Why I still go on appointments

[AZagent]

[IMGREFLECT]

Do you work for SHC and make $100/app on their appointments?
It seems to me it would take till Wednesday just to find 23 prospects!?!

[/IMGREFLECT]

No, I'm with Great American Senior Benefits, but I'm also appointed with United Health Care for all of there MA's including the SNP's, WellPoints (Unicare) MSA's + Continental Life's Home Care, Nursing Care & Extra Care Indemnity plans (which are VERY attractive to seniors for wrap arounds). I'm actually making only 235.00 per app, but that goes up 7/01. My main focus though when I'm on an appointment is to uncover the real stuff, the asset drainers (LTC & terrible money vehicles). The MA's are give aways...I want the Check!

 

[AZagent]

[IMGREFLECT]

How do you generate that many leads consistently? Or are they set for you by the company? I'd be a zombie by Friday also. Heck, I'm a zombie on Mondays and scenery never changes anyway.

[/IMGREFLECT]

I am using a telemarketing company (28.00 per hour). I have them set my appointments (Geared around the SNP's) from Mon afternoon (1, 3 & 5) & Tuesday - Friday from 9-5, 2 hours apart (sometimes 1.5 apart). These appointments are all from cold calls (Sales Genie etc...). Most of our Senior Citizens don't even have a clue about the different plans that are available to them or what Medicare does & does not take care of. So the appointments are actually very easy to set. During Open enrollment Well Point (MSA) did help generate leads for our office & contracted with a telemarketing outfit down in Georgia to set appointments for the agents at 16.oo a pop (which is not bad at all).
Really...to me the best thing about the SNP's as door openers is that my next week is almost booked from this weeks appointments to go and write other business.
I'm not sure if all agents use Fact Finders, but that is a very helpful tool while in a house. It covers age, health conditions, final expense planning, LTC planning, Medications & Income along with assets (takes about 20min if using it with your warm up). It also is great for your records because if any new product comes out you now have your own leads and you already know about them. Almost everyone that I sit down with are more than happy to pull out policies that they quite don't understand and it helps them to open up there worry box.
I've learned that if you take care of your Elderly clients properly they will also send you referral after referral after referral!

 

[senior-advisor-indiana]

When writing the SNP for dual eligible's you wouldn't thik there would be much of a cross selling opportunity since they are on medicaid. HOw would they have investments? Medicaid eats them up. YOur SNP commish is actually not bad. The street level for those plans is like $250.

I can see how you write so many of those. Medicare supplements are a little different. You shouldn't have any competition when selling the SNP to people on medicaid.
By the way Frank, I think my avg yearly commish off a MEd supp is $270. I get any where from 18%- 21%.

 

[J.R.]

[imgreflect]

[/imgreflect]

I am using a telemarketing company (28.00 per hour). I have them set my appointments (Geared around the SNP's) from Mon afternoon (1, 3 & 5) & Tuesday - Friday from 9-5, 2 hours apart (sometimes 1.5 apart). These appointments are all from cold calls (Sales Genie etc...). Most of our Senior Citizens don't even have a clue about the different plans that are available to them or what Medicare does & does not take care of. So the appointments are actually very easy to set. During Open enrollment Well Point (MSA) did help generate leads for our office & contracted with a telemarketing outfit down in Georgia to set appointments for the agents at 16.oo a pop (which is not bad at all).
Really...to me the best thing about the SNP's as door openers is that my next week is almost booked from this weeks appointments to go and write other business.
I'm not sure if all agents use Fact Finders, but that is a very helpful tool while in a house. It covers age, health conditions, final expense planning, LTC planning, Medications & Income along with assets (takes about 20min if using it with your warm up). It also is great for your records because if any new product comes out you now have your own leads and you already know about them. Almost everyone that I sit down with are more than happy to pull out policies that they quite don't understand and it helps them to open up there worry box.
I've learned that if you take care of your Elderly clients properly they will also send you referral after referral after referral!

If you don't mind me asking, I would love to hear your thoughts on the following.

1) How many leads an hour is the company you are using @ 28.00 per hour generating?
2) What exactly is Fact Finder? I'm familiar with the census website although I doubt that is what you are talking about.

Thanks....

 

[AZagent]

[IMGREFLECT]

When writing the SNP for dual eligible's you wouldn't thik there would be much of a cross selling opportunity since they are on medicaid. HOw would they have investments? Medicaid eats them up. YOur SNP commish is actually not bad. The street level for those plans is like $250.

I can see how you write so many of those. Medicare supplements are a little different. You shouldn't have any competition when selling the SNP to people on medicaid.
By the way Frank, I think my avg yearly commish off a MEd supp is $270. I get any where from 18%- 21%.

[/IMGREFLECT]

Actually, there are 2 SNP that we can write year long here in Maricopa County...The MP, which is for individuals with illnesses such as Arthritis, HBP, Diabetes, COPD, Cardiovascular Disease, etc... They even have the option for other illnesses.
The DP SNP is what you are talking about, and I probably have about 30 on the books. Almost all of my clients on the DP plan also have taken care of their final expense planning with me. The average commission that I've earned on the senior life is anywhere from 220.oo-775.00. You are right there isn't really anything to do for the Medicaid eligibles but life, so I create the need.

To tell the truth these plans are pretty awesome! There is no co-payment for there PCP, 10.oo co for there specialist, no referral process, they pay them 45.oo per quarter (MP) & 75.oo per quarter (DP) just to purchase items out of there Health Care Catalog. Which consist of anything from vitamins & deodorant, to walkers, toiletry aids, watches, scales, hearing aid batteries,etc... They provide transportation to there appointments, Dental, Vision (plus 100.oo towards the purchase of new eye wear), Hearing & Hearing aid allowance of 600.oo, routine foot care, a licensed care manager, silver sneakers program, it's a PPO plan, nutritional services & United Touch...which is a Social Service Check up service and assistance with financial aid programs.
Most on the DP plan don't pay a dime out of their own pockets, BUT the HUGEST BENEFIT on the MP plan is there is a 700.oo maximum out of pocket limit! So they know if it ever came to the point where they were having a catastrophic year the most they would ever pay out of their own pocket is 700.00!
Now the Loyal American Med Supp is one of the most affordable Med Supps here in the State of Arizona (only competition is AARP's/United Health Cares Supp), so it has been very easy switching those out also!

Now, when I go on an appointment for the MP plan that's where all the magic happens with the cross selling!

I have a 57 year old Phillipino woman on my team, new to the insurance industry, speaks broken english and its hard for her to grasp on to learning our other products (even Senior Life). She has consistently made over 6k per month (been with us since March) since she's been with us... just writing the SNP's at 210.oo per app! That's all she writes & she's content with that. So I'm gonna pull all of her files and go back out with her for a review...cause I KNOW SHE'S LEAVING PLENTY OF BUSINESS ON THE TABLE!

Go to Medicares web site and use the zip 85029 and compare the MA's in our area, or Evercares website.

 

[senior-advisor-indiana]

Whats MP? DP is the dule eligible I assume?

You say there is a $700 out of pocket max on the duel eligible plan. I didn't think they had any expenses when they were on medicaid except for $5 here and $5 there. Seems tricky to me. I obviously don't know much about medicaid or the duel eligible plans, that is why I am asking.

Also, I hope that when you are selling the final expense to these medicaid recipients that you are not making them thr owners of the life policy as the cash value could be a problem if they have the policy for a number of years.
I ran into a lady on medicaid today that just bought a FE policy 6 months ago. The agent put the policy in her name. That is a HUGE mistake. If they have children they can trust then they need to be the owners as it will not count towards the spend down. Needless to say I will be re-writing her a policy next week. I can save her money also and another problem is the agent didnt mark on the app she had a stroke( or she didnt mention it). She has a graded benefit though and that is what she will get through me.

 

[AZagent]

[imgreflect]

If you don't mind me asking, I would love to hear your thoughts on the following.

1) How many leads an hour is the company you are using @ 28.00 per hour generating?
2) What exactly is Fact Finder? I'm familiar with the census website although I doubt that is what you are talking about.

Thanks....

[/imgreflect]

1) It varies due to the area and season (lots of snow birds here), I'll attach a copy of this month's stat sheet (summers are the roughest here). Okay it would not neatly fit, but for June the average is 1.8 per hour. There are days where they spend 5 hours and only set 2 appointments!

2) A Fact Finder is just a outlined sheet of paper to professionally jot down your notes & info on your prospective client. On the front of my fact finder I have a picture of a pie graph showing all areas that we will cover during my visit (Hospital expenses, Doctor charges, Inflation & outliving your savings, final expenses & LTC expenses).
I ask their D.O.B.(this allows me to know what plans they would even qualify for and what to present). Then I ask about their Children & Grandchildren. How many, where they live (in state or out of state). What kind of work were they in before retiring. These questions gets them to really talk, but it also gives you an idea of what kind of income they had coming in & if their family is in the area and capable of being there caregiver with families of their own.
I then ask what kind of planning have they put in place for their final expenses. Such as a Pre-paid funeral, plot or Life Insurance. Also how they wanted their homegoing (cremation, funeral). When there is a lack of planning with final expenses I place a nice huge asterick beside the question (gets their attention). If there is planning I find out the amount of coverage, term or whole and there premiums (I then can automatically know if I can save them on there premiums or up their coverage).
I then move on to their medicare coverage along with copays and premium.
Before moving on any further I praise them for what planning that they may have in place and ask if they made these decisions on there own, or did someone else direct there decisions (allows me to see if there is a Power of Attorney that needs to be present & eleminates any closing objections like "I need to talk to John Doe about this first"/sometimes).
I then ask "What kind of planning have you put in place to cover what medicare does not...such as LTC?" If nothing I ask "Have you ever looked into this protection before?", If yes, then why didn't you invest in the plan? Usually it's because they could not afford the premium...so now I know where to keep the premiums if presented. If they have already planned for this I ask about the plans benefits (that's when they go grab the policy for me to view), now I know if they are properly taken care of & if there are any gaps in their coverage.
If there is no LTC protection in place I pose this question..."Most people I talk with are worried about burdening their children when the need for LTC arises. Whether it be emotionally or financially...how do you feel about that?" 9 out of 10 times they feel the same way (gives them back responsibility).
Then there is the Health. Last time in the Hospital over night & what for. If they are Diabetic, heart problems & also what medications are they currently takeing (I now know if they could even qualify for a certain plan or if they would be totally declined ex. Aricept as one of their meds).
Finally I let them know that there are a lot of programs that Medicare & the State could provide, but it is dependent upon their income & assets. "Im assuming that you did qualify for S.S.I?" "How about any Pensions?" I then ask how much, is there any other source of income, are they paying any income taxes on their earned interest or investments? If they have no investments they'll usually laugh and say "What investments?" and If they are, they usually share it with you.
I also ask them to share with me how their investments have been performing for them, how do they invest, and what is your goal for your investments. If there goal is one thing and their investments are doing the complete opposite I place another huge asterick by it.
through out this process, there are buying or concerned signals being sent & I try my hardest to pick up on them. They may have over 500k that is performing crappy for them, but if there main concern is Life Insurance, that's exactly what I'm gonna help them with...Let them know how I can help them bring their investments in line with their goals and try to set another appointment with them within a 3-5 days (while it's fresh in their heads).
Sale or no sale the Fact Finder goes into my files. If there is an area I know that I can assist in I can go back to my Fact Finder recall what we talked about and it makes you look like a GREAT listener when you call them back and mention sparky the dog!

 

[AZagent]

[IMGREFLECT]

Whats MP? DP is the dule eligible I assume?

You say there is a $700 out of pocket max on the duel eligible plan. I didn't think they had any expenses when they were on medicaid except for $5 here and $5 there. Seems tricky to me. I obviously don't know much about medicaid or the duel eligible plans, that is why I am asking.

Also, I hope that when you are selling the final expense to these medicaid recipients that you are not making them thr owners of the life policy as the cash value could be a problem if they have the policy for a number of years.
I ran into a lady on medicaid today that just bought a FE policy 6 months ago. The agent put the policy in her name. That is a HUGE mistake. If they have children they can trust then they need to be the owners as it will not count towards the spend down. Needless to say I will be re-writing her a policy next week. I can save her money also and another problem is the agent didnt mark on the app she had a stroke( or she didnt mention it). She has a graded benefit though and that is what she will get through me.

[/IMGREFLECT]

MP is M = MULTIPLE ILLNESS & P = PPO
DP is D = DUAL ELIGIBLE & P = PPO

They also have the DH & IP

DH the H stands for HMO in this one
IP the I stands for Institution (nursing home, assisted living), P = PPO

Yes, you are right the Life policies are usually only enough to cover cremation or burial not much of a benefit but it helps.

You would be totally shocked to see how many car washes takes place down here in Phoenix & Glendale just to cover funeral expenses of the uninsured. I mention it during every sale...cause they see it too. It's crazy, I've never seen so many funeral car washes in my life!

 

[AZagent]

You say there is a $700 out of pocket max on the duel eligible plan. I didn't think they had any expenses when they were on medicaid except for $5 here and $5 there. Seems tricky to me. I obviously don't know much about medicaid or the duel eligible plans, that is why I am asking.

The DP plan depends on how much they qualify for through Medicare & Medicaid. So they may pay 0.00 and some may pay 1, 2, 3 etc... Because these plans just came out for 2007 Whatever they were paying with their previous coverage we would mock it (unless finances have changed). There is also a $700 out of pocket max for the MP also!

 

[J.R.]

[imgreflect]

[/imgreflect]

1) It varies due to the area and season (lots of snow birds here), I'll attach a copy of this month's stat sheet (summers are the roughest here). Okay it would not neatly fit, but for June the average is 1.8 per hour. There are days where they spend 5 hours and only set 2 appointments!

2) A Fact Finder is just a outlined sheet of paper to professionally jot down your notes & info on your prospective client. On the front of my fact finder I have a picture of a pie graph showing all areas that we will cover during my visit (Hospital expenses, Doctor charges, Inflation & outliving your savings, final expenses & LTC expenses).
I ask their D.O.B.(this allows me to know what plans they would even qualify for and what to present). Then I ask about their Children & Grandchildren. How many, where they live (in state or out of state). What kind of work were they in before retiring. These questions gets them to really talk, but it also gives you an idea of what kind of income they had coming in & if their family is in the area and capable of being there caregiver with families of their own.
I then ask what kind of planning have they put in place for their final expenses. Such as a Pre-paid funeral, plot or Life Insurance. Also how they wanted their homegoing (cremation, funeral). When there is a lack of planning with final expenses I place a nice huge asterick beside the question (gets their attention). If there is planning I find out the amount of coverage, term or whole and there premiums (I then can automatically know if I can save them on there premiums or up their coverage).
I then move on to their medicare coverage along with copays and premium.
Before moving on any further I praise them for what planning that they may have in place and ask if they made these decisions on there own, or did someone else direct there decisions (allows me to see if there is a Power of Attorney that needs to be present & eleminates any closing objections like "I need to talk to John Doe about this first"/sometimes).
I then ask "What kind of planning have you put in place to cover what medicare does not...such as LTC?" If nothing I ask "Have you ever looked into this protection before?", If yes, then why didn't you invest in the plan? Usually it's because they could not afford the premium...so now I know where to keep the premiums if presented. If they have already planned for this I ask about the plans benefits (that's when they go grab the policy for me to view), now I know if they are properly taken care of & if there are any gaps in their coverage.
If there is no LTC protection in place I pose this question..."Most people I talk with are worried about burdening their children when the need for LTC arises. Whether it be emotionally or financially...how do you feel about that?" 9 out of 10 times they feel the same way (gives them back responsibility).
Then there is the Health. Last time in the Hospital over night & what for. If they are Diabetic, heart problems & also what medications are they currently takeing (I now know if they could even qualify for a certain plan or if they would be totally declined ex. Aricept as one of their meds).
Finally I let them know that there are a lot of programs that Medicare & the State could provide, but it is dependent upon their income & assets. "Im assuming that you did qualify for S.S.I?" "How about any Pensions?" I then ask how much, is there any other source of income, are they paying any income taxes on their earned interest or investments? If they have no investments they'll usually laugh and say "What investments?" and If they are, they usually share it with you.
I also ask them to share with me how their investments have been performing for them, how do they invest, and what is your goal for your investments. If there goal is one thing and their investments are doing the complete opposite I place another huge asterick by it.
through out this process, there are buying or concerned signals being sent & I try my hardest to pick up on them. They may have over 500k that is performing crappy for them, but if there main concern is Life Insurance, that's exactly what I'm gonna help them with...Let them know how I can help them bring their investments in line with their goals and try to set another appointment with them within a 3-5 days (while it's fresh in their heads).
Sale or no sale the Fact Finder goes into my files. If there is an area I know that I can assist in I can go back to my Fact Finder recall what we talked about and it makes you look like a GREAT listener when you call them back and mention sparky the dog!

Sounds like a good way to do business. I appreciate the feedback. I am a huge fan of taking notes and storing them on all prospective clients. I'm lucky if I remember who I spoke with yesterday