26 Sep 2007
The Secret of Success in the Senior Market
For Agents Information Only
Recently we had a teleseminar where we shared what's made us so successful in the senior market for the last 25 years.
- Was it the pricing of plans? Well, NO! Actually our Supplements are NOT the cheapest around - they're somewhere in the middle!
- Was it buying leads? NOPE! But there were sure a lot of referrals from existing HAPPY customers.
- Was it Was it a marketing strategy? NOO!
- Was it technical knowledge of Medicare? NO - but that does help
So what was the Mystery?
In a word - Hand-Holding
Remember sales, especially of intangible items like insurance, is a "People Business." People buy from (and refer their family and friends to) brokers THEY LIKE more than any other reason. No where is this more true than the Senior Market. Seniors are careful about who they do business with but once they like you and do business with you they are usually very, very loyal customers. They brag about you to their family and friends and rub it in when they don't have a "bro-kare" like theirs.
Here's what we've done to cement our relationships with our seniors clients. This is why we have one of the highest retention rates with our Medicare Supplemental carrier.
Comunication
We set up our 800 number that they can call to ask questions. If we're not there they can leave a message and know that someone will call them back. Many times these "calls" are really just excuses to speak with someone and "vent." That's ok with us. We know that this builds our relationship and keeps them on our client list longer. Other times they call to check claims status. No problem since we are tied into the company's on-line claim screen. We can let them know if a claim was processed, who it was paid to, the date, the check number etc. etc.
You can't imagine the sigh of relief we hear on the other end of the phone when we tell them......"Don't worry about it, call us anytime you have questions, we'll be glad to help."
Accessibility
Our Post-Paid envelopes. Don't laugh! You would think these were printed with gold ink on silk paper! Seniors absolutely love mailing things, all types of things, to us on our dime! That's ok too! We know this is another brick in the retention rate wall. We get calls and little notes every day requesting another supply of envelopes. They will call us while reading a dunning notice and you can't imagine the sigh of relief we hear on the other end of the phone when we tell them...."Don't worry about, it just send it in and we'll take care of it."
A Helping Hand
Willingness to call their doctors and hospitals to straighten out billing messes. Whenever we can, whenever the providers will cooperate with us, we call to straighten out billing snafoos for our seniors. We also write to Medicare on their behalf to order duplicate statements.
You can't imagine the sigh of relief we hear on the other end of the phone when we tell them......"Don't worry about it we will call them and straighten it out."
Those seven little magic words!
Bottom line: Medicare, Doctors, Hospitals, Billing Departments, pharmacies......it's all a confusing quagmire for anyone, much less seniors, to figure out. "Don't worry, we'll take care of it!" Those 7 little words seniors love to hear!
What's that mean for you?
Well, you could go get an 800 number. You could go to the post office and set up a "postage due" account. You could sit in your office all day waiting for your clients to call. I don't have a problem with that. But let me ask you a question. What do you do for a living? How do you earn your income? I'm pretty sure the answer is commissions. If that be true, then sitting in your office doing service work is not necessarily the highest and best use of your time. Granted the service is very important to keep your clients and get referrals but why not let us do it for you?
You can tell your prospects and clients that you have an A+ rated (AM Best) insurance company that's been at it for over 25 years PLUS an A+ Agency that has been servicing seniors for 25 years as well. It's a win-win for you, for them and for us. We're set up for this, we're geared to help seniors, we've been refining it for 25 years. So free up your schedule to go do what you do (make more sales) and let us be your back office staff.
HOW?
Get your initial Medicare Supplement Kit today.
Complete with rates, brochures, outline of coverage, a power point presentation, licensing and more!
Todd Concklin
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