Barnburning During the Recession: Cross selling to round out your accounts

By Louis V. Narciso

President, All Solutions PBS LLC

It’s no secret that this is one of the most challenging economic environments in decades. Even insurance agencies and brokerages, one of the most recession proof of businesses, are facing unprecedented challenges as their clients merge, downsize or even go out of business.

The only reasonable way to combat this trend is by generating new sales to replace lost accounts and a diminishing revenue base. So, you can either bang your head against the wall competing for your competitors’ renewals, or find incremental opportunities in the accounts that you already have. The term “cross sell” has never meant more.

What else do your clients need?

Do they have a need for Professional Liability or Malpractice coverage? Can your personal lines or life clients get you an introduction into the business they work for?

If you have a strong book in upscale personal lines, you probably have a few doctors, lawyers and other professionals as clients. Why not go after their professional liability? They all carry it; why not ask to work on it?

If you have contractors as clients, believe it or not, they nearly all need professional liability. General Liability coverage covers slips & falls and contractual liability, but excludes professional services (the very items they promise to clients).

Nearly every consultant carries professional liability, or they are required to. You would be surprised by how many of your clients who may have lost jobs in the economic downturn have started consulting businesses. Find out what they are doing. If you have clients doing business with government entities, they almost all now require professional coverage to cover this work. Have they gone elsewhere to secure it?

Even if none of your clients need professional liability, every commercial client has an exclusion for Employment Practices Liability under their General Liability policy. Why not quote it for them? If you write their Workers Comp, you have most of the information you need in your file to secure an indication -- Payroll, Number of Employees and Class of business.

Some statistics to consider. In any 3 year span:

• 1 in 3 businesses has an action brought against them (Federal, State or Written Complaint)
• 1 in 5 has a lawsuit brought against them
• 1 in 7 will pay in excess of $10,000 in defense or settlement
• 1 in 9 will end up with some action (defense, indemnity or settlement) that has a bill that ends up north of $100,000.

Small firms, even very small ones, should have this coverage. They would not go without General Liability, and this is an extension to that coverage which can cost a fraction of the premium.

One last thing to consider -- nearly every town or neighborhood has a Non-Profit organization locally. Many of these do such very good work, and their budgets have been slashed through funding losses or reduced donations. Why not contact them? You may not be able to donate cash, but you can work on their insurance program and try to save them money, or perhaps provide something additional for what they are paying now. They are like most other businesses, and if you work with the right carrier or intermediary they can assist you in putting together the best options available.

These are just a few ideas…if you think about it, you will come up with so many more…wishing you well in 2011…A Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year to you & yours!