Your existing book of business is a tremendous and probably untapped resource. If you sell one vertical of insurance alone, there’s an easy way to grow your business without having to establish a single new relationship: sell other verticals. You can do this by becoming a generalist, which may be the opposite you were told to do when you began selling insurance. 

It used to be that insurance agents specialized in one vertical alone but with so many agencies, agents and carriers competing with relatively low prices, it’s becoming imperative to work in as many lines of insurance as possible. We’ll show you how to use your existing clientele list to expand your business and strengthen existing relationships with clients. It may require an investment at first, but your investment will pay off in the long-run.

1. Get More Licenses

The first thing you can do to grow your business without networking beyond your base is to get all of your licenses. Visit your state’s department of insurance page to see which licenses are recognized in your state and decide which ones are right for you to sell. If you only have a property and casualty license, get your accident and health license and life insurance license. If you have a property and casualty license, expand your business by selling commercial insurance to the small business owners in your book of business. Chances are that you’ve overlooked these clients by focusing only on their auto insurance renewals. Now’s your chance to cross sell as much as you can and take care of all your clients’ insurance needs. Remember also that an umbrella policy may be right for many of your customers too.

2. Use Leads to Gain New Clients

After you’ve exhausted your book of clients and have upsold and cross-sold as many insurance products as you can, you’ll need to generate new business. Auto insurance leads are great but did you ever consider renters insurance leads from a reliable source like SmartFinancial? You won’t strike it rich selling renters insurance but most renters also own a car, maybe even two, so you’re really looking at selling multiple policies, especially if they are also a small business owner. Another great thing about signing on young renters is that they often convert to homeowners insurance down the line. You’ll need to nurture these relationships and keep in touch to earn the bigger commissions down the line but this takes minimal effort. Play your cards right and give your clients superior service and they will come to you when they are ready to buy a house. Buying commercial insurance leads is also a great option. The commissions on small business insurance packages are more profitable for one thing. Also, if you have success selling business policies, getting those clients to switch over their home and auto will naturally fall into place if you pursue your clients with competitive rates. Now that you have all of your licenses too, why wouldn’t you sell your commercial client a group health policy?

Hopefully, you’ll be a generalist by the time you accomplish this great feat of finding multiple sources of revenue from one client alone. Make that person’s life easier and a little more pleasant and they may entrust you with the family members’ health insurance plans and even life insurance. There’s no shame in turning your business model into a 1-stop shop. It’s a wise idea, in fact!

3. Monitor Clients

Establish social media ties with your clients and aggressively monitor your Facebook, Instagram and Twitter feeds regularly to see if there were any new births (life insurance, health insurance), wedding announcements (drop in auto insurance rates; may signal a homeowners insurance policy in the near future) new cars, new homes or additions to homes, etc. Personal posts can quickly tune you in to new insurance needs. When your loyal client buys a boat, it is your opportunity to sell RV insurance!

4.Umbrellas, Endorsements and Riders

Small add-ons like endorsements for expensive equipment or jewelry add up. They also give you the opportunity to protect your clients even more thoroughly with policies they may otherwise not know about. Someone may think their engagement ring is covered with a homeowners insurance policy only to find out that its cost exceeds their coverage. It’s your job to explain that they may need a riders, endorsements or floater if they have lots of expensive personal belongings.

Become an insurance nerd. Don’t overlook anything. You will lose so much revenue and possibly your client’s trust and loyalty if you’re not on top of every way that you can mitigate risk in a client’s life.

It’s also not a bad idea to try to sell your clients an umbrella policy. An umbrella insurance policy simply adds extra liability insurance that goes above limits placed on home, auto or watercraft insurance. This extra protection can save a client thousands of dollars if they are ever sued for damages to other people’s property or injuries that may happen from an accident in the home. Some say that every business owner should have an umbrella policy, so hit up your book of business, with a focus on small business owners. Fine tune your elevator pitch for why they need this product more than anyone else (they’ve got more to lose!). 

5.Nurturing Life Insurance LeadsWhether you’re buying life insurance leads or are trying to cross-sell life insurance to existing clients, you should know that these types of policies are very slow to close but are highly profitable when they do. Life insurance is the most under-utilized insurance product in the U.S but it should be an easy sell to most responsible breadwinners. It’s your job to explain to clients how you or even their baby may benefit from owning a policy, which can work very much like a trust fund. Make sure to explain the savings component of some types of life insurance. With older clients, help weigh the pros and cons of a more expensive policy. The more you know about financial advising and retirement, the more successful you’ll be selling life insurance. And using your existing book of business and a reliable lead generation source, you’ll have many leads there ahead of you!