Lead Systems and Ideas for Newbies

[rwc_blp]

Hi! I am starting a sub-agency, and looking to see what you guys find is the best way of marketing. I am also curious to know how the Wal-marts went this past AEP. We mostly do Medicare Advantage. We are on a shoestring budget, but a few of the companies have also offered funding for events. All of our agents are starting from scratch except 1. Just looking for cool ideas!

 

[Chazm]

What state are you in?

If you're on a tight budget and focus on MAPD it's going to be tough. You can't cold call and that's the best way to get started. Direct mail leads would be your next best option but they cost $.

Walmart is a waste IMO but i guess if I had nothing else going on its better than doing nothing. Just sounds horrible sitting there all week only to do a drug plan and maybe the occasional MAPD. Definitely want to have other AEP options or you will be questioning your decision to go into Medicare.

 

[gregj]

I don't have a cool idea, but instead a maybe un-cool question - and I don't mean it to hijack OP's question, so ignore or get a mod to delete if it's a distraction:

What's the single biggest MA marketing pain point you face or anticipate? I ask because sometimes it's not reaching people who would like help with Medicare coverage options, but being able to address their concerns that snarls up marketing efforts.

My approach to the market has been to transition into it from other activities rather than make MA my fulltime thing.

So I have 2 points of pain:

1) insurers seem heckbent on making 'true' brokers into agents, effectively making client/prospect consultation a product sale rather than a collaborative opportunity - unless you conduct business almost exclusively at well more than arm's length; and

2) one of the big prospect/client concerns - and one that is "solvable" at present only by a too-big time investment is "are my Rxs all covered by any option I'm considering, and if so how much might I wind up spending?" People do NOT want to know "in general" - they want to know about THEIR Rx list. And there aren't any tools I know of that make the process as easy as it should be. And by "as easy as it should be", I mean, as easy as entering the names of their Rxs, tweaking for dosage info, and clicking "check Rx coverage with each plan".

 

[FRJ]

I don't have a cool idea, but instead a maybe un-cool question - and I don't mean it to hijack OP's question, so ignore or get a mod to delete if it's a distraction:

What's the single biggest MA marketing pain point you face or anticipate? I ask because sometimes it's not reaching people who would like help with Medicare coverage options, but being able to address their concerns that snarls up marketing efforts.

My approach to the market has been to transition into it from other activities rather than make MA my fulltime thing.

So I have 2 points of pain:

1) insurers seem heckbent on making 'true' brokers into agents, effectively making client/prospect consultation a product sale rather than a collaborative opportunity - unless you conduct business almost exclusively at well more than arm's length; and

2) one of the big prospect/client concerns - and one that is "solvable" at present only by a too-big time investment is "are my Rxs all covered by any option I'm considering, and if so how much might I wind up spending?" People do NOT want to know "in general" - they want to know about THEIR Rx list. And there aren't any tools I know of that make the process as easy as it should be. And by "as easy as it should be", I mean, as easy as entering the names of their Rxs, tweaking for dosage info, and clicking "check Rx coverage with each plan".

#2 - your answer is medicare.gov. I'll invoice you my consultation fee.

 

[axeman462]

What state are you in?

If you're on a tight budget and focus on MAPD it's going to be tough. You can't cold call and that's the best way to get started. Direct mail leads would be your next best option but they cost $.

Walmart is a waste IMO but i guess if I had nothing else going on its better than doing nothing. Just sounds horrible sitting there all week only to do a drug plan and maybe the occasional MAPD. Definitely want to have other AEP options or you will be questioning your decision to go into Medicare.

^^ what he said ^^

 

[gregj]

#2 - your answer is medicare.gov. I'll invoice you my consultation fee.

Medicare gov is great if you have a half hour per prospect/client for data entry and don't mind government-issue displays.

I'm talking about a 5-minutes-tops just-good-enough advisor-brandable solution.

 

[azmedsupagent]

Medicare gov is great if you have a half hour per prospect/client for data entry and don't mind government-issue displays.

I'm talking about a 5-minutes-tops just-good-enough advisor-brandable solution.

Gah! There is so much wrong with this statement. First, if you don't have 30 minutes to spend with your client to review their Part D options in detail then perhaps this isn't the business for you. Also, "just good enough" is never acceptable and rarely compliant. If you are going to have an "advisor brandable solution" you are going to have all kinds of compliance issues to deal with, such as getting your multi plan website approved by CMS. On average I spend over an hour with a prospect to earn the sale, if its an mapd client I spend closer to 2 hours. If I make $400 bucks in 2 hours or less I will gladly spend 30 minutes on data entry to help find a good drug plan for my client. I can get through the Medicare.gov plan finder with a sizable list of medications in about 5 minutes. Don't be lazy...

 

[gregj]

If I make $400 bucks in 2 hours or less I will gladly spend 30 minutes on data entry to help find a good drug plan for my client.

And if you could do the same specific exercise in 5 minutes, what would that be worth to you?

Of course, anyone who is spending two hours with an MAPD prospect doesn't value their prospect's or their own time very highly, so maybe I'm asking the wrong person....

& incidentally if you believe you're getting comparative plan results with Rx details for a client via Medicare.gov in 5 minutes, you don't own a watch, or you're fibbing. Either way.

 

[sman]

Medicare gov is great if you have a half hour per prospect/client for data entry and don't mind government-issue displays.

I'm talking about a 5-minutes-tops just-good-enough advisor-brandable solution.

What is "just good enough"? Some of us prefer to do what is in the clients best interest. If that means running comparisons on Medicare.gov to find the lowest cost plan for them, then that's what we do. And quite honestly, once the medications are entered, all you need is the password date and the drug list I.D. and can run future comparisons in 5 minutes (and that includes any changes to medications).

I have some clients who I may spend 30 minutes with and others might be an hour and a half. But the key is they become clients for life. They know I am going to do the right thing for them. You say that means we don't value our nor the clients time. I say we value the client enough to get it right and not "just good enough".

 

[Bevo]

& incidentally if you believe you're getting comparative plan results with Rx details for a client via Medicare.gov in 5 minutes, you don't own a watch, or you're fibbing. Either way.

Maybe 10 min tops with a big list, possibly a tad longer if you're explaining the donut hole from scratch.

I've run thousands of these over the last 8 years for my Med supp clients. If it's taking you longer, you're not controlling the phone call or you're not familiar with the system.