Author: Shane

There are some agents who are never happy with their open enrollment numbers. Every year, millions of Medicare users need to re-enroll and they rely on their advisors to assist them with the process. Each year, these advisor are able to pull great numbers, but many of them look at the numbers and wonder how they can get better. It’s no shock that people who are in sales, to an extent, are unhappy with their numbers. This is part of the upside and downside of working on your own and being able to make more money if you do better.

It’s a hunger that drives us and there’s no better time to go after these sales than during this time of year. However, at the end of the day, you need to look at what you are doing right and what you need to work on if you want to see your numbers improve next year. The challenge many agents have during open enrollment is that they do not see the early push from clients that they expected or hoped for. So many people like to wait until the last minute. That’s why, even if you’re ready to sell on October 15th, the client may not be interested in talking until early December.

Mistakes You Made Before Open Enrollment

It’s important to look at your mistakes so that you can learn from them. However, it’s sometimes very difficult to see our own mistakes. That’s why we sometimes need to take a more serious look at why we are struggling and see if there are things we could do to avoid the issue from happening again. In terns of open enrollment, sometimes the biggest mistake you can make is simply not being prepared or being proactive enough.

Yes, you want people to enroll earlier in the enrollment period because it makes your November and December easier. However, did you talk to those prospects and clients throughout the year? Did you send them emails about changes to coverage, updates on ways to save and other helpful tips? What about calls? Is this the first time you’ve spoken with your clients since last open enrollment? This is why it’s so important to look at what you’re doing and how it impacts the results you are getting right now.

What Are Your Current Struggles?

Many agents believe that there are current conditions that are slowing down their results. One of the best examples of this has to do with the elections. In years of an election, it’s not rare for voters who are eligible for Medicare to vote first and then focus on their health insurance after. While this may not be your direct course of action, it is a process that many follow and in some cases, it has more to do with the advertisements they are seeing than anything.

You may simply and literally be seeing fewer calls and leads than you did at this time last year. When you consider what many consumers have gone through this year with inflation and now with potential layoffs, can you see why people may be distracted when it comes to things like health coverage? If your current struggles are not enough leads, then consider what you can do to make that situation better.

Changes You Can Make Now

Look at your list of clients. How many have you contacted? Why not reach out now and remind them that you’re available to assist them with their enrollment. Calls, emails and other forms of communication you are allowed to make are all acceptable. However, you need to also focus on making sure that you are not being pushy. Some may have already enrolled while others simply are not ready to do so and they want to gather more information or unfortunately for you, wait until after Thanksgiving.

By contacting them and letting them know that you are here to assist, you can subtly make an introduction but also inform them of the importance of enrolling as soon as possible. Leave the door open for them to contact you by scheduling an appointment for their free consultation and assistance with enrollment. Other than that, work with your broker and see what else you can do to grab more leads based on how they are generated in the office.

Changes You Can Make For Next Year

Open enrollment may feel like a feeding frenzy for some, but the truth is that it is the result of how much work and effort was put into the process throughout the year. Yes, communication with clients during the year may not net you immediate results, but it could land you big numbers during open enrollment. People like to work with the same people. That’s why, even though we rarely see them, we keep the same accountants, dentists, mechanics and even Medicare advisors. By reaching out throughout the year, you are keeping that person aware of you and the services you offer.

When we talk about communication, it often does not have to be as formal as you may think. A monthly email talking about changes in Medciare, ways to save, friendly tips on health or benefits and other options will all be ideal and a greay way to keep the client informed. An email in September covering everything they need to know for enrolling this year will be better received than calls made in November. Additionally, communication throughout the year allows you to reach your clients while they have time to talk, rather than at the end of the year when enrollment is just one of the many things they have to focus on.

This open enrollment period, many seniors, even on Medicare, have to focus on elections, increased costs for their homes, increased costs for everything else, potential jobs they have, financial concerns they may have, travel, the flu, seeing family, planning events, planning next year and so much more. You can see why enrolling may not be at the top of the list, just like many of us are with paying taxes. Instead of waiting on them at the end of the year, work on establishing better communication earlier on. It makes a big difference and can also boost those early numbers.

Open enrollment is that special time of year when some agents seem to know exactly what they are doing while others seem to struggle, unhappy with their progress and not sure how to get back on track. Selling health insurance can be a struggle, especially during this time of the year. There is so much competition and all anyone cares about are your sales numbers. The truth is that you have to perform this time of year and you need to focus on clients, not policy changes or new rules. Actually, you do have to focus on both, especially this year with some of the new changes that have been made.

One of the main changes that impacts health insurance advisors has to do with call recording. When you are on calls with clients about Medicare, the call needs to be recorded. While the software is established, available and easy to use for most, for many agents, this mandatory change is adding to the frustration of open enrollment. However, that’s not the way you should approach this change and instead, focus on avoiding the mistakes others are making with the new system. Rather than struggle with these issues, utilize the new system to your advantage.

Practice Makes Perfect

One of the biggest complaints thus far from agents simply has to do with the transition of actually turning on the recording software and remembering to notify the client that the call is being recorded. While this process is very straight-forward, not everyone is as comfortable with new technology as others. In this case, the best thing to do is to actually just practice using the software, making calls, getting calls and so forth. You can practice with a fellow agent and just call each other back and forth until you are used to the process.

Be sure to look around online for additional information about the specific software you are using. Because it’s compatible with both cell phones and office lines, as well as with working on the computer, you can look into the specific options that are available from the software you are using. You can also look at notes others have shared on what they like about the recording option, how they utilize it and so forth.

Leave A Reminder Note

If it helps, simply leave yourself a note for the time being to remind you to start the recording and to remind the client. Because it’s open enrollment, your mind is focused on so many things before an initial meeting. If you can make yourself a simple note of the mandatory things you need to do and discuss, you will have that reminder with you and pretty soon you will not need it at all. However, many agents find that notes are the best way to make sure they cover every spot during a conversation and do not miss anything.

This is also where you can get creative with each client. Along with call recording, there are new systems in place that allow you to keep track of important information about each client. Therefore, if you are having a meeting with an existing client, you can use your pre-meeting time to review information you have about them including their healthcare needs, budget and other factors that played a role in what Medicare services they signed up for last year. Being freshly informed on this will give you a major advantage during the call and impress the client.

Go Back And Listen

One trick agents are utilizing with the new software is to go back and listen to calls. For many, there are a variety of advantages to doing this including the ability to train and learn how they can improve their sales style, handle a client in a meeting and so forth. There’s a reason why these calls are ideal for training purposes as they show what real people focus on during talks, how an agent can manage the call and more. You can also learn the difference on handling a meeting with someone who has been on Medicare against someone who is completely new to the experience and enrollment.

Another benefit of being able to listen to your calls is that you can improve your communication with your client without having to ask them multiple questions over and over again. Yes, you need this information, but if you are not sure of something or the client is struggling to connect important dots, sometimes frustration can set in. Being able to go back and reference the information allows you to streamline the meeting, even if you feel that the client is not getting important points. If that’s the case, you can go back through the call and make notes of where you felt the client struggled to grasp certain topics or options and refocus your attention on that in your followup email.

Limiting Calls

Eventually, a primary advantage of call recording for Medicare consultations will be that you can limit the calls you have with clients, especially during open enrollment. Because your time is limited, the recording will allow you to streamline your conversations, knowing how to cut time without seeming disinterested but also in ways that benefit the client because you are focusing on key areas that the client wants you to focus on. You can also learn more about the clients needs and limitations this way because you are hearing the information again, without having to be focused on clarifying things or other distractions that come during client meetings.

It’s never easy to be on the phone with someone and evaluate dozens of Medicare enrollment options for them and make sure that they understand everything completely. Instead, by utilizing the call recording software, you are able to improve your customer service, sales strategy and also offer better service to your client. This is something that may take some time to learn this year. However, next year this will be an advantage that you are able to utilize throughout open enrollment. Be sure to practice with the new software and make sure that you are comfortable setting up calls before you get started.

As a Medicare advisor, your job is to help make the transition to the health insurance as easy as possible for your client. You have been trained and are licensed to review a person’s information and then to guide them to whatever insurance best suits their needs as well as fits within their budget. It’s easier said than done of course and it takes true experience and skill to be able to help a person and get them exactly what they need.

Every year, open enrollment provides you with an opportunity to close existing clients as well as new ones. However, whether you are talking to existing clients or new ones, you still have to have some topics ready to go. These topics of discussion focus on areas of concern for the patient, whether they are new to Medicare or not. Ideally, by focusing on these areas of discussion, you can show your clients how these services can offer them more assistance than they expected, for a better price.

Cutting Costs

It does not matter what someone’s financial situation currently is, no one is happy with the costs of goods and services and how they have skyrocketed this past year. This is an issue everyone will want to discuss and they are especially interested in learning how they can cut down on those costs. Healthcare costs are something that seniors struggle to budget for and if they are living on a smaller budget, they will need to make their money work for them when it comes to their insurance.

Thankfully, there are several new things to announce with Medicare that include options to help cut prices down including spending caps, lower deductibles and other news depending on what plans you are enrolled in. As you are going over the options with a client, be sure to mention where they can cut costs in their healthcare, especially if this is their first time enrolling and they are not sure what the difference will be in costs with this insurance over insurances they’ve had in the past. Being able to cut those costs significantly throughout the year can be a major help, especially for a retiree who is on a fixed income.

Unknown Benefits

Before the age of 65, one is not used to hearing about additional benefits or perks with their health insurance. That’s because, in many ways, their plans focus more on coverage rather than perks. In the case of Medicare, because providers are limited on what they can add to a plan or what they can charge for it, you can expect far more perks to be added. A great example of this is the grocery allowance plan that allows people to have a monthly allowance to go towards healthy foods as well as over-the-counter medicines. This is a major benefit that millions of people are unaware of and few utilize to their advantage.

This is a great thing to mention during talks about costs and how to keep things affordable. OTC medications and healthier groceries like produce have skyrocketed in price. Help with these costs specifically is extremely valuable and can help the consumer to save a lot throughout the year. Other options offer things like routine exams, lower costs on preventative care and more. There are also programs in place to help with weight loss and diabetes prevention. While this may not be enough to close a deal, it could make the plans more appealing to a client, especially if they are on the fence about costs.

Help With Online Services

In many ways, the biggest impact covid will have on health insurance, especially Medicare, is that it made the services and options more internet friendly. Because of the pandemic, the medical field, which many felt was being too stubborn about utilizing online services, had to begin relying on these options. For the first time ever, doctors relied on telehealth options to communicate with clients, prescriptions are being shipped directly to patients homes, appointments can be made over the internet and important information can be accessed simply by logging in rather than having to wait on the phone for hours.

While this is great for the consumer, many seniors are not familiar with these options nor how to utilize them. Your consultation is a great opportunity to discuss these options with your client and show them where and how to access them. The more accustomed to these options your clients become, the more they will utilize their plans and take advantage of the benefits it offers them.

Customization

Every client is different. It does not matter how many similarities they have to someone else, each one has a different budget, financial situation, health needs as well as a unique understanding of health insurance and how it works. Your goal is not to sell them on a plan they can use, but to show them the advantages that every plan offers and create a strategy that will benefit the client throughout the year. During open enrollment, these people will share with you all the information you need to understand what they are really looking for as far as coverage goes. If they are too concerned about costs, then you know where to focus your attention. If they were limited in coverage last year, focus on that first.

The time you spend creating a custom strategy will not go unnoticed. However, make sure that you are breaking down the advantages every time you see the price go up a dollar. If the client sees a higher price they need to know why it’s more expensive and what benefits they are getting from the increased costs, whether it’s short-term or long-term. If they can save money on out-of-pocket costs, make sure you focus on that because they will not see that simply looking at monthly prices.

When selecting Medicare coverage, most people look to advisors to show them their options. If you want to stand out and make an impact with your client, focus instead on areas where they want to see improvements. If you cannot help with price, focus on quality of care. If you can help them to save throughout the year, why not focus on that during your discussions? You know where this person has seen their advantages as well as their disadvantages when it comes to healthcare and insurance. Utilize that information to make them a plan that works best for them. The more time you dedicate to this, the happier the client will be with your strategy.

Health insurance agents are trying to figure out as much as they can about the new call recording rules that impact Medicare enrollment. The rule is simple, if you are talking to clients about Medicare coverage, you need to record the call. While many are not happy with the new law, there are some benefits that it offers. However, the real concern is if this will be a hindrance, short or long-term for the advisors, especially at the start of open enrollment?

For those who are not aware, these systems have been in use for years. Many companies that deal with customer service and sales over the phone will have call recording because they find that it helps for training as well as to go over what a customer had said to see if it can offer a solution to their issue. It’s a very common tool utilized in so many industries and it’s something that will not slow you down.

How Does The Software Work?

Depending on the software you are using, your work setup and so forth, there may be different instructions. However, the majority of the concepts focus on getting the recording going and then making a call either into a conference call with the client, or by a direct call. Most software manufacturers have made the system compatible for computers as well as cell phones. This makes it more accommodating for people who are not working from a computer all day.

In some cases, you may be required to select an account or use a specific phone number. During training, make sure you take specific notes and do not be afraid to have handwritten instructions as well for your first couple of tries. Once you get used to it, you will find that it’s very routine and the process can be repeated over and over again with much more ease.

Is It Difficult To Use?

Health insurance agents seem to find the hardest aspect of using call recording software is to remember to switch it on at the beginning of the call. That’s where the repetition comes into play. The software itself is very user friendly and in fact, most of the options available will have outstanding customer service themselves to help with any questions you may have.

Advisors who spend the majority of their day on the phone actually find that the process becomes part of their preparation for a call or meeting. While everyone is different on how they adjust to changes, especially involving technology, the advantage is that there are services available to assist with installation, making calls, receiving calls and so forth.

Do We Have To Tell The Client?

Many health insurance advisors are asking if they have to tell the client about the call recording software when they are on a call. The answer is yes and in fact, it is required as early as possible in the conversation. This is where making it part of your introduction could be a smart idea as it will become second nature and you can always make a note to say it with any additional notes you are using.

Considering the fact that millions of seniors have been told to be mindful of who they give their information to, especially on the phone, especially when it comes to Medicare, it’s also a great option to be able to offer them some extra security during the call. For you, it gives you the advantage of showcasing yourself as more of a professional, something that is very difficult to do early in the call. Consider trying to work on your introduction, with the update about the recordings, before using it with a client.

Can Call Recording Be A Good Thing For Medicare Advisors?

Yes, in the beginning of this process, this will take time and energy to learn and get down. However, throughout enrollment, we sometimes get too focused on the numbers instead of actually what we are advising. If you have 20 meetings today are you going to try and get through those meetings as quickly as possible? Of course, and throughout the day, it’s literally impossible to remember every comment, question, task or detail. Not having the ability to reference a conversation with a client has led to plenty of advisors losing that client.

Customer service is always the main focus when it comes to communication. If you can be better with your advisement calls because you can go back and listen to how you sound and develop your strategy during a call, it would make you even better at your job. Improving your strategies, knowing what topics to focus on, how to get the client involved in the conversation and more are the keys to getting the deal closed as quickly as possible but still providing outstanding service.

Additionally, being able to reference a call if you are not sure what a client had mentioned is paramount. Instead of having to ask something over again, after or during your meeting, you can continue the conversation with confidence because you know that you can always go back and reference it whenever you want. This also allows the client to be more relaxed on the phone as they are able to talk in a steadier flow rather than having to stop over and over again as you’re taking notes or punching things into the computer.

During the pandemic, customers became much more acclimated to managing their lives via the internet or the phone. In fact, many companies focus their customer service around online chat more than phones, partly because online chat allows them to get everything in writing from the client. While that may not work for your sales strategy during Medicare open enrollment, it does show you how different customer bases respond to new options that make communication easier and faster.

Call recording will eventually be a major benefit for Medicare advisors. However, as you learn how to utilize this new software, make sure that you are keeping track of important notes and advantages it offers you in the short-term as well. Customers appreciate your ability to save them money, but also time. Not having to go back over and over again with them because you have a way to reference the conversation saves them plenty of time and allows you to do your job even better.

As most have already heard, call recording is now mandatory for health insurance agents, especially when it comes to offering Medicare advisement. For many, this change comes as a surprise but this change was needed considering the increase in sensitive data being shared over the phone, as well as the increase in phone meetings among advisors and clients.

By utilizing the call recording software, agents are able to take advantage of having a way to go back and reference what was said during the meeting. However, some are concerned about this change as it is being enforced during this years’ open enrollment. During this time, agents need to work as fast as they can and learning a new system and applying it to every phone call does not seem ideal, even though it is beneficial for everyone involved.

Why Call Recording Is Mandatory Now

Before covid, seniors enrolling in Medicare actually seemed to appreciate the face to face options. Many would attend free classes and seminars, appreciating the personal and direct attention they could get from an agent who could walk them through all the options available to them. While this is a trend that has returned since shutdowns, many seniors grew comfortable communicating with their health insurance advisors over the phone or via email.

While it’s great that the industry was able to adapt, a new problem of confusion occurred. People are not sure what was said on the phone and because nothing was immediately in writing, there was no way to reference what was actually said. You can imagine how many seniors were confused by the plans they were enrolled in after having lengthy calls with agents. The call recording option helps to greatly reduce this issue by giving advisors the ability to go back and check out the call.

Utilizing Call Recording To Your Benefit

Yes, you have to learn how to utilize a new software. However, it’s very easy to do and once you’ve done it for a couple of weeks it will become second nature. In reality, health insurance agents should look at the advantages that this new rule creates for them.

• Work on your pitch and timing: If you are not seeing the numbers you want, despite having plenty of calls, then it’s great to be able to reference something to get an idea of where you are missing your mark. A great and common example of this is when agents try to focus on pricing with the client. Yes, the client is very focused on the costs as well but if they are not properly educated on the benefits and advantages they are getting for the extra cost, they are unlikely to sign up for it.
• Recheck notes on the client: During your meeting, the client is going to throw a lot of information towards you and you back at them. It’s easy to miss something, even if you take great notes. However, if you are able to go back to the phone call and listen again, you may be able to find important details you missed. These details could be a major advantage in finding the ideal coverage for a client, thus making them happier with your service.
• Helps them feel more secure: Every year, seniors are warned about scams that may come in a variety of ways. One of those ways is with phone calls which is why seniors are not thrilled about sharing their personal information over the phone. Knowing that the call is being recorded is just an added layer of security that shows seniors you are the right person to share that information with.
• Organization: Did you meet with every one of your clients today? Which one had a question and was expecting you to call them back once you had an answer? There are so many challenges that come with managing clients. However, if you are able to reference these conversations, you can stay organized which is something they will notice as well.

Ideally, you should utilize this requirement to the best of your ability. The fact is that we all make mistakes or miss things during meetings that we would like to go back and recheck. As a Medicare advisor, one of your biggest challenges is identifying areas of confusion for seniors, especially during enrollment. After a meeting, you can go back and check where clients seemed to struggle, what areas of conversation were confusing and so forth. This extra level of customer service makes a world of difference when clients have infinite options for advisors.

How Sales People Utilize Call Recording Tools

While you are providing people with advisement for their Medicare coverage, you are also in a world of sales. You want your clients to enroll in what’s best for them, not because you make more money but because the happier they are with their coverage, the longer they are likely to stick with you and even refer business to you. This is the goal with each client, but it seems that those who are meeting with the use of call recording tools are seeing happier results than those who are not.

Sales teams have constantly utilized this option to learn more about ways to present content and information to clients. One example is when the first five minutes of the call are used to establish how knowledgeable the client is and if their options can therefore be explored a bit deeper. However, if those first five minutes show that the client is struggling to grasp the options available and what is covered, then the agent knows to go an easier route with them and focus on the basics of what they need.

You have to treat every client different because every one of them is different. When it comes to health insurance, everyone needs different types of coverage and they are working with different financial situations. Therefore, it’s important that you can identify these limitations as early as possible so that you can build the remainder of the meeting time around what you think will produce the best results for both sides.

Just when you begin to figure out which platforms to market on, the rules get changed on you. Marketing is a constant change and people have to adapt to that. The platforms that work best in April may not work for you in November. Why is that? For one, open enrollment. You are going to have far more people looking for Medicare services in November than you would in April, therefore the cost to get to the target audience goes up as there is far more competition.

This is understandable as nearly every industry seeks big sales numbers at the end of the year. However, as an individual agent, how are you supposed to compete with so many big companies and competitors? It’s actually your personal touch that gives you the advantage and there are ways to market that locally as well as beyond your immediate area. In fact, you can market to the entire state and this year you have a unique advantage.

A New Challenge For Medicare Open Enrollment

It’s hard to have missed that there are some pretty big elections coming up this year. People have become very passionate about politics but also some of the topics that are being debated. As always, one of the biggest is health insurance and especially Medicare. This is a unique advantage for agents who can provide a different perspective than the bigger companies. Instead of focusing on how everyone needs to get coverage, you can instead focus on how everyone can get the biggest coverage for them.

We now live in a world where fast customization is expected. What does that mean exactly? Think of when you get a new streaming service and you sign in and start picking your favorite films and shows to watch. As that platform gains information about you, it begins to know what’s best to show you first. If you do not like what you see, you are less likely to stay on that site or app much longer. Thee same has become true with our health insurance. We want some custom ideas, strategies and if a health insurance advisor can accomodate us, that’s the person we’re most likely to work with.

Why You Need To Market?

We’ve all heard of or known of health insurance agents who do not market during open enrollment. Is it possible? Of course, but few have shown that they can keep such a successful pace, especially with the changes that have hit the industry over the last several years including the coronavirus pandemic. People are less interested in face to face interaction and instead want fast and simple answers. This is where many advisors have had to adapt but the good news is they can handle twice as many clients in some cases.

Marketing allows you to connect with these audiences on a wider scale but also take tasks off your plate. Think of how much time you have to put into each client? Half of that time is on selling them on your services and showing them what you can do. Imagine if a portion of the prospects who are not interested do not even waste your time because they contacted. Expanding your time means expanding your capabilities of customizing healthcare plans for your clients and keeping them updated on important changes and deadlines.

The better your service becomes, the happier your clients are. However, you also are giving yourself more time to aggressively expand and go after more business. That’s what marketing allows you to do without having to produce the content or establish offices around your state. You can advertise the same service throughout your state and get leads and interest from each platform.

How You Can Market?

You are limited in marketing by your budget and your content. Your budget will influence your content and how you can share it. If you have limited funds, the best route to take is to focus on the free options like business listings and posting videos on YouTube. A weekly video about how to enroll in Medicare, some of the tough questions you need to ask and so forth gets results. However, what you will also learn is that people who are researching these topics like to also have communication with the source of the information.

This is how a viewer becomes a lead. By connecting with people by offering free information, you are becoming a resource that they can rely on. If someone is not sure about something as difficult and challenging as health insurance, often times they have no idea who to call on, even if they get coverage through an employer. Seeing you as a resource and someone they can utilize to get the information they need allows you to understand what they need as a consumer and how to best accommodate them.

Invest Smartly

Marketing is a form of investing and it requires your time and your money. However, you should never look for an immediate return. The goal of each campaign is to connect with the right audience. You will be amazed how many times someone see’s a commercial and completely ignores it, yet when they see that brand, they respond to it in a positive way. Why is this? We go with what is familiar because we feel more comfortable with it.

While you may not have the budget to run commercials throughout the day, you do have the ability to connect with those who are looking for Medicare enrollment information. You can offer them guidance in a variety of ways and the important thing to remember is that the easier they feel the process goes, the more likely they are to stick with you. That means you have the advantage because you simply need to focus on doing what you do best, health insurance work.

Marketing takes the sales game out of health insurance sales because it informs the user and gives them the information we want them to be aware of before they contact us. If you are not utilizing your content in a format that gives someone information, allows them to understand why the information is reliable, shows you as an authority on this information and makes it easy for them to contact you, then you need to start over on your content.

Marketing is no easy task. There are literally dozens of platforms and ways to market a business whether you offer a service or sell products. The fact is that no form of marketing fits every type of business. For example, commercials may not work great for a small diner that is open only for breakfast and lunch. However, they would have ten times the luck with flyers than an accountant would.

Every business is different and therefore needs to be marketed different. It really comes down to the audience. If the audience buys something based on necessity, you need to consider where they go to find companies that are offering that service or product? For example, if someone wants to enroll in Medicare, where would they go for information on how to get started?

This is the question that Medicare advisors ask themselves every year as they try to establish a marketing budget. They know, that even $100 spent in the right area can land some new leads and potential clients. However, the fact is that just like with investing, the more you put in, the higher the likelihood of a solid return. For those who are focused on getting a better strategy going for open enrollment, the key is to think about how to communicate with the audience.

Marketing Strategies That Work

Time and time again, it has been proven that the most successful marketing strategies are the ones that focus on a multi-platform approach where they are found on sites and apps that the consumer uses, but also aggressively advertise in order to educate the consumer on their brand, why they are needed and more. These strategies work because they rely on the multiple platforms to bring results, either individually, or with a combination of platforms.

The concept has been utilized in marketing for years. Re-targeting is one of the most common methods where people who visit websites are shown ads that encourage them to return to the site. This is not only one of the most reliable ways to generate engagement and potential leads, but it is also an affordable strategy because it’s only based on what your current traffic rates are.

Places To Market Medicare Open Enrollment Services

Whether you are new to the game or have years of experience, you are probably focused on putting your money and time on platforms that work. You have to understand, each platform has its advantages and disadvantages for offering Medicare advisor services. You are limited based on the quality of your content and your budget in some cases. These are the top platforms we recommend marketing on for health insurance advisors based on affordability, effectiveness and the ability to create content with minimal experience:

1. Google Business Listings: We begin with a free service that is also effective. That’s right, it is actually Google business listings that are ranked at our top spot for the best platform to market on. Why is that? Because with a verified address, you will be able to market your services for free in the Google maps section, meaning that if someone is looking for a Medicare advisor on the world’s largest search engine and they are in your area, your business will be viewed by them.
2. Google SEO Listings: Because so many people rely on search engines for information, being ranked on page one is key. However, ads tend to be costly and also organic traffic converts higher. That’s why we rank SEO and organic listings high with the understanding that it does take a long time to get these results.
3. Facebook: The world’s largest social media platform, more and more health insurance providers are increasing their social media marketing efforts thanks to unexpected success on this and other platforms. Because older audiences have become accustom to social media as a media platform, advertising to these audiences is also becoming more custom and rewarding.
4. Mailers: While the digital world is providing faster and more affordable results, the truth is that some of the old-school tactics still work great. The first place to look with that is with direct mailers. These not only work, but have been proven to outperform many digital options during open enrollment.
5. YouTube: The world’s second largest search engine, anyone can publish a video that provides people with information about enrolling, what to expect, questions to ask, what the costs are and more. If you can provide that information, there are people on this site looking for it and they will rely on it.
6. Google PPC: The reason pay per click is not one of the more accommodating options is because of the cost. With large competitors driving up the price per click, there is little room for the smaller budget agencies to compete in this area.
7. LinkedIn: Many have avoided this social media platform because it was slow to generate interest and expensive to market on. However, because of the coronavirus pandemic, many people between the ages of 55 and 65 have retired early and need to cover their gap years as far as health insurance goes. LinkedIn has become a great platform to connect with these newly retirees and educate them on what to expect with health insurance.

One mistake that we constantly see made in marketing is that people expect the consumer to take an action based on the information given. It does not matter how important the information is, if the consumer does not wish to or is unable to take an action, they will not. Managing expectations is key because without it, you could become frustrated. Sometimes, you have the right platform but the wrong type of content or simply do not have the budget needed to get enough traffic.

Consumers are hit with advertisements from literally hundreds of companies a day during this time of year. That’s from a combination of social media, email, direct mail, television, radio, visiting websites, ads in videos, billboards and more. What is going to make them take notice of your ad and especially make them act on it? That’s what you need to ask yourself when you are considering what type of content to put out there.

Open enrollment is right around the corner and guess what, you’re probably scrambling again like you did last year. At this time last year, you were still trying to play catchup and figure out how to reach out to new audiences and get new clients. You have done the same exact thing this time and the goal is to have an even better year.

While it’s not smart to wait until the last minute, as a professional you know what to expect during this time of year and how to utilize that experience to have a successful season. However, if you consider the changes that are going on in the economy, healthcare itself and more, it’s best to do a little prep work before you dive in.

Starting Early On Open Enrollment

Most Medicare recipients will not be signing up the first day, or week or even the first month. They too like to wait until the last minute and expect everything to fall in place as well. While they have the luxury of doing that, you need to get started a bit earlier. In fact, it’s the business you do early on that could determine the year you are going to have. Consider that the people who are delaying enrolling are the ones who have a person to handle it for them. On the other hand, the people who are signing up or looking for information early on, are the ones you can turn into clients because they are new to the process.

How To Grab A Bigger Audience

It doesn’t matter what you sell, you always want to expand your audience. With millions of new applicants for Medicare this year, there will be plenty of opportunities for you to grab the business you want. However, it really comes down to understanding the best ways to grab that audience and show them the value you can offer. Here’s where you can start:

1. Content: There’s a reason why they say content is king when it comes to marketing. A good blog or informative video can outperform the best ads made. Why? Because people connect with the simplicity and honesty of those formats and how they offer more detail rather than a sales pitch. Create content that you can share on multiple platforms and allow it to build organically with your audience.
2. Frequency: While content is important when it comes to anything, you need frequency. If you are producing a blog that shows people important tips for when they enroll in Medicare, how often can they expect a blog from you or a video? When people get used to your frequency of content production, you become part of their routine.
3. Topics: What do you plan on talking about? Are you going to talk about what is happening in health insurance now, important dates coming up or something else? Have a game plan for content topics and do not try to smush everything into the same piece.
4. Platforms: You can create a video that shows people the importance and value of health insurance. However, where can you get an audience with this type of content? Knowing where to place it and how to organically direct it toward people is key to getting viewership.
5. Give away for free: Do not expect people to give you their time for no other reason than you simply providing them the information they can get on the web as well. Give them useful information that they cannot access without having the knowledge and experience of the field that you have.
6. Demand in return: While it’s great to give something for free, that doesn’t mean you cannot benefit from it. What you need to demand in return from this audience is not money, but their interest in your content and their contact information, specifically their emails so that you can let them know when new content is available, important deadlines and more.
7. Be the reference: Would you rather someone who has a question about Medicare check on Google or call you directly? That may seem like more work on your plate but consider the client who calls you for information is going to use you when open enrollment is here.
8. Try new things: There are new apps, new websites and plenty of other creative ways to reach audiences. Give them a try but understand who is using them and for what. Maybe you will not get the response you hoped for or maybe, since you are the only one on that platform talking about health insurance, people will have more interest in what you are saying.
9. Focus on the client’s struggles: People have been hit hard with inflation this year. Use that and other things you’ve learned about your client’s challenges this year in your content. Talk about the problems and challenges people are having with healthcare and coverage. This is what people are searching for, answers to questions they have that relate to them.

If you are not able to grow your audience this year, is it because your current marketing methods are failing? Possibly, but it can also be that you have more competition or the competition is trying something different. You have to be familiar with your audience and know where they are going for information, especially as it relates to health insurance. Targeting senior citizens in your ads may seem smart, but what if you can connect with thousands of people between the ages of 30 and 50 about health insurance? Perhaps they are helping a parent or elderly loved one who is enrolling for the first time and they have no clue what to do.

The fact is that Medicare open enrollment is an opportunity to lock in hundreds or thousands of new clients. However, while the opportunity is there, so is the competition. You have to be creative and try new things. Even if you put time into launching content on a new platform and it gets you zero results, you gained valuable experience and know where not to focus your time next year, or know that there are things you may want to try differently. Every year presents new opportunities and challenges for advisors and the key thing we learn each year over and over again is that there are new simple solutions here. You have to put in the work if you want to the results.

There are blogs, YouTube channels, sections of stores and entire stores actually dedicated to being organized. Being organized is a struggle for most, and no age is immune to it. We associate organization with being clean. However, what we are referring to when it comes to business is being prepared by having what you need to have done, knowing where everything is, being able to access files quickly and not missing any important deadlines.

When working with Medicare advisors, being organized takes on a completely different meaning. One mistake that almost every advisor makes each year is that they miss opportunities to be better organized. While some may think this means keeping a desk clean or being able to access important files, the reality is that the area most advisors are lacking in organization is with communication with their audience.

The True Value Of Organization

Being organized in this sense focuses on being a reliable resource of information. People do not need advisors these days, in reality. What they need are guides to show them the difference between option A and option B. When you enroll in Medicare for the first time, do you know what to even do? Most people do not but the information is out there if they want to learn how to do it themselves.

You as an advisor know that doing open enrollment yourself, especially if it’s your first time is usually a mistake. First, your services are free and do not cost the client anything. Next, you have to remember that even if they can get started on their own, there are so many options that they have to go through and then they also need to work with different providers if they want the best deal. Your involvement in this process is valuable, even if the client does not realize it. However, what you have to understand is that the less organized you are, the less the client will rely on you.

How Organization Impacts Medicare Insurance Sales

Every year, when open enrollment comes around, insurance advisors look for ways to grab as many clients as they can. It is similar to trying to fish in a stream during the salmon run. You cannot get skunked, but the difference between having a great day and a fantastic day is a bit of preparation and knowing what to expect. If you want to hit record sales numbers, it begins with being organized and working on this throughout the year. If you do, the work you put in will be most noticeable in these areas:

• Communication: If you were to contact a client right now, would they know who you were immediately? When was the last time you spoke with them? Was it last year at open enrollment? This is a common mistake that most agents make. They clean up during one part of the season and expect things to be just as good or better the next year. The agents who see the best numbers are the ones who work the entire year and keep communication with their clients. It can be as simple as a friendly email with things they need to be aware of regarding their coverage and your offer to assist if they need any help.
• Calendars: There are important deadlines throughout the year regarding Medicare, not just during open enrollment. By being organized, you are able to communicate these dates but also take advantage of them. For example, if there’s a window where you can make changes to your supplements, why not email every new client you have and inform them of this window and ask them if they are happy with their current coverage? Even if they are, this extra effort will go miles with them.
• Timing: If your old client has not heard from you in almost a year but has been hit with dozens of ads from the competitor, do you expect them to reach out to you after your initial email at the start of enrollment?
• Customer satisfaction: One of the reasons Medicare advisors are so focused on customer satisfaction is because the easiest and cheapest lead you will ever get is the spouse or friend of one of your clients. If your customers are happy and their friends or loved ones are eligible to enroll, wouldn’t you expect them to refer you?
• Finger on the pulse of your audience: What are people most concerned with right now regarding their care? For many, it’s not the quality of the care but the cost. If that’s what you are seeing with your audience, try to communicate to them that you understand those concerns and are willing to work with them to address ways of helping them cut costs. If you can give someone a way of cutting their costs by even a couple of hundred dollars a year, you’ve won them over as a client.
• People rely on you for information: Organization also focuses on being a reliable resource for information. An advisor may point out that the information the client often needs is available online. However, what they forget is that the more your client can do for themselves, eventually, their need for you ends and they go with someone who they can get information from. Make yourself a resource and one people should use as often as they can, especially to get the facts.
• Customization: No two clients are alike. Even if two people are on the exact same plans from the same provider and pay the same amount, they may have different health needs and financial limitations. That’s where talking with your clients is so important. Letting them ask questions, explain their situation and so forth gives them a sense of trust in you but also gives you the information you need to make them happy. Listen to what they are saying and show them you are as well.
• See your weaknesses: Because you are not focused on just doing the minimum, you have the ability to see where you need to make improvements. For example, this year you noticed that you spent more time on the phone with people and your phone sales or leads doubled. However, you also noticed that you did not get the same in-person response that you anticipated. Should this be something you focus on to improve next year? Now you have the ability to figure that own and develop your new strategy.

We all know someone or are the person who manages to get results even with a dirty desk and by writing important notes on napkins. It doesn’t matter what makes us successful, we can always be better. If organization can improve your sales numbers during this Medicare open enrollment period, shouldn’t you take a deeper look into the ways and areas you can improve in?

Sit in front of your television for a couple of hours and what are you going to see right now? Aside from your usual mix of car and mutual fund commercials, right now the two most common options are either political ads or ads to educate people about open enrollment. This year, billions will literally be spent on advertising those two topics alone, not to mention anything having to do with the holidays, retail and so forth. Putting aside politics, why is so much being spent on health insurance, especially for a free service like Medicare?

Health insurance agents and advisors know exactly why this money is being spent. Open enrollment is the one time of year where everyone in the medical coverage field has to have their game faces on and put together a strategy on how to get even more signees than they did the previous year. Why? Because this is the easiest and most significant of the time of year to grab new patients. Every year, there are millions of people who become eligible for Medicare for the first time in their lives and the majority of them need help with enrollment. Help that you can provide.

Knowing why open enrollment is important is one thing, but how do you reach such an expansive audience? Should you consider the television route or try something else? This is where so many factors play a role including your budget, getting quality content made, and much more. However, before you invest in anything, you need to do your research and figure out where the audience is and how best to reach them.

The Value Of Research

While there are more platforms and ways to advertise to an audience than ever before, it’s important that you understand what each one offers the user, how they use it, what they use it for and if it’s the right platform for you. For example, you notice that in your area, there is a way to target 100,000 people who are between the ages of 64 and 67 by using Facebook. That’s an incredible stat and the platform will offer you an affordable way to reach that audience. However, are they going to take an action from there because they saw your ad?

This is the challenge every marketer has to go through. What platforms give you easy, reliable traffic and what platforms get you results? The truth is that every company that advertises on Facebook or Google sees mixed results. It can be because of the quality of your content, the time you are running your ads, what you are offering or even your budget. Should you expect to get real attention from that same audience with a budget of $1,000 a month when your competition is spending ten times that each day?

Where Do Medicare Audiences Go For Info?

When we research where Medicare audiences go to get their open enrollment information, the interesting note is that they tend to go to a variety of platforms instead of just one. Each of these platforms are selected based on the interest users have in health insurance content, but may require a different approach than the other. However, that doesn’t mean one will work better than the other. The reality is it does come down to a variety of factors and trying multiple campaigns to discover which one works better.

• Google: The world’s largest search engine is still the first place people go for information about their health insurance, especially when it comes to open enrollment and specific changes. This platform is ideal for individuals and agencies in that it allows you to market in any capacity you see fit whether it’s free advertising with a business listing or by going the more expensive route by using SEO and PPC options.
• Social Media: Originally skeptical of these platforms, insurance agents are now seeing more and more interest from social media. However, in many forms, it’s not what they expected or they’ve had to go a different route. For example, with Facebook, a simple ad educating users on the fact that open enrollment is coming up and that you offer free advisement may get you some traction. However, those ads have been beaten plenty of times over with content that focuses on areas of concern for the audience including major changes, ways to save and so forth.
• YouTube: Everyone learns differently. Some can read a paragraph and know what to do while some may need a video. Content should be shared on as many platforms as possible if you are trying to educate people on something as important and widely researched as health insurance. Videos on this platform are easy to create because you do not have to invest money into production. People have built great audiences just by sitting at a desk and talking about the issues and posting that footage.
• Mailers: It seems that health insurance agencies do not want mailers to work anymore because of how expensive they have become. While that may be the case from a budget standpoint, the fact is that this strategy is still utilized because it still works. You can hit someone with a dozen ads in a single day about Medicare, but they will not pay attention to a single one. Then, as soon as they get home, they notice the mailer and call an agent.

Learning where and how to reach your audience is challenging. Some Medicare advisors love to use multiple outlets throughout the year. They find email is the best way to communicate with customers throughout the year but when open enrollment is upon us, they find that more aggressive options tend to work better. It’s understandable as you consider the fact that audiences are bombarded with ads to begin with and that becomes, even more, the case when we get to the end of the year.

Your budget will dictate many of your options but not all of them. Facebook, Google, YouTube and other platforms have all become extremely popular and charge plenty for the ability to advertise on their sites. However, what you have to understand is that each one of them still offers a way for you to utilize their platform for free and still generate interest. Do your homework on each one and learn how to manage your content as well.