Grow Smarter: Why Deeper Customer Engagement Beats New Acquisition
If you’re a carrier, broker sales, or marketing leader looking to drive growth in today’s challenging market, here’s one powerful growth strategy to re-prioritize right now: focus less on chasing new customers, and more on helping your producers (whether internal teams or independent intermediaries) deepen relationships with the ones they already have..
In property and casualty (P&C) space, the external pressures are reshaping how carriers and brokers pursue growth. Rising premiums, driven by inflation and increased claims costs, are making pricing conversations tougher. Catastrophic weather events, like hurricanes, wildfires, and floods, are not only driving up loss ratios, they’re also forcing carriers to pull back from high-risk regions such as California and Florida. This retreat limits access to new markets and puts more pressure on existing distribution channels. At the same time, acquiring new customers is becoming more expensive, with digital ad costs climbing and competition intensifying across every channel.
In fact, acquiring a new customer can cost 5 to 7 times more than retaining an existing one (Forbes)
That’s why many executives are doubling down on policyholder strategies like account rounding and cross-sell, by equipping their sales team to execute them more effectively. These aren’t just about driving revenue per policyholder—they’re about smart, efficient growth built on trust, coverage, and long term relationships.
Reframing Growth for Sales & Marketing Leaders
This isn’t a new idea but it is a timely one. In a market where every dollar of growth is harder to earn, reactivating tried and true strategies like cross-selling and account rounding can unlock hidden value. But to do that, many producers need more than just incentives. They need education and encouragement to adopt a more consultative approach.
Too often, intermediaries sell individual policies in isolation, without stepping back to understand the broader needs of the customer. Not because they don’t care, but because they may not have been trained to ask the right questions or listen for the right signals. For example:
- A homeowner may have property coverage but no protection against flood, cyber threats, or personal liability.
- A small business may carry general liability but lack a business owner’s policy (BOP), EPLI, or commercial auto coverage.
Each of these gaps represents both an exposure for the customer and a missed opportunity to deliver value. By encouraging your sales teams or agency partners to slow down, listen more carefully, and think like risk advisors, not just product sellers, you empower them to uncover needs the customer may not even realize they have.
Help them build the confidence to have deeper conversations. When producers can spot common life or business triggers and match those with appropriate coverage recommendations, they don’t just increase premiums, they build trust, improve retention, and strengthen every relationship..
Why This Strategy Makes Sense Now
- Acquisition costs are high Retention is cheaper and more predictable
- Risk awareness is up Customers are more open to coverage conversations
- Premiums are rising Policyholders want to see real value and rounded accounts deliver it
- Markets are shrinking New leads are harder to come by, especially in high-risk regions
Bonus stat: A 5% increase in customer retention can increase profitability by 25% to 95% (Harvard Business Review)
Make It Easy for Your Teams to Execute
To turn this from strategy to action, sales leaders need to enable execution. That means:
- Providing bundling playbooks Simple guides that highlight common gaps and recommended product pairings
- Equipping with turnkey messaging Templates, scripts, and calculators that make the case clear and quick
- Rewarding relationship focused behaviors Don’t just track volume—track cross sell rates and rounded accounts
- Streamlining the quoting process If it’s hard to add a product, it won’t happen. Make cross sell seamless
A Smarter Strategy for Executive Growth Goals
This approach isn’t about more. It’s about better. And for executives under pressure to show results in tough conditions, that’s exactly what’s needed.
By flipping the mindset from acquisition first to relationship first, you can unlock sustainable, meaningful growth that’s more cost effective, more resilient, and more aligned with what today’s customers want.
Let’s Connect
At Weber, we don’t just build growth strategies, we train the people who bring them to life. We help carriers, brokers, and sales leaders turn their teams into confident, consultative sellers who know how to listen, uncover needs, and grow accounts the right way.
If you’re ready to explore smarter, relationship-first growth, and want a partner who can help your sales teams sell more, more effectively, we’d love to connect.
