Report Cross-Selling Teams Work for Webster

The most recent issue of American Banker reported that Waterbury Connecticut’s Webster Insurance has credited the creation of cross-selling teams with doubling its commercial insurance sales to its business and banking clients so far this year.

The teams are composed of one insurance agent, a business banker, a Webster financial adviser and a fourth person from any of those groups said company president and CEO John Quierolo. Each team member is responsible for identifying cross-selling opportunities, and sharing customers with their teammates. Teams are created by selecting an agent with a concentrated business in a specific region or market, and linking him or her with a business banker and an adviser with similar customers.

The team then presents Webster as an integrated financial services company; each member being fully familiar with the products and services of the others, regardless of who has the relationship with the client.

Quierolo credits this approach with increasing Webster’s sales of commercial insurance to the bank’s customers from $285,000 in 2000 to $670,000 so far this year. He expects total sales for the year to be in the $1 million range, and has set a goal of $1.8 million next year.

The company offers a broad range of insurance products, including multiple property and casualty lines, workers’ compensation, commercial auto, directors and officers liability coverage, errors and omissions protection, and credit coverage, as well as employee group benefit plans for health, life and disability.

Analysts praised the approach as an innovative way of breaking down inter-company barriers and taking advantage of the expertise and knowledge of commercial bankers and their insurance industry counterparts to create an integrated cross-selling mechanism that benefits both the company and its clients.