Most of us have experienced some type of cross-selling. Whether it’s grabbing a drink to go with our snack at the gas station or choosing a new pair of shoes to match the shirt we’re purchasing, this common sales technique is used across all types of industries. It is also one of the easiest ways to take your call center marketing to the next level. If your company is selling insurance to investors, businesses or even the average consumer, you should absolutely be cross-selling insurance.

How Cross-Selling Makes Good (Insurance) Business Sense

It may seem like just a sales technique, but cross-selling can actually improve your customer’s overall experience and your business’s public image and regard. Some of the ways cross-selling can change the way consumers see your company include:

• Improving customer service. At the heart of good cross-selling is listening. When a customer feels like you’re offering them extra products or services as a result of listening to their individual needs, they feel valued.
• Creating loyalty. When your customers have a positive experience, they’re more likely to return to you. Likewise, they’re more likely to tell others about that great experience, inspiring more customers to turn to your company for those same needs.
• Gathering feedback. When you’re cross-selling, you’re engaging in dialogue with your consumer. In doing so, you may be offered feedback you wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to collect. Take it. This is a valuable business improvement tool being provided free of charge. Use it to further expand the ways you serve your customers

These benefits make perfect sense in the world of selling insurance. Think about how many areas of our lives we need insurance for. Then, apply that concept to cross-selling. If a person buys life insurance for themselves, why not for their beloved spouse? IF you’re insuring your home, why not your vehicles, as well? Drive a nice car and live in an equally-nice apartment complex? Insure your belongings in the garage and in the condo with two policies from the same company. In this way, cross-selling is easier in the insurance field than almost anywhere else!

Tips on Taking Your Cal Center Cross-Selling to the Next Level

Cross-selling is incredibly easy to implement in the call center setting. Unfortunately, it can be so simple that many businesses that use call centers as the heart of their marketing strategies overlook its importance and potential impact. Reexamining the cross-sell can make all the difference in your brand’s sales numbers. Here are a few pointers for making cross-selling insurance your go-to call center solution:

• Go with a manageable, concrete goal. Too often, call centers used for cross-selling approach sales with an abstract, oversized goal. Nail down exactly who you’re trying to sell which products to, and move forward with that plan in place. Market life insurance to those who buy it for someone else, sell renter’s insurance to car insurance policy holders without home insurance. Make a plan and stick to it.
• Create customer profiles. When you know your customers, you can better pitch products and services to them that they will actually need or want.
• Build a model that works, and implement it. Repeatedly. Consistently. Constantly.

Above all else, get started. The most important thing is to offer the cross-sell pitch to every customer, every time it’s possible. Failing to do so is failing both you and your consumer. Don’t make that mistake. Give your clients and your sales department what they want. Offer the cross-sell, and watch your numbers rise.