the Engagex blog on January 29, 2021.
Updated and republished on March 4, 2022.
One of the fastest and easiest ways to improve retention and, in turn, grow your insurance agency is to multi-line your customers.
However, if you are too forward with your cross-selling approach, it is easy to give the wrong impression to your clients.
You don’t want them to think you are simply trying to get more money out of them; you want them to understand and feel that you genuinely have their best interest at heart.
One of the simplest ways to warm up your clients and prepare them for a cross-sell they might need is to educate them, so they feel the need and value of the new policy.
Educating your clients about their risks and the options to minimize those risks empowers them to make confident decisions about their coverage.
Sending clients educational information to study it themselves helps them realize the benefits you have to offer so you can later make the sale - but more importantly, so your clients make the best coverage decisions for their lives.
It also deepens the trust they have in you as their insurance advisor.
To educate your clients, you’ll need to have the right materials on hand, ready to give or send to them digitally.
Don’t have that information ready to send?
Continue reading to learn how to create effective, educational content (in 4 easy steps) that will drive cross-selling and multi-lining in your agency.
Before we get to the 4 steps, here are some things to consider:
Medium
The most common media format for educational insurance policy content:
Electronic document/article format (this could be a page on your website or blog)
Physical handouts like a pamphlet or flyer
Video
Accessibility - Keep it Simple
When identifying the mediums/channels you’d like to use for your content, keep accessibility in mind.
The insurance industry jargon that you and your staff members understand in-depth isn’t as easily understood by those outside of the industry.
Simple, straightforward, well-organized information will go a long way for your clients’ confidence in you AND in themselves for being able to understand how it applies to them.
Avoid fluff and unnecessary information.
If your client prefers video, send a link to your video (you can easily host it on YouTube, Vimeo, or your agency’s Facebook page).
If they want a physical pamphlet, hand them a pamphlet.
If they want an email with a link to an article, be prepared with that too.
Which products should you create educational content for?
It will be beneficial to create content for each product you offer.
Go through each insurance policy category and subcategory, identify the policies your customers might be most interested in, and start there.
For example:
Category: Auto
Piece 1: Liability
Piece 2: Uninsured Motorist
Piece 3: Medical
Piece 4: Comprehensive
Category: Home
Piece 5: Home/Rental
Piece 6: Separate Structures
Piece 7: Contents
Piece 8: Additional Living Expenses
Piece 9: Liability
Piece 10: Guest Medical
Create an educational piece for each policy you offer so that whenever a customer asks for more information, no matter what it is, you will have a quick deliverable answer.
To create each piece of content, follow these 4 steps:
Explain the function of the coverage and the circumstances under which the coverage is needed. Explain any terms that might be unfamiliar to your client. Explain any numbers or figures involved in the policy.
Give a specific, real-life example.
Emphasize the benefits of having the policy.
Consider Frequently Asked Questions
As you meet with your existing clients to review their policies and discuss their needs, take note of questions that frequently come up. These questions will give you a good idea of the most important things to include in your educational content. Review your content to ensure the information contains the answers to these questions.
As you facilitate your clients in learning for themselves why they need specific additional policies, you will have greater success multi-lining, increasing retention, and most importantly, delivering the best possible service to your clients.