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Tasso Papachatgis reveals his top 10 tips for cross selling

1 Know the pros – There’s a lot of industry talk right now around cross selling but what is the real benefit of taking this path? Cross selling is relatively easy to integrate into your business but it’s essential that you understand why you are making this move in order to be successful. Offering a full suite of products that support residential mortgages can help build stronger, deeper client relationships not to mention adding valuable additional income streams to your business.

2 Set goals – As with any business initiative it is essential that you set goals for your cross selling. This will help ensure that you achieving the best possible results as well as continuing to progress. Goals could be based around growing the number of products you offer or around achieving a certain dollar value of business – such as the level of insurance cover written. As with any business targets, cross selling goals should be regularly assessed; also ensure that they are achievable and realistic.

3 Prepare – One of the real benefits of cross selling is that it is easy to introduce to your established residential offering. That said, it still requires planning if it is to be a successful addition. Firstly, focus on choosing the products that you feel are the best fit with your current offering and consider how to integrate this new offering into your presentation. You may want to kick off with a single product and then introduce new streams as you gain confidence and experience. A perfect starting place is mortgage protection insurance as it is closely aligned with every residential mortgage.

4 Know your stuff – Good brokers know their mortgage products and the same should apply to their cross sell offering. Sound product knowledge will not only ensure that the client is matched with the best solution for their needs, it will also add a considerable boost to your confidence when presenting. If you know your products inside out, you’ll sell with much greater authority – which will help achieve better results.

5 Be confident – Your clients will take your lead when presenting and a confident pitch is far more likely to get results than an edgy one. Confidence in cross selling will come with practice but you can ensure that you fast-track your self-assurance by being organised, knowing your product and understanding its true benefit to the client. If you have faith in the value of the product you’re selling, confidence will naturally shine through.

6 Pick the right partner – Knowing that you offer the best product on the market is paramount for every broker. Your confidence will be at its peak when you know that your client has been matched with the right solution for their needs. But as well as the product itself, you must be sure that the provider has the capabilities to support you as well as your client. Ensure you pick a partner that understands your needs as a broker and has the capabilities and the drive to help you grow.

7 Tools of the trade – When cross selling it’s important to be backed by marketing collateral which you can use to support your presentation. Your product provider should be able to support you by providing good quality material for you to leave with your client or to look through during the presentation. This material should help underpin the benefit of the product you’re offering, explain how it works, what the benefits are as well as detailing the associated costs.

8 FAQs – There are going to be common questions and concerns that arise so why not prepare an FAQ sheet to help address regular issues? This can be an effective way of letting clients know that they are not alone in their concerns while helping to provide answers to their queries. An FAQ sheet can also be a useful tool to leave with a client in addressing any concerns that may arise in their mind after you’ve gone.

9 Paint a picture – A case study is perfect for illustrating how a product can benefit your client by highlighting how it has helped someone else. We all find it easier to put things in to perspective when we see how others are affected – particularly when it comes to financial products.

10 Keep it real – Don’t let cross selling take your focus away from your core residential mortgage offering. While there are certainly a number of products that have a close fit with mortgages, beware of clouding your offering and confusing the client. Cross selling should complement your business and add value to your clients.

Tasso Papachatgis is managing director of Australian Life Insurance’s (ALI)