Was “increase agency revenue” your New Year’s resolution? If not, it should be—and Foremost^® wants to help you achieve it this year by letting you in on a little secret: cross-selling.

It’s not really a secret, but the value of cross-selling is huge. It’s no surprise that agencies that regularly cross-sell have higher profits than those that don’t. How much higher? Agencies that write 2.5 items from one of their customers get 90% of the household's insurance wallet.

This technique isn’t just limited to auto. There’s a good chance many of your customers mirror these statistics: People across the country have about two other products per household that need coverage. More than 25% of households have at least one toy product to insure (RV sales are on the rise), and on average, they own one specialty product (think accidental landlords).

Cross-selling isn’t merely about selling more products to boost sales. It’s also about retention. On average, customers that insure five products with an agency stick around for more than eight years. That number is practically double that of auto customers, which shows there are more products out there to cover. Aligned with retention, these customers also switch significantly less. Only 1.29% of customers who insured five items switched after they shopped. Compare that to auto-only customers, who switched at a rate of almost 45%.

The numbers speak for themselves. The opportunity is certainly there, and now it’s time to put it all into practice. Implement this easy tactic to reach your resolutions well before 2017: Put the Hitch in your Pitch. This phrase not only will help you remember to ask customers what they’re towing or where they’re going by simply asking if their car has a hitch, but could also open up yet another sale.

Happy cross-selling from your friends at Foremost.

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Note: all stats sourced from the 2012 and 2015 Mobile Home Market Facts and the Bain: Customer Loyalty in P&C insurance, U.S. edition 2014