Boosting Your Team's Cross-Selling Skills: A Four-Step Guide

Are you looking to increase your team's life insurance sales? Many financial services professionals face the challenge that cross-selling is outside the comfort zone of their service teams. We often hear service associates express frustrations because they don’t know what to say and they don’t feel as knowledgeable in the products they can cross-sell. And because it’s outside of their comfort zone, they simply focus on other work.

The good news is there are four steps to help your team become more effective cross-sellers:

1. Cultivate the Right Mindset: How your team perceives cross-selling will significantly impact their willingness to engage in it. Check out this Optimal Outcome Insight to learn more about cultivating a productive mindset around cross-selling.

2. Equip Them with Language: Selling life insurance often opens the door to talk about uncomfortable topics such as death, illnesses, disabilities, etc. These are topics that many want to avoid. And because they are sensitive, if your team isn’t sure exactly what to say or how to ask about these topics, they’ll say nothing at all. To help your team, provide clear and effective language to use when discussing cross-selling opportunities. Record your own interactions or create flashcards to give your team the language they need to discuss risks and opportunities with clients.

3. Provide Essential Tools: Equip your team with marketing materials, email templates, and needs assessment tools to support their cross-selling efforts. Regularly assess their needs and provide additional resources as necessary.

4. Foster a Culture of Practice: Encourage your team to practice cross-selling in a supportive environment. Schedule dedicated time for role-playing and skill-building exercises even if you need to close the doors for the lunch hour and cater in food. Invest in your team’s skills to see a return on investment.

By implementing these strategies, you can help your team overcome their hesitations and become more confident cross-sellers.