For decades, diversified insurers have doggedly pursued the HolyGrail: getting customers to purchase from them multiple types ofcoverage.

Success has been elusive, and a recent study by LIMRA, afinancial-services research group, offers a surprising explanationwhy: Many consumers don’t have a clue their insurer even offersother products.

Only 48 percent of consumers surveyed by LIMRA were aware thattheir multiline insurer offered life insurance. The study alsofound that one in three people who purchased life insurance from acompany other than their auto insurer did so because they didn’teven know their auto carrier sold the product.

Talk about a deflating revelation. For all these years, couldthe root of the P&C industry’s cross-sell struggle be thissimple?

Many insurers and their representatives would probably scoff atthis prospect, arguing that they routinely advise customers aboutother available coverages, through advertising as well as liveinteractions.

The problem is, insurers and agents may be talking—but customersaren’t listening. And so, despite multiline carriers’ best efforts,their diversified product line ends up being their best-keptsecret.

Consumers are bombarded with thousands of marketing messageseach day. It’s no wonder if they disregard a life insurance mailer,or their agent’s passing reference to disability coverage. If therelevance of the message isn’t immediately clear, our brains justtune it out.

THE MOMENT, NOT THE MAILER

So how can multiline insurers achieve relevance, increasing thelikelihood that a customer actually absorbs the cross-sell message?The answer is they need to focus on the moment rather than themailer.

A simple message conveyed in the right context can have a lotmore relevance and impact than even the most gorgeous marketingpiece.

What is the “right context”? Here are three examples of customertouch points to which insurers should pay greater attention:

1. The Welcome Package: Policy delivery isoften viewed as an administrative exercise, but it’s actually oneof the few times, outside of claims, where customers can bereceptive to learning about their coverage and their insurer. Itpresents an opportunity for customers to verify that “what they’vegot” aligns with “what they thought they bought.”

So insurers should use this moment to deliver more than just astack of complex policy pages. A thoughtful and inviting welcomepackage can plant the seed about other available products at a timewhen the policy owner is primed to listen.

2. The Annual Review: Coverage anniversariesprovide another moment of truth when customers are more receptiveto actually reading something from their insurer or agent. It’s achance to convey information about premium changes, new discountsand other policy developments.

Insurers that view annual renewal communications as just anothertransactional touch point are missing a key opportunity toreinforce the policy owner’s purchase decision and retell themultiline story.

3. A New Personal Narrative: The third touchpoint: Those instances in which a customer’s behavior implies achange in their personal narrative, such as marriage, divorce,having kids, buying a home, etc.—something that makes aconversation about insurance more timely and relevant.

This might sound like standard “life event” marketing, but manycompanies apply that discipline as a blunt instrument, messagingcustomers based not on their individual behavior, but theirdemographic characteristics. A more surgical, behavioral approachis far preferable.

Take my experience trading in a Volvo sedan for a Toyotaminivan. Amazingly, my longtime auto insurer never used the momentto engage me in a conversation about life insurance. The minivanpurchase was a clear signal my family was expanding. Yet, otherthan an unintelligible policy summary and premium notice, theinsurer was silent.

I ended up purchasing life insurance from another carrier. Myauto insurer, to whom I had developed great loyalty, wasn’t even inmy consideration set, for all the wrong reasons.

The allure of cross-selling is undeniable—lower acquisitioncosts, better retention, improved profitability. The strategy isparticularly appealing in today’s growth-challengedenvironment.

Many point to sophisticated customer analytics as the ultimatesolution to these industry woes. But while better technology canhelp, it’s not the only answer.

You don’t need a computer to tell you that a renewal packagewill garner more attention than a generic mailer. And amillion-dollar system isn’t required to interpret customerbehavior, if you’ve got empathetic, insightful and well-trainedrepresentatives working with the public.

Insurers need to get smarter about engaging customers in thecross-sell dialogue—and putting down the megaphone in favor of amore thoughtful conversation. That means speaking to customers whenthey’re more likely to listen…and listening to customers to knowwhen it’s time to speak.