5 Tips for Selling Umbrella Insurance

Whether you’re new to selling insurance or you’re an expert at it, you may have found umbrella insurance is one of the products that lots of people do not understand, and may need more convincing to buy, than say, homeowner’s insurance or auto insurance. Below are some tips to help you successfully sell umbrella insurance.

Just Quote It: One of the recipes for selling is to simply provide a quote for that product or service, even if that was not your main purpose of meeting with the customer. Sales people often make the mistake of discussing products with customers, get them excited over it and then promise to send a quote later. This is counterproductive, as the customer may have lost interest in that time. Instead, quote prices in real time. Automatically providing quotes increases your chance to sell umbrella insurance.

Ask a Probing Question: By asking questions, you make the customer think. When they do, you increase your chances of making a speedy sale. Ask questions like:

• Would you want to risk all your assets in the event you were found at fault for a claim?
• How will your family support themselves if your finances are suddenly hit by a tragic accident in which you are held responsible for damages or bodily injuries?
• Will you benefit from the peace of mind that comes with the knowledge that you and your loved ones will not be burdened?

Explain the Benefits: People are more likely to buy something if they know what’s in it for them. Take the time to explain the benefits of an

umbrella insurance policy. The main thing of course is that it can protect their finances from expensive lawsuits or other covered events. Nobody expects to be the subject of a lawsuit, but it’s a real possibility in our highly litigious society, so it’s something they should protect themselves against. Make it clear that if they’re sued for a lot of money and do not have enough liability insurance or an umbrella policy to cover those costs, all their assets, as well as future earnings, could be at risk.

Umbrella policies also provide a broader form of coverage and can help cover legal fees, false arrest, libel, and slander. Each carrier may have different policy language on what’s covered in a policy so make sure you know it all before discussing coverages.

Highlight Bundle Discount: In order to encourage customers to buy more products from them, insurers often bundle products together and offer some discounts on the standard premium rates. They price their insurance rates to attract homeowners who need to insure not only their cars, but also their homes, lives and other things. At the end of the day, insurance products are much cheaper because of the discount. By having insurance that covers multiple risk areas, like umbrella insurance does, the customer receives discounts generally for adding this.

Considering that a bundle can save 2 to 10 percent on premiums, it is a worthwhile investment. Therefore, highlight to the client how the multiline discount that’s automatically built into umbrella insurance serves the client’s interests.

Ask the Right Questions: Lastly, make sure you ask the client all the right questions.

You must know how many vehicles, homes, boats, motorcycles, are to be covered in the policy. If they own rental property too, it’s a good idea to bring that up and have them cover all of that under their policy. Be clear about what is covered. Share this article with a colleague.