Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. plans to cross-sell a variety of products through the 10,000 independent agents who sell its property and casualty insurance nationwide.
Some multiline agencies already sell more than one type of Hartford product, but the insurer wants its agents to think bigger when it comes to cross-selling, said Jack Kennedy, the director of the initiative.
"We have all these other products and services that are geared toward business owners," he said. "Hartford had never before coordinated in order to better assist agents in that type of sales activity."
The goal is to sell pension products, group benefits, and individual life insurance to business owners along with their property and casualty coverage.
In a successful scenario, a 100-person business might buy, for instance, property/casualty and workers’ compensation insurance, an umbrella policy, and a commercial auto policy. It might also buy group disability and life insurance plans for its employees, as well as a 401(k) retirement plan.
On top of that, senior management might buy products like life insurance and key-person insurance, and the company could make individual life insurance available to its employees, Mr. Kennedy said.
Greg Boyko, the president and chief executive of Hartford Life Insurance K.K. in Japan, will return to the United States in October to lead the cross-selling initiative. He will report to Ramani Ayer, Hartford’s chairman and chief executive. Mr. Kennedy will report to Mr. Boyko.
Carmen Effron, the president of C.F. Effron Co., a bank and insurance consulting firm in Weston, Conn., said Hartford’s brand will be an advantage in the cross-selling effort.
Using a property/casualty agent network to boost sales of other products is not new, Ms. Effron said. "The fact is that they are all trying do that," she said, referring to big rivals of Hartford’s such as State Farm, Allstate, and Nationwide.
Mr. Kennedy said Hartford will initially focus on a few states, on agencies that are actively expanding their product line or want to do so.
"If the agencies are not already active in these other lines, we need a commitment to growing this business together," he said.
Hartford, of Simsbury, Conn., will provide intensive training and help agents prepare for their licensing examinations, Mr. Kennedy said. Hartford representatives will work with agents and customers during the sales process, he said.
If all goes well, he said, the cross-sell model will be rolled out across all 50 states.
Individual life insurance, group benefits, retirement plans and property/casualty insurance have traditionally been sold though separate channels.
But Hartford has more than 1 million small-business property/casualty policies in force, and the cross-selling potential is too great to ignore, Mr. Kennedy said.
He acknowledged that because the insurer’s distribution network is composed of independent agents, those who expand into multiline businesses with Hartford’s help will be free to sell its rivals’ pension, group benefits, and individual life products.
"We want the opportunity to compete for the customers," he said.
Hartford’s assistance will include using its broker-dealers to help agents get their securities licenses. In return for this support, agencies will have to show they are serious about expanding, Mr. Kennedy said.
That includes the insurer and the agency agreeing on a "plan of attack" to build the business and the agency making a commitment to hire more people where needed, he said.
Hartford is betting that its reputation will persuade small businesses to expand beyond its property/casualty coverage, Mr. Kennedy said. It does not plan pricing incentives, he said.
"We are committed to bringing these products to customers on their merits," he said.
Hartford’s initiative will require more cooperation between its own businesses, Mr. Kennedy said. For example, Hartford experts in products other than property/casualty will have to help out agents in their areas.
And Hartford sales experts who specialize in different products will hold more joint presentations to groups of agents, Mr. Kennedy said.
"Some of this has happened already, but we are coordinating it even more," he said.
