Fast food restaurants are masters at cross-selling and upselling. Every day, consumers are inundated with cross-selling and up-selling offers. Would you like fries with your burger? Would you like to upgrade to a large soda? Can I interest you in a dessert? And many times, the response to these questions is YES. Just imagine the potato overage our country would face if fast food restaurants stopped cross-selling fries.
At first glance, insurance may seem to have little to do with fast food, but there is a connection.
When selling insurance, insurance agents must think more like fast food marketers. Agents should always offer side-dish coverage to supplement the primary insurance purchase. Be innovative and bundle up a value meal of insurance to better meet clients’ needs.
To supersize insurance commission income, you should always offer income protection as a side dish to both personal and commercial clients.
Would You Like Income Protection with That?
We tend to forget that commercial clients might need income protection. However, business owners today are facing more challenges and jumping through more hoops than ever just to stay afloat.
The shutdowns and economic problems are bad enough, but on top of that, business owners also have to worry about getting sick. If they’re unable to work, what will happen to their business? And if their workers get sick, how will they earn a living?
Paycheck protection and disability insurance can help. Now more than ever, those struggling business owners need your expertise to protect their businesses, their profits and their employees.
Cross-selling, Up-selling and Down-selling
Cross-selling, up-selling and down-selling are common sales techniques that insurance agents can put to use.
- Up-selling: When you’re selling disability, suggest riders that could help your client. The future increase rider, for example, lets policyholders increase their coverage as their income increases, without the need for more medical underwriting.
- Down-selling: Suggesting that a client buy LESS might seem strange, but it can actually be the smart move. If a client is objecting to the cost of paycheck protection, try offering a less expensive policy that still offers some protection while fitting the client’s budget.
- Cross-selling: When you’re selling life insurance or another insurance product, don’t forget to recommend disability insurance. This provides the client with essential protection, and it can provide you with a nice commission. When you’re talking to business clients, there are many side dishes to offer …
Suggest These Income Protection Side-Dishes:
First, every business owner needs to know about Individual Disability Income insurance. Explain how this coverage can help maintain a disabled person’s lifestyle without draining savings or business profits.
Next, talk about the business. Business owners need to know how Business Overhead Expense (BOE) insurance can help them maintain control of their businesses and avoid financial tragedy.
While talking about the business, ask about key employees: Does your client have a key employee who is critical to the success of their business? What if that employee becomes disabled or dies? Your client needs to know about Key Person insurance, coverage that can protect the business and demonstrate financial stability to creditors and shareholders.
Is there a business partner? What happens to the business if that partner is permanently disabled or dies? Does your client have the financial means or a plan to buy out the disabled partner? Reassure them that they can protect their business by funding a buy-sell agreement with Disability Buy Out (DBO) insurance without using business cash flow, seeking loans, or selling shares of their business for quick cash.
Put on Your Consultant Hat
Business owners seek a trusted financial advisor who will help them calculate their risks, assess their needs, and construct solutions. Play “what if” scenarios with them and ask tough questions. If they suddenly became disabled, what would happen to the income and business? How would they continue paying their mortgage and business overhead expenses? Would they blow through their retirement savings or their children’s college education funds just to make ends meet?
The bottom line is that almost all your clients are vulnerable to the risk of disability. Whether you’re selling personal lines or commercial lines; property & casualty or life & health, think of income protection as your “fries on the side.” Your clients will be more satisfied, and you will succeed in supersizing your insurance commission income.
Need more disability insurance sales ideas? Download everything you need from the training page of our website.
