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.