The start of the new year gives you an opportunity to shake up your sales – and consider a new approach for 2026. Of course, that doesn’t mean you have to abandon what’s worked for you in the past. If you have a tried-and-true strategy, you’ll probably want to keep that in your arsenal. But you want to open yourself to making changes that can help you be even more successful in the future.
Here are seven strategies you might consider.
Seven Proven Strategies to Increase Your Sales
1. Leverage AI-Driven Automation and Personalization
As good as your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform may be, it’s highly likely it can be improved. Replace your generic templates with AI-developed messages that analyze buyer behavior and industry trends. Otherwise, you may find that anything that feels “templated” is mentally filtered out by your prospective buyers. Use your CRM as a revenue engine rather than just for reporting.
2: Adopt value-based and consultative selling.
A buyer-focused sales strategy prioritizes understanding your clients’ pain points and identifying potential solutions to address them. It helps you nurture your reputation as a trusted advisor – rather than a sales person. It involves asking insightful questions and building long-term relationships. For more guidance, read our 2025 blog on The Power of Active Listening: Why Your Ears Are Your Best Sales Tool.
3: Prioritize client retention and customer success.
You’ve heard it for years – and it’s still true in 2026. Keeping an existing customer is generally much more cost-effective and profitable than finding a new customer. Depending on the study you read, it costs 5-25 times more to get a new customer. A more effective strategy is to keep your existing customers engaged, satisfied, and continue to rely on you for solutions to their evolving needs. Retention is more profitable, less costly, more predictable, and can lead to ongoing organic referrals. Do an audit of your current book of business to ensure your retention efforts are garnering your targeted results.
4: Social media is a must.
Social media today delivers nearly double the response rate of email – 42% vs. less than 20%. You can use LinkedIn Sales Navigator to build authority by optimizing your profile as an expert. The platform uses powerful filters to find your ideal decision-makers, so you’re set up for success even before your first conversation. Visit LinkedIn to request a demo and start your free trial.
5: Consider expanding into new lines of coverage.
The market is constantly changing. Are you keeping up? If you’re losing business to competitors, it may be because they are offering products or services that are not part of your current portfolio. Are you offering Level-Funded Plans? That marketplace has increased rapidly in the past few years – jumping from around a third to more than 40% of covered workers at small firms. What about PEOs? Do you have any PEO expertise? For groups of 10-99 employees, PEO penetration is also up – now around 11-14%, although lower for private employers overall. Adding an Ancillary proposal to all of your Medical quotes can also help you write new business and earn increased income.
6: Pair an HSA Bronze plan with an HSA.
For 2026, more Affordable Care Act (ACA) health plans now work with Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). It’s one of the provisions of the Working Families Tax Cuts legislation signed into law by President Trump in 2025. If your clients are considering these plan types for economic reasons, here’s essential information you need to know.
Bronze plans generally have the lowest monthly premiums. However, patients face higher out-of-pocket costs when needing care. Those with a High-Deductible Health Plan can set aside money on a pre-tax basis. These funds can then be used for their deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance amounts.
For 2026, the IRS HSA contribution limit is $4,400 for those with self-only coverage and $8,750 for those with family coverage. An additional $1,000 contribution is allowed for those aged 55 and above who are not enrolled in Medicare. For additional information, visit the Fidelity website.
7: Partner with a general agency.
Contrary to what you might think, working with a general agency does not mean sharing your commission. You can partner with Word & Brown, and we’ll provide you with everything you need to quote more, write more, and earn more in 2026. Our diverse roster of services includes quoting assistance; a broad portfolio of leading carriers; consolidated spreadsheeting; compliance expertise; CE training; tailored strategies to attract new business; and much more. Best of all, we do it all without taking a cut of your commissions or bonuses.
Contact us today to learn more. Call 800-869-6989 or fill out our online form to get started.
