Sometimes the easiest win in insurance sales is hiding in plain sight, like the umbrella policy your clients don’t know they need.

Brokers and agents often overlook cross-selling umbrella liability insurance, but it can be the unsung hero when a client is sued over a physical or personal injury.

Because you’re working with established clients, umbrella insurance, also known as excess liability coverage, is essentially “low-hanging fruit”.

Umbrella premiums are relatively small compared to the million or more of liability coverage that an umbrella policy provides.

We’ll explain why you should cross-sell excess liability to nearly all your clients and who your target customers are. We’ll also outline 5 best practices for cross-selling umbrella liability coverage. 

Shortcuts:

Why Umbrella Policies Are an Easy Win

• Customers Stand to Lose Their Hard-Earned Assets
• Go for the Easy Win
• The Cross-Sell Advantage

Understanding the Ideal Umbrella Prospect

Best Practice #1: Make Umbrella Part of Every Policy Review

• Position the Conversation: Protection vs. Obvious Cross-sell
• Identify Coverage Gaps

Best Practice #2: Keep the Explanation Simple and Visual

Best Practice #3: Bundle and Present an Umbrella as a Natural Add-On

Best Practice #4: Use Trigger Moments to Your Advantage

Best Practice #5: Educate Clients Through Multiple Channels

From Optional to Essential: Making Umbrella Policies Standard Practice

Why Umbrella Policies Are an Easy Win

Most responsible drivers, homeowners, and business owners carry large liability limits. That makes sense, since we live in such a litigious society.

Customers Stand to Lose Their Hard-Earned Assets

Liability lawsuits seek damages for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and possibly more. Awards can be in the millions.

A good umbrella pitch can save your insured from financial disaster.

What customers often overlook is that a lawsuit over libel, defamation, or severe injury can quickly max out their liability limit. A high-value lawsuit may leave their hard-earned assets vulnerable to loss.

Umbrella insurance builds on a customer’s existing insurance policies to give them the maximum coverage to protect their assets. It protects their cars, home, savings, investments, and even their future earnings.

Go for the Easy Win

When you frame stories around the risk of liability loss and highlight the low cost of umbrella insurance, your customer quickly understands the value of an umbrella policy.

An Insurance Journal article titled Six Things to Know About Umbrella Insurance cites data from Marathon Strategies showing that jury awards over $10 million are becoming more common.

The cost of an umbrella policy varies depending on the type and number of underlying policies, as well as other factors. Trusted Choice cites an ACE Private Risk Services (a division of Chubb Insurance) study showing that the average cost of a $1 million umbrella is $383 per year. Insureds can expect to pay around $600 for a $5 million umbrella. Either way, it’s a small amount of premium for a large amount of liability insurance.

Most importantly, an umbrella insurance policy provides your customers with the peace of mind they need. Often, the need for peace of mind is enough to secure the sale on the spot. 

The Cross-Sell Advantage

Whenever you cross-sell a policy, it helps clients differentiate you from competitors who may overlook cross-selling.

Cross-selling also increases client retention and lifetime value. The more policies a client has with you, the less inclined they’ll be to shop around.

Insurance sales can be hard. It’s not for everyone, as it takes a lot of calling and digital marketing management. You get the hard win when you sell the first policy. Take the easy win by cross-selling with every client.

Understanding the Ideal Umbrella Prospect

Anyone, rich or poor, can be sued, which means nearly everyone is a good candidate for an umbrella policy.

The only people who don’t need an umbrella policy are those with no money or assets. That’s a pretty slim minority.

Some people may opt for an umbrella policy. For others, it’s a necessity, either because they carry a greater-than-normal amount of risk or because they have a larger-than-normal amount of assets.

If your client brings up any of the following issues, they are a prime candidate for an umbrella policy:

• Own a home
• Have a trampoline or swimming pool
• Regularly host parties
• Own one or more rental properties
• Have high net worth
• Have expensive cars
• Have teen drivers
• Have a boat, snowmobile, RV, ATV, or motorcycle
• Own one or more dogs
• Serve on a board of directors
• Coach a team
• Have a public profile

In addition to evaluating customers during appointments, you will also find a goldmine of potential cross-sell opportunities in your CRM. It’s worth the time to identify the best candidates. 

Best practices for cross-selling in insurance will help you sell umbrella insurance with confidence.

Best Practice #1: Make Umbrella Part of Every Policy Review

Are you doing annual reviews for each of your policyholders? Your customers’ insurance needs evolve as they go through life. Often, you can detect a new need for a specific insurance policy or a higher limit before the customer realizes it.

By contacting your customers at their renewals, they’ll see that you’re proactively managing their accounts. Annual renewal reviews are the ideal entry point to cross-sell umbrella and other insurance policies. 

Position the Conversation: Protection vs. Obvious Cross-sell

The sole reason people are interested in an umbrella policy is for their family’s protection. Your clients will be more open to talking about whether they need an umbrella when they understand what it can do for them.

Explain that it’s a safety net that safeguards everything they’ve worked for, including their home, savings, and even their future income. With a consultative approach, customers will see you as responsible, compassionate, and thorough.

Identify Coverage Gaps

Your clients may feel totally secure with their current home and auto policies, as well as their boat, landlord, or other policies. They may not see the coverage gaps without an umbrella policy.

Umbrella policies often cover specific exposures that underlying policies exclude.

Here are some other risks umbrellas may cover to fill coverage gaps from the underlying policies:

• Rental properties: Coverage for injuries to tenants or visitors
• Personal injury: Libel, slander, defamation of character
• Worldwide coverage: Coverage regardless of geographical location
• Uninsured or underinsured motorists: Extended coverage to cover losses where an at-fault driver has little or no coverage
• Legal defense costs: Coverage for attorney fees and court costs

At this juncture in the sale, it’s a good time to highlight their family’s unique risks and exposures as part of your insurance marketing strategy.

With CrankWheel’s screen-sharing software, you can create slides for various exposures – rental properties, boats, events, etc. At the appropriate time, you can pull the appropriate slide and insert it exactly when you need it.

Best Practice #2: Keep the Explanation Simple and Visual

The concept of an umbrella policy is pretty simple, but it can cover various situations that could cause the policyholder distress.

Simple visual explanations will tell the story quickly without overwhelming your customers.

A basic umbrella image that expands over a car, home, or rental property helps customers visualize the value of an umbrella policy. Accompany images with words like “an extra layer of protection” or “your safety net”.

Another good way to demonstrate value is to create a slide showing a “good, better, best” format. The good tier shows standard limits. The better tier shows higher limits, and the umbrella offers the best protection.

Once the customer grasps the concept, you can lead in with limits, exclusions, and explanations of insurance terms.

It’s also helpful to use a few real-world scenarios using simple numbers.

For example:

• Their child makes disparaging remarks about someone on social media.
• They get into a multiple-car accident that exceeds their auto insurance limits.
• A child wanders into their yard and drowns in their swimming pool.
• They serve liquor at a party, and an inebriated guest crashes their car on the way home.
• Their dog escapes the yard and bites the postal carrier.

An internet search will give you many more examples of when an umbrella policy could come into play. 

A good tip is to keep your slides clean and uncluttered to wow customers during demos. Simple diagrams and side-by-side comparisons work well to keep things straightforward and practical.

Best Practice #3: Bundle and Present an Umbrella as a Natural Add-On

Always present an umbrella policy as a natural add-on to home and auto policies. Most people need one anyway. You have nothing to lose if they say no.

Customers who aren’t interested in an umbrella policy at the time of the sale may be more interested during their next renewal.

In your sales pitch, be sure to position an umbrella as part of a complete protection portfolio. The excess coverage safeguards their assets and protects their families now and in the future.

As they learn more about umbrella insurance protection, customers will see their investment as long-term financial protection, rather than a standalone insurance product.

If the customer still doesn’t seem sold on the idea, this is a good time to grab a slide that shows a monthly breakdown of the cost compared with the value of the umbrella if the worst should happen.

By perfecting this sales strategy, you can demonstrate that umbrella insurance is practical and affordable.

A benefit of using CrankWheel as your screen-sharing tool is that it allows you to add and remove slides as your discussions with customers unfold.

Best Practice #4: Use Trigger Moments to Your Advantage

You may find that customers are reluctant to purchase an umbrella policy, regardless of how strong your sales presentation is. Sometimes, a timely, relevant situation in their lives can help them see the value of an umbrella policy.

Life changes may affect finances, family dynamics, responsibilities, and risks.

The following life changes may reinforce the notion that a customer needs additional protection in an umbrella policy:

• Purchasing a home
• Getting married
• Putting one or more on the auto policy
• Receiving an inheritance
• Serving on a board of directors or in a public-facing role
• Acquiring a trampoline or swimming pool
• Launching a business

Proactive outreach during life changes demonstrates foresight and genuine care for your client. A simple check-in with a customer may naturally highlight the need for an umbrella policy.

Clients who recognize that you’re connecting a change in circumstances to the need for an umbrella policy will see you as a professional who has their family’s best interests at heart.

Best Practice #5: Educate Clients Through Multiple Channels

You can’t know the exact moment that may prompt a customer to consider an umbrella policy. Considering that, it’s a good practice to educate your clients throughout the year about how an umbrella can help them.

Here are some good ways to inform your clients about the peace of mind that an umbrella policy brings:

• Send short email explainers or micro-educational campaigns
• Add content to newsletters or social media platforms
• Add testimonials to your social media campaigns or email strings
• Highlight real examples of claims in the news in your communications
• Offer a webinar about the benefits of an umbrella policy
• Think beyond home and auto policies.

You have an opportunity to add a message about the value of an umbrella policy with every marketing strategy. Take advantage of every opportunity to protect your client with the necessary insurance policies.

From Optional to Essential: Making Umbrella Policies Standard Practice

One day, you may get a call from your client who is frantic about being sued over a tragic event. You will have the pleasure of reminding them that they wisely chose to purchase an umbrella policy, and they have nothing to worry about. The insurance company will handle everything.

Implement our 5 best practices for selling umbrella insurance to drive revenue growth over the next few years.

With consistent practice, identifying opportunities to add umbrella coverage will become second nature in every appointment.

CrankWheel is a “must-have” tool for every insurance broker and agent. Sign up to learn how CrankWheel can help you leverage those easy wins today!