Direct Mail Close Ratio

[jmarkk1]

I agree about the "hidden rate increase" with AARP....very true.

I think the biggest issue I have with the 20% goal is that I think it would be very easy to do this if client fits the MA market, but if they are looking at supps....it's going to be hard to place them with AARP or Anthem unless someone wants to buy a Plan N and wants AARP/Anthem name plan.

Plus, I've had a few appointments this week from these leads that have already bought a supp plan and just needed a PDP. (a med supp that I didnt' sell them....Mutual of Omaha isn't in my bag...)
So, I turn in the PDP sales and I get the "why didn't you sell a supp plan?" question....I don't think they want to count PDP sales towards that 20% goal.

 

[somarco]

AARP hides their rate increase as a "discount" that they take away each year for the first 10 years. When you factor that in I think they have some of the highest rate increases of all companies.

I have not found them competitive in GA. What kind of discounts do they give on the starting rate?

 

[jmarkk1]

I'm not sure on what that starting discount is because it's automatically applied to the rate sheet.

 

[somarco]

I think the biggest issue I have with the 20% goal is that I think it would be very easy to do this if client fits the MA market, but if they are looking at supps....it's going to be hard to place them with AARP or Anthem unless someone wants to buy a Plan N and wants AARP/Anthem name plan.

Plus, I've had a few appointments this week from these leads that have already bought a supp plan and just needed a PDP. (a med supp that I didnt' sell them....Mutual of Omaha isn't in my bag...)
So, I turn in the PDP sales and I get the "why didn't you sell a supp plan?" question....I don't think they want to count PDP sales towards that 20% goal.

Are you taking time to educate them on plan differences, ask questions, then listen to their response?

Sometimes folks are close minded. They think since they already bought that is it. They don't have to worry about it any more.

If you are doing a proper fact finding, and they feel comfortable with you, they will have told you they had plan F and the premium is $195.

If they have not told you the premium you can usually get it out of them by saying "Great! Surely you are not paying more than $160 (your premium) for that plan"

If they start to cough and sputter give them time to regroup then proceed to educate them on ways to save money.

Scott was the one that raised the AARP discount, but you addressed it. If you don't know the initial discount how do you know there is one?

 

[Frank Stastny]

I agree about the "hidden rate increase" with AARP....very true.

I think the biggest issue I have with the 20% goal is that I think it would be very easy to do this if client fits the MA market, but if they are looking at supps....it's going to be hard to place them with AARP or Anthem unless someone wants to buy a Plan N and wants AARP/Anthem name plan.

Plus, I've had a few appointments this week from these leads that have already bought a supp plan and just needed a PDP. (a med supp that I didnt' sell them....Mutual of Omaha isn't in my bag...)
So, I turn in the PDP sales and I get the "why didn't you sell a supp plan?" question....I don't think they want to count PDP sales towards that 20% goal.

I don't target T65, I focus on 67 to 78, people who already have a Med Supp. When talking to someone who currently has a Med Supp you first need to find out how much they are paying.

I'm going to make a WAG/EG that the majority of people who you are talking to that already have a Med Supp are going to have a Plan F. I would conservatively say that at least 85% of the people I talk to do.

I took a quick glance at some OH rates and it looks like the premium difference in a Plan G and a Plan F could be around $30 + per month. Possibly an even larger savings with a Plan D.

If you are selling them a PDP plan then the savings you can show them on the Med Supp could pay the cost of the PDP plan. They get a "free" PDP plan and you make commission and meet your 20%. Sounds like a hell of a deal to me.

That is more than enough money to show them that Plan G or Plan D is a better investment of their premium dollar than a Plan F. (Don't sell Plan F, agents like me will replace them in a heart beat, I have built my book of business replacing Plan F's.)

 

[Josh]

To take this in a slightly different direction, let rewrite parts of what you said into a single sentence.

"The agency I work for wants to get a good return on their investment and has set an arbitrary goal for me to reach even though we don't have contracts with the most competitive carriers and we're targeting a group that is inundated with marketing materials from every plan under the sun."

Yes, a long sentence, but I'm seeing some problems with your situation that might be setting you up to fail.

If you don't mind sharing, do you do other things for this agency or are you their "medicare department". If this is the only deal you have going with them, it might be time to reevaluate your employment situation. As an indy you'd be able to have control over all of the above, including being able to have control over your marketing pieces. I may very well be missing a piece of the puzzle or even most of the pieces, but there are a lot of agents that sign up to work under agencies that really don't provide much value. You may be in an entirely different situation, maybe this is just a bonus on top of all of the other work you're doing their, but if this is the only deal you have with them it sounds like you could do better.

 

[Chazm]

The clients that are 4/1 and 5/1 don't have Medicare A and B card yet, so they are not ready to meet.

I'm not sure they have time table for 20% to be hit.
I'm finding the biggest issue in getting 20% is that company doesn't have contracts with some of the better supps in our state and so aarp supp and anthem aren't always what client wants.(I have these to offer with company and I have one with Forethought that I got mainly to use in another state because company isn't licensed in that state...and forethought is pretty good in Ohio too)
The 20% would be realistic if company had more goodies in the bag to offer.

When I'm setting the appt I don't ask them if they have received their Medicare card yet. It doesn't matter, actually a lot of times it helps me when I get in the home because I will let them know when they should receive it OR how to sign up for it. I'm telling you're missing out on a lot of sales because you are calling people who have talked to many agents already.

I guess really, you don't care if their response ratio is high because you just have to close 20% of the cards that come in.
So my question is this, why don't you do this on your own, carry the better companies while getting more commissions?

 

[jmarkk1]

I was under the impression that I couldn't meet with people to discuss things until their "window" was open. I have since learned that this wasn't true. (this was the way it was communicated to me in training...maybe because the GA is MA focused...I'm not sure)
In regards to the value that I'm getting with current GA is that they do a good job with MA market and are willing to front DM leads.
Also, I am allowed to sell other products, etc. if they don't have those same contracts...but I'm guessing that selling a lot of PDP's isn't going to bode well in the long run with them.
Also, I've noticed that the DM leads that I've received after the AEP (still T65 leads) are more interested in med supps than the DM leads I received prior to the AEP.
It would be really easy to sell MA prospects with the products that I can offer and they'd be happy...but, for now, there seems to be a lot more people interested in Med Supps.

When I'm setting the appt I don't ask them if they have received their Medicare card yet. It doesn't matter, actually a lot of times it helps me when I get in the home because I will let them know when they should receive it OR how to sign up for it. I'm telling you're missing out on a lot of sales because you are calling people who have talked to many agents already.

I guess really, you don't care if their response ratio is high because you just have to close 20% of the cards that come in.
So my question is this, why don't you do this on your own, carry the better companies while getting more commissions?

 

[Frank Stastny]

I was under the impression that I couldn't meet with people to discuss things until their "window" was open.

You can write a Med Supp on someone at age 64 1/2. You can date the application up to six months prior to the month in which they turn 65. They don't have to have their Medicare ID card when you write the app. You can provide the company with that information at a later date.

Chazm's question to you, "why don't you do this on your own, carry the better companies while getting more commissions?" is spot on.

You are walking away from a lot of business and much better commission rates.

It also sounds like you need to do your own research and learn what you can actually do when working with seniors. The information you are being given doesn't sound accurate.

 

[Midlevel]

Frank,

Do you write PDP's before they have their card or do you wait on those? What I have been doing is writing the Med Sup and then when I deliver their policy we sign up for a PDP. I'm afraid the PDP company will reject it if they don't show them on Medicare A & B yet even if it is only like 2 months before their effective date. If they aren't drawing S.S. and haven't signed up for Part B yet I always think I should wait until they have received notification letter from Medicare that they are signed up before I send in the PDP application.