Develop Tools For Selling, Up-Selling And Cross-Selling

When developing your brand, think past the logo and colors and create an image that your customers will recognize you for. Develop an image that conveys a message about what your company stands for, like selling peace of mind, friendly service or financial planning expertise. Take the time to road test your brand with a few clients and colleagues to assess its effectiveness. It doesnt matter what size your company is, you are never too small to develop a brand. If you want or need direction, there are a variety of good books, Web sites and companies out there to get you started.

Re-servicing your existing clients. Did you know, on average, it is five times more expensive to get a new customer than to keep and continue selling to an existing customer? Re-servicing existing customers is an area that most agents underestimate. This is like throwing money out the door. Existing customers already have bought and believe in the products you offer. There are several easy ways to maintain and develop active relationships with your clients:

FeedbackCreate your own survey after the sale to find out how well you did your job and how well the carrier you represent did. Dont forget your carrier is a reflection of you and you need to understand how that is affecting your client relationship.

NewslettersCreate a tool that provides pertinent information and is easy to read. Be realistic and publish quarterly or twice a year. A monthly publication takes a lot of time and thought and distracts you from selling. Your insurance carrier(s) may have one that you can put your name on or hire a company to do it for you. After establishing your format for the newsletter you need to deliver content that is informative and enjoyable to read. Here are a few ideas for newsletter content: educational articles, a message from you, testimonials, product highlights, community happenings, health tips and something fun and differentuse your imagination. Create a consistent format that is full of short articles and use color and pictures to bring the newsletter to life.

Birthday, holiday and anniversary cardsThis is an inexpensive and thoughtful way to make contact with a client. Everyone loves to get cards on special occasions and good old-fashioned mail is nice to get in this day and age.

Annual follow-up callsPlan this around their policy anniversary and call to confirm that the address, phone and other pertinent information is current. Also, you can take this time to learn about new family circumstances, a new home or baby, for example. This may lead to a new sale. It is also a good time to ask for referrals.

Dont forget to create a client database to allow you to better manage your existing and potential client information. Todays software packages make this quick and easy. Many software packages offer follow-up reminder features that make it easy to stay on top of your client needs and opportunities.

Effective communication tools and relationship building are the key factors to making the first sale, up-selling or cross-selling. Take the time to plan for future sales now. Start with developing a strong, recognized brand, advertise, and build long-term relationships with your clients. You can achieve success by taking the time to outline and implement a marketing plan. A little planning and small investment will go a long way to building a successful business.

is the marketing leader for Tactegy Consulting Group, Indianapolis, Ind. She can be reached at [email protected].

Reproduced from National Underwriter Life & Health/Financial Services Edition, November 7, 2003. Copyright 2003 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.