Bright Idea or Waste of Money

[Jessica Durphy]

Oh no Tom, I didn't cold call for Medicare Advantage... I cold called for medicare supps. To my surprise the majority of them, they told me that they have a Medicare Advantage PPO, PFFS, or UPMC FFS... most of them hate their plans... or they have a Part D plan and wanted to do it all at the same time.... I hope I'm not doing anything wrong. I've tried to be as careful as I can.

I've told them that I would gladly meet with them to go over their plans and see if I can do something better for them.... so I have their permission. I plan on selling Medicare Supps if it's within their budget and what will best benefit them.

Now when I get there, and the Medicare Supps isn't going to be a fit for them, then I can be prepared to show them other ideas, be it a different MAPD with another company or the same thing with another company... my plans are to just see what their needs are and what's going to be best for them. (obiding by the rules!!! SOA forms etc.... )

From what I say, did i do it wrong...??? I don't think so... i've not called anyone with the intentions to talk about MA plans... honestly! From what I've read and studied and heard, you get better commissions off of the Medicare Supps... that's how I plan on making a living...

P.S. by the way, when I get on the phones, I don't have any problems whatsoever setting appointments, the fact that I'm a local agent of a well known establishment in a VERY small community, I get very little negative feedback.... I'm not like those "pesky telemarketers...." that's what they say... so I've been blessed in that fact.

 

[medicarebenefitsdirect]

Im not grumpy in the slightest! Ha ha ha. Im just being a sport and giving you a heads up. Believe me I have taken so called leads and jumped into my car and went knocking at doors and made alot of money doing it. But notice I did not say "EASY" money! Knocking on doors is the hard way of doing it. The easy money for you is to take those 50 phone numbers of people turning 65 and call them up. And dont call them up right now because half of them are out working or shopping or whatever. It is much easier to wait until tonight and call them when most of them will be home. If you give me 50 phone numbers of people turning 65 on average I will sell 2 of them a supplement. Thats average sometimes it might only be 1 out of 50 or it might be as high as 4 or 5 out of 50. The main problem with calling leads of people turning 65 is that you cant get enough of them. I find in a population base of around 1.5 million you have an average of 300 to 400 people a month turning 65. Now around 50 to 60% of those people are going to be on the do not call list so that leaves you with only a 200 people a month turning 65. Selling off of lists of people turning 65 is very easy the problem is there are not enough people just turning 65. Of course you need to call those people turning 65 at 2 to 3 months before they are turning 65.
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Oh yeah and heres another golden piece of advice. When your calling those people just turning 65 pick a company they have heard of and stick with that. It is much easier to sell them a name brand company they have heard of then some company like "gerber" or "uct". After they have had the name brand company for a few years and the rates are going through the roof then you have established enough trust with them that you can get by with selling them the "gerbers" and "UCT's".

Don't think I have talked to anyone yet that has NOT heard of Gerber. Most of these seniors spoon-fed Gerber carrot baby food to their children...

 

[Yoda]

SOMEONE SAID- "Don't think I have talked to anyone yet that has NOT heard of Gerber. Most of these seniors spoon-fed Gerber carrot baby food to their children"
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As I told the lady my advice was "golden" and I stand by that statement. You can make this career easy or you can make it tough!

 

[Success]

SOMEONE SAID- "Don't think I have talked to anyone yet that has NOT heard of Gerber. Most of these seniors spoon-fed Gerber carrot baby food to their children"
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As I told the lady my advice was "golden" and I stand by that statement. You can make this career easy or you can make it tough!

IMO, good advice by both of you. Although I do have to say I think that most, if not all seniors have heard of Gerber at some point in their lives...

 

[Pangaea]

I received a life letter from a State Farm agent today. The letter had her business card, a map to her office, and a nice letter about setting an appointment and giving me a complementary road atlas...

It's probably worth the money, if anyone else is like me you don't actually throw away the business cards right away.

 

[Jessica Durphy]

thank you for the answer to my original question.... I just went ahead and sent out about 100 letters... i was giong to wait and see how it turned out! I've gotten a lot of compliments on the letters from respected Seniors that I showed and got their opinions, so I figured I'd try it out! Thank you again!

 

[midwestbroker]

Little story...

I know a newer agent that himself turned 65 and was entering the Medicare maze.

Now, many agents I know say that sending letters to a T65 list is a waste of time because "everyone is doing it".

Well, this person got all the usual mailings, but only one letter from an agent offering to explain all the information he was getting. This person called that agent, and bought from that agent. Only one letter even though the perception is that "every agent is doing it".

This person then got his license and decided to do the same.

I know many agents who have great intentions but do not do what they say they are going to do.

Hope this helps...

 

[John C. Osborn]

I purchase these leads from a few various sources so that I can pass out to agents work with in MO as Senior Products Med Supp/Med Advantage Broker. However, I only buy the leads that have been prescrubbed by the DNC list and we mail them out a well written marketing letter with specific colors at the top to specific areas. We wait until after we receive the first response to verify they have received the mailer and this is when we schedule the "evening" phone calls to the entire list. If you happen to use a letter with multiple colors and a descriptive phrase at top then you can refer to the letter you mailed in this way. "Did you happen to receive the letter with 'Black and Orange' words that states whatever your catch phrase your marketing to above. Also, someone above mentioned not to get cold calling about Med Supp and Med Adv during this time of year. This is a perfect time to call about either because Seniors have questions. So, if your certified for 2010 and you set a Med Supp appointment and they want Med Adv have them complete a Scope of Appointment form during that meeting for Part D and/or Part C and tell them you can return within 48 hours to review those additional products. This circumnavigates around compliance, offers a service for Seniors if you are offering multiple products based on area and generates income. I hope this helps. JCO

 

[Jessica Durphy]

Thank you Midwestbroker, any little bit helps.... i've prayed that mine will stand out, and that I will get a lot of calls about my letter. What I've been doing is "handwriting" my name (rather than using a girly font) and put a little smiley face with a "hope to hear from ya!" on it.... Hoping to let them know that an actual person took the time to write her name, tape a photo business card, and personalize it for them!

 

[Yoda]

If your only sending out 50 letters then handwriting the addresses is a must do as well. A handwritten envelope must be at least 10 times more interest catching then one that has a label stuck on it.