Giving Referrals to Agents on Here, NO MORE.

[G.Gordon]

I posted this at the end of the Indiana thread.


Tips on making the most of referrals on this site:\

Don't ask for client's history, exact location (if I knew more or wanted to know more than I posted I would have included that).

Don't ask what type of plan she is on now, if you are worth your salt you would want to do that fact finding by talking to the lead.

Sending me a name and phone number and then asking me to give her a second phone number after the fact will not end well for you. More than likely I'll send a follow up email to lead letting them know to disregard the previous information that new information about the agent indicates they don't have their crap together.

If the post indicates names and numbers then do that, don't ask about "where are you", I'm okay, chances are you're not going to find someone to refer to me anyway, just give me the name and number right off or your info does not get forwarded to lead at all.

Every dang time I refer to this forum it continues to bite me, this will probably be the last time.

I referred one of my long time clients to a smuck agent in TX, she had to call me back for the part D enrollment saying, "The plan you told me to go with is not represented by that agent and he won't enroll me". WTF!! Seriously, you can't M.gov a free client that you already wrote her a medigap. SMUCKS!! Don't referring to anyone on here.

 

[FLM2]

Instead of ranting about how poorly the agent handled your client maybe you should consider giving referrals only to long time posters who seem to have their act together.

I don't either offer referrals or seek referrals here but if I had a client needing help in a state where I wasn't licensed the choice would either to be sending it to someone here I thought I could trust or simply telling the client I couldn't recommend anyone.

 

[goillini52]

Instead of ranting about how poorly the agent handled your client maybe you should consider giving referrals only to long time posters who seem to have their act together.

I don't either offer referrals or seek referrals here but if I had a client needing help in a state where I wasn't licensed the choice would either to be sending it to someone here I thought I could trust or simply telling the client I couldn't recommend anyone.

This is the way I'd handle it. How can you recommend somebody if you know nothing about them.

 

[kgmom219]

OK...it wasn't me

And why would anyone do that, anyway? Geez. Just enroll them. Have you ever heard of goodwill and referrals?

 

[goillini52]

I posted this at the end of the Indiana thread.


Tips on making the most of referrals on this site:

Don't ask for client's history, exact location (if I knew more or wanted to know more than I posted I would have included that).

Don't ask what type of plan she is on now, if you are worth your salt you would want to do that fact finding by talking to the lead.

Sending me a name and phone number and then asking me to give her a second phone number after the fact will not end well for you. More than likely I'll send a follow up email to lead letting them know to disregard the previous information that new information about the agent indicates they don't have their crap together.

If the post indicates names and numbers then do that, don't ask about "where are you", I'm okay, chances are you're not going to find someone to refer to me anyway, just give me the name and number right off or your info does not get forwarded to lead at all.

Every dang time I refer to this forum it continues to bite me, this will probably be the last time.

I referred one of my long time clients to a smuck agent in TX, she had to call me back for the part D enrollment saying, "The plan you told me to go with is not represented by that agent and he won't enroll me". WTF!! Seriously, you can't M.gov a free client that you already wrote her a medigap. SMUCKS!! Don't referring to anyone on here.

The word is schmuck...SCHMUCK!!! That's too bad, so you're saying that pelican88 is a schmuck?

I have to agree with FLM2, I would never recommend an agent I knew nothing about to anybody, especially a client. With a long time poster, you at least have an idea if they know their ass from a hole in the ground and know a little about their personality. There are quite a few long time posters in Indiana that I would trust, like Ron and Mike. There are also some that do phone sales that are licensed in Indiana.

 

[GreenSky]

Years ago a fellow forum member who has now been permanently banned (yes, it can happen) sent me an MA referral in So Cal. He wasn't certified so I wrote the policy. Little did I know that he not only wanted me to take care of his client, but to take care of him also.

For a couple of years he posted how I made $500 and didn't even send him a gift card to Starbucks. Many of you will remember the forum troll that thought all agents other than he (let's call him Hal) were dishonest. Even had that on his website.

Lucky for him he inherited enough and his wife had enough disability coming in to keep them above water.

It works both ways. I've referred to others here and never asked for anything in return and others have been good enough to do the same for me.

On the other hand, I sent a referral to an agent many years ago who told me he would take care of my client. Unfortunately, I believed him (let's call him Wayne). This is an agent who pointed out just how easy Medicare was and apparently was god's gift to insurance. I'm sure you can guess how that ended.

So I agree. I'm now very careful who I trust here.

Rick

 

[G.Gordon]

Not saying anything about pelican, he/she was not the only one that pm'd me on that lead.

Personally, I have not been on here much like I used to and don't know who is who. I scan for threads that interest me and others I stay out.

 

[goillini52]

Not saying anything about pelican, he/she was not the only one that pm'd me on that lead.

Personally, I have not been on here much like I used to and don't know who is who. I scan for threads that interest me and others I stay out.

Then, my apologies to pelican88.

 

[sman]

Instead of ranting about how poorly the agent handled your client maybe you should consider giving referrals only to long time posters who seem to have their act together.

I don't either offer referrals or seek referrals here but if I had a client needing help in a state where I wasn't licensed the choice would either to be sending it to someone here I thought I could trust or simply telling the client I couldn't recommend anyone.

Yep. I've referred to a couple on here in other states and had the same done for me. But I base my referral on how I view the agent on this forum. If they've shown they know their stuff, that's who I tell the client to contact.

My typical method is to post I need an agent in a particular area and ask that any agent interested pm me their contact info and I will pass it along to the client. Once I get two or three responses I send that info to the client with a recommendation on who he/she should contact. And I am happy to say that it has worked well thus far. The clients have called or emailed me to thank me for putting them in touch with that agent. Wes (WCMason) comes to mind as one who the client emailed me thanking me for putting them together. Because of this, any referral I have in Texas will go directly to Wes. I won't even post it here on the forum because I know Wes will do the right thing.

With that said, I agree with Gordon about the pdp enrollment. Whoever it was on this forum who wrote the Med Supp and then wouldn't enroll the person in a pdp because they weren't going to make the $36 off the enrollment needs to just get out of the business. I almost feel like Gordon should name the forum member so we know who to avoid. I do numerous "pro-bono" pdp enrollments every year. And several of those are on someone who I have no other business with (this is usually a referral of an existing client so I go ahead and do it so as to not mess up the relationship with the referral source). This is a little more challenging during AEP, but again, if they were referred to me by an existing client, I will usually go ahead and do it. And trust me, I'm asking about their Med Supp as well. Sometimes it works out where I can change it and other times it doesn't. But I now know who they have their Med Supp with, whether or not they can qualify for a new Med Supp and I make sure I'm in contact with them when rate increases come assuming they can qualify for a new carrier. And if rates for their current carrier get really out of hand, I'm there to help them with a Medicare Advantage plan at some point in the future.

I figure I'm planting and watering seeds for future harvest. It may not happen today, but at some point they are going to need something and I want to be the guy they call when they do have a need.

 

[sman]

It takes all of 2:42 minutes to enroll someone at Medicare.gov.

You must use dial up for your internet connection...