DM for T65's/Med Supps And Med Adv

[Roy2015]

Thanks for the responses guys. Yea I know these people get overwhelmed with mailers and phone calls. I'm just trying to get my small piece of the pie if possible. I have read of other agents mailing 5-7 months out and getting a decent return in some cases. I'm just trying to stay compliant if I sell them a Med Adv.

 

[Chazm]

Just be compliant. The mailer should be generic. So no issue there. On your first visit you go over the basics of Medicare and get a scope. When you come back later go over the Mapd options if they are looking more towards a mapd. By this time you can narrow it down to 1-2 plans based on their needs/their Dr.’s etc. You’re compliant.

 

[Roy2015]

Thanks for all the replies guys. So when I first meet with someone T65, am I allowed to bring up Med Adv as one of their options for coverage while educating them in general on how Medicare works? Or do I have to wait for them to ask about it?

 

[GreenSky]

Thanks for all the replies guys. So when I first meet with someone T65, am I allowed to bring up Med Adv as one of their options for coverage while educating them in general on how Medicare works? Or do I have to wait for them to ask about it?

Didn't we have lunch over a year ago to discuss all this? Happy to do it again if YOU buy!

Rick

 

[Roy2015]

Didn't we have lunch over a year ago to discuss all this? Happy to do it again if YOU buy!

Rick

lol. Yea we did Rick. Hey a year is a long time ago. Let's do it again soon. On me! I'll be in touch after the holidays.

 

[Medicare Man]

In the past I have been lax in running PDP reports but always told clients to call or email if they needed help. Found out that was a mistake. This year I decided to make up for my past sins and reach out by email to all of my clients.

Note to self. Start in September 2018.

From early Oct to early Nov I ran around 400 reports. Some people didn't want help or wanted to keep their plan. I was in no position to insist so I moved on to the next one.

Moved over half my clients to other plans, or kept same plan but suggested using different pharmacy. Average annual savings in the $600 range by changing. Two will save over $4,000 in 2018 by making a change.

This worked out well for me since some of my clients are not able to change Medigap due to health. I can still save them $$ by suggesting a PDP switch.

As a result of my "missionary work" I picked up about a dozen referrals I may not have received otherwise.

Didn't write as much new business this AEP as in the past but many new clients I did (and will) write are solid referrals. Web generated leads about the same as in the past but quite a few bogus ones and many from out of state.

Goodwill may not generate much in the way of new direct compensation but still makes it rain.

In addition to new clients I also continue to have a LOT of internal conversions. Normally only move 3 or 4 per year. This year over 50. Haven't had much of a breather since June when one of my carriers decided to play "catch up" and send out increases of 15% and higher. Really dumb move on their part. They lose healthy folks and keep the sick ones.

My wife and I did the exact same thing this year and last. AEP is not a "selling season" to us. It's just the months of Oct , Nov and Dec. Same as the rest of the year. We are fortunate to have dedicated referral sources that regularly feed us new to medicare and T-65 clients. So much less stressful going about the business this way than thinking you need to write 100-200 new apps just because it's AEP. It's always been about doing the right thing for the client, not the best thing for the agency and our clients recognize that and freely send us referrals year round. You take care of your existing clients and they will take care of you. We routinely save existing clients and referrals hundreds and in some occasions thousands of dollars just by switching PDP plans with no changes to their relatively short list of meds. Concerning mailers and cold calls. We don't do them, period. I tell every new prospect to simply throw all of that garbage that you as other agents paid to mail them away in the trash. I also go so far as to ask them have you received lots of inbound calls, some from out of the country even? I let my clients know I don't do any direct mail or telemarketing. I come highly recommended to them and they know before I even step foot in their door, I'm the guy they are going with. No better felling than 100% close rates and referrals from the majority of new clients. My suggestion is to stop wasting time on leads and mailers and start spending time prospecting local market referral sources and partners.

 

[sshafran]

My suggestion is to stop wasting time on leads and mailers and start spending time prospecting local market referral sources and partners.

Why not do both? Honest question. Especially for agents in the aggressive building phase...

 

[Medicare Man]

Because with reputable and reliable referral sources come regular qualified candidates. You being on the other end of a somewhat misleading and sleezy, even desperate appearing mailer trick kind of puts you at a disadvantage and makes the process more difficult. When I was new I was talked into it by my FMO at the time, and the numbers generally do make sense. I actually had a very good response to the mailer, like 3.4% I recall which was a LOT compared to normal returns. I did make calls and did get some sales at the end of the day and it did more than pay for itself. But honestly, I hated it. Never liked cold calling. Guess what? People don't like it either. I also found out that you get the entire slice of the population. Back then it wasn't so bad, I wanted to and needed to make sales. Of all types. Medicare and Medicaid. I am more choosy who I do business with now. I prefer not to feel like I need or have to take a handgun on sales calls. From quality clients come quality referrals. I don't know too many affluent people willing to complete a mailer BRC.

 

[Chazm]

Because with reputable and reliable referral sources come regular qualified candidates. You being on the other end of a somewhat misleading and sleezy, even desperate appearing mailer trick kind of puts you at a disadvantage and makes the process more difficult. When I was new I was talked into it by my FMO at the time, and the numbers generally do make sense. I actually had a very good response to the mailer, like 3.4% I recall which was a LOT compared to normal returns. I did make calls and did get some sales at the end of the day and it did more than pay for itself. But honestly, I hated it. Never liked cold calling. Guess what? People don't like it either. I also found out that you get the entire slice of the population. Back then it wasn't so bad, I wanted to and needed to make sales. Of all types. Medicare and Medicaid. I am more choosy who I do business with now. I prefer not to feel like I need or have to take a handgun on sales calls. From quality clients come quality referrals. I don't know too many affluent people willing to complete a mailer BRC.

How can you tell someone to just start prospecting? You have to market somehow. Whether it be by internet, cold calling, direct mail, etc. It’s nuts to say, don’t market just prospect. I do nearly 90% of my sales by marketing of T65 direct mail.

Maybe I missed it but you didn’t say how you get your clients. And don’t say I only take referrals. If you do, that’s great but it takes a while of prospecting to get there. Phone calls just don’t magically come in.

Cold calling? I hated it and would never do it again but it’s the core of sales. Don’t make referrals out to be something easy to attain. It takes time. Direct mail is easy for me but I know it can be hard for some. Don’t generalize each method as impossible or “the best”. It’s not true.

Oh, and my t65 direct mail client, I tell them the same thing. To throw away all the mailers they get. I do what they all do. But you still have to find the client in the firsthand.

 

[Medicare Man]

Chazm,

I was sharing what I have done and what has worked for me. I'm not condemning the practice or the cost or ROI result. Just that it is hard and I personally hated it. Once I started marketing myself to others and stuck to the same strategy, I never went back. The majority of my business is also T-65. I have been doing this long enough so that I have enough clients and referral partners that I don't need to do any targeted prospecting or DM. Most people aren't very good at cold calling to being with, having just come from a training session with a script. Some people struggle to use the phone period. I personally believe that focused attention to details and working smarter is better than doing the same thing every other agent is likely doing. It's like 50 agents fishing the same local pond with one fish in it. Develop a relationship with the hatchery down the street that raises the fish for stocking.