They’re avoiding marriage, or at least putting it off. They’re waiting until their 30s to have kids. They’re opting to rent over purchasing homes. And buying an auto is often out of the question, thanks to public transportation, car sharing and ridesharing.

There’s no question that compared to a Gen Xer or baby boomer, the typical millennial is a far less attractive candidate for your agency’s personal lines attention. “We’re always trying to account-round, but millennials are buying less,” says Dan Berry, vice president at Woodruff-Sawyer, based in San Francisco.

But if you work with millennial entrepreneurs on their commercial lines needs, cross-selling should be at the top of your to-do list. “They might not have a car, they might have an apartment, they might use public transportation,” says Kyle Rheiner, agent at Strickler Insurance in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. “It’s just a different style.”

Here are a few ways in.

Focus on the renewal. For Justin Litaker, vice president of Litaker Insurance in Charlotte, North Carolina, cross-selling is usually a flop when he initially signs a millennial entrepreneur as a new client. “A lot of times with the new ventures, they tend to have so much going on in such a little period of time that sometimes it’s tough to get it right away when you’re booking the commercial account,” he points out.

Instead, focus on strengthening your bond with a millennial entrepreneur as the “point of contact for all their insurance needs,” Litaker suggests. Over time, the relationship will speak for itself. “Oftentimes I’ll follow up at renewal, and hopefully we’ve done enough to earn their confidence and trust by that point that cross-selling is more successful,” he explains. “We have a far higher success rate at the first renewal than we do when we’re first booking the commercial account.”

Bring it up. Don’t discount the high net-worth millennial, who could have big personal lines insurance needs without even realizing it. Consider Derek Ross, president of Kulchin Ross Insurance Services, LLC in Tarzana, California, who insures a young owner of a pipe manufacturing and distribution company.

“You look at this young guy and you wonder, ‘How did you get into this business?’ He’s not college-educated, but he runs a massive $10-million operation,” Ross says. “And that’s not even his only business.”

One of the client’s other ventures led him to Ross, who took on the role of adviser. “Personal lines came up, and what do you know—this guy’s got a pretty awesome car collection,” he says. “So he starts listing off all these high-valued racecars and exotic vehicles, and they’re severely, severely underinsured. The discussion became, ‘Look, we’ve worked so hard to protect your businesses, but over here you’re driving a $200,000 vehicle and you have lease limits. This doesn’t work for you or for our agency.’”

The choice was simple, Ross says: Correct the problem, or you’re fired. “That’s our position—we take an account like that and we clean it up,” he explains. “We found out he has multiple properties and a very dynamic situation that wasn’t properly covered. We added a $5-million umbrella. A lot of this generation has developed some wealth and affluence.”

Read the term sheet. For the average millennial, life insurance becomes a “harder and harder sale,” Berry says. “There’s a little bit of, ‘I don’t have a home, I don’t have kids and my husband or wife is healthy, completely capable of supporting themselves and really well paid. Why do I need life insurance?’”

Your secret weapon: In the startup ecosystem, venture investors often force key man life policies upon founders. Ask your client if their term sheet requires a life insurance policy. “More often than not, that’s something they would never think about,” Berry says. “It goes back to education. With our parents’ generation, they were much more comfortable planning for demise—it was just part of your business life.”

By contrast, death may seem like a hazy possibility for a millennial. “You’re usually not looking for life insurance until you’ve got a home, you’ve got some kids, you’re probably in your mid-40s,” Berry points out. “But when you’re 28 years old and a venture firm’s giving you $48 million, and you’re the one that knows everything, you have to be the one to help walk those folks through that. Life insurance becomes important.”

The life insurance conversation is never “comfortable,” Berry admits. “But you have to be the one to educate them, or have a team built around them that is able to help walk them through that process.”

Jacquelyn Connelly is IA senior editor.