Door knocking final expense/medicare cross sell

[Richard Martinez]

I am a new agent to both the life and health field.

Does anyone know if it is compliant to knock on someone's door to talk about final expense, and then give them a business card that says you sell Final expense, Medicare advantage, Medicare supplement, and Rx drug plans?

my card simply lists that those are some of the products I sell. It does not list any of the carriers I sell for.

Also, I am aware that I cannot cross sell right there on the spot if the customer is interested, I would have to come back another day.

Technically I am not door knocking to talk about Medicare, but if the customer sees that I sell Medicare products on my card, then they can ask me about it and I can set up a scope of appointment if they are interested, right?

Again, I would not even mention anything about Medicare while door knocking, but if no one is home, can I leave a business card like the one described above?

Also, can I do the same thing with local businesses and leave the above mentioned card with them to display?

I could not for the life of me find an answer to this on CMS.gov.

All it says is that you cannot door knock for Medicare and you cannot leave marketing materials at their door.

Also, what if I instead wrote that I sell final expense and health insurance on the card, and didn't mention med advantage, supplement, or drug plans?

I can't help it if the customer asks me if I also sell Medicare, even if I don't have that on my business card.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[goillini52]

I am a new agent to both the life and health field.

Does anyone know if it is compliant to knock on someone's door to talk about final expense, and then give them a business card that says you sell Final expense, Medicare advantage, Medicare supplement, and Rx drug plans?

my card simply lists that those are some of the products I sell. It does not list any of the carriers I sell for.

Also, I am aware that I cannot cross sell right there on the spot if the customer is interested, I would have to come back another day.

Technically I am not door knocking to talk about Medicare, but if the customer sees that I sell Medicare products on my card, then they can ask me about it and I can set up a scope of appointment if they are interested, right?

Again, I would not even mention anything about Medicare while door knocking, but if no one is home, can I leave a business card like the one described above?

Also, can I do the same thing with local businesses and leave the above mentioned card with them to display?

I could not for the life of me find an answer to this on CMS.gov.

All it says is that you cannot door knock for Medicare and you cannot leave marketing materials at their door.

Also, what if I instead wrote that I sell final expense and health insurance on the card, and didn't mention med advantage, supplement, or drug plans?

I can't help it if the customer asks me if I also sell Medicare, even if I don't have that on my business card.

Thanks for any advice.

You can door knock for Medicare Supplements.

 

[DonP]

I am a new agent to both the life and health field.

Does anyone know if it is compliant to knock on someone's door to talk about final expense, and then give them a business card that says you sell Final expense, Medicare advantage, Medicare supplement, and Rx drug plans?

my card simply lists that those are some of the products I sell. It does not list any of the carriers I sell for.

Also, I am aware that I cannot cross sell right there on the spot if the customer is interested, I would have to come back another day.

Technically I am not door knocking to talk about Medicare, but if the customer sees that I sell Medicare products on my card, then they can ask me about it and I can set up a scope of appointment if they are interested, right?

Again, I would not even mention anything about Medicare while door knocking, but if no one is home, can I leave a business card like the one described above?

Also, can I do the same thing with local businesses and leave the above mentioned card with them to display?

I could not for the life of me find an answer to this on CMS.gov.

All it says is that you cannot door knock for Medicare and you cannot leave marketing materials at their door.

Also, what if I instead wrote that I sell final expense and health insurance on the card, and didn't mention med advantage, supplement, or drug plans?

I can't help it if the customer asks me if I also sell Medicare, even if I don't have that on my business card.

Thanks for any advice.

The card you leave is irrelevant what’s in it . Leaving business card is waste of time . Are you just cold knocking a list of people are knocking leads ? Cold knocking a list tough way to make a living .What you must be careful about even if your cold knocking for fe and you happen to sell a mapd . If you replace anagent and they file a complaint your cooked . You have no lead and even if it’s a fe lead it looks like bait and switch . My advice never replace a mapd if they have an active agent .

 

[Richard Martinez]

The card you leave is irrelevant what’s in it . Leaving business card is waste of time . Are you just cold knocking a list of people are knocking leads ? Cold knocking a list tough way to make a living .What you must be careful about even if your cold knocking for fe and you happen to sell a mapd . If you replace anagent and they file a complaint your cooked . You have no lead and even if it’s a fe lead it looks like bait and switch . My advice never replace a mapd if they have an active agent .

I will take this advice and only cross sell if the person does not have an agent already.
On the other hand, it seems crazy that I can get in trouble for selling somebody a service if they inquired about the service originally. I would be able to prove that the customer was a current client of mine and thus wouldn't I be allowed to ask them about Medicare? Now If they aren't a client of mine and I end up selling them a Medicare plan, then I would really have to work hard to prove I didn't door knock them for Medicare... But stealing a client from another agent isn't illegal, is it?

 

[rmhaire]

If you're going to door knock, you need to realize that you have one objective ... get in the door. Everything else can fall into place.

It's quite simple. Lead with FE and Medicare Supplements. CMS does not regulate supplements. Your state does. However, there are two exceptions to this. Ohio does not allow door knocking for supplements and UHC does not allow door knocking for supplements.

If someone brings up Medicare Advantage, simply explain CMS's bull shit rule and get a scope signed. Make an appointment for 48 hours later. They'll either answer the door in 48 hours or they won't.

As for business cards, leave them. It can't hurt. But if you're big on leaving something behind I'd recommend a tri-fold brochure that talks about you and what you do. No rules against that. You can get these printed at Office Depot. Much better than a business card.

But again, you're main objective is still getting inside the door.

 

[DonP]

If you're going to door knock, you need to realize that you have one objective ... get in the door. Everything else can fall into place.

It's quite simple. Lead with FE and Medicare Supplements. CMS does not regulate supplements. Your state does. However, there are two exceptions to this. Ohio does not allow door knocking for supplements and UHC does not allow door knocking for supplements.

If someone brings up Medicare Advantage, simply explain CMS's bull shit rule and get a scope signed. Make an appointment for 48 hours later. They'll either answer the door in 48 hours or they won't.

As for business cards, leave them. It can't hurt. But if you're big on leaving something behind I'd recommend a tri-fold brochure that talks about you and what you do. No rules against that. You can get these printed at Office Depot. Much better than a business card.

But again, you're main objective is still getting inside the door.

But if he sells a mapd even off a fe lead with a door knock and a agent turns him in it’s trouble . He’s not allowed to door knock any mapd sale with any lead . Try explaining to a carrier on a complaint “ I was there for fe and she asked me about mapd . They’ll say that’s bait and switch . “ . If you never get a complaint it means nothing . Again “ I was door knocking for med sup and she asked me about mapd . Again bait and switch . If they say that’s ok then anyone can cold knock everybody and use that as excuse. The carrier say you should have never been a position to sell mapd and you should have walked . 100-1 says carrier will say this is founded complaint .

 

[axeman462]

Cold calling/door knocking for one product with the intent to cross sell/pivot to MAPD is not compliant. Pretty sure AHIP even addresses this somewhere in their 142 hr long course...

..that being said, it happens all the time.

 

[goillini52]

But if he sells a mapd even off a fe lead with a door knock and a agent turns him in it’s trouble . He’s not allowed to door knock any mapd sale with any lead . Try explaining to a carrier on a complaint “ I was there for fe and she asked me about mapd . They’ll say that’s bait and switch . “ . If you never get a complaint it means nothing . Again “ I was door knocking for med sup and she asked me about mapd . Again bait and switch . If they say that’s ok then anyone can cold knock everybody and use that as excuse. The carrier say you should have never been a position to sell mapd and you should have walked . 100-1 says carrier will say this is founded complaint .

I'll take that chance.

 

[rmhaire]

Cold calling/door knocking for one product with the intent to cross sell/pivot to MAPD is not compliant. Pretty sure AHIP even addresses this somewhere in their 142 hr long course...

..that being said, it happens all the time.

And that's why I said lead with FE and Supplements. I wouldn't even mention MA.

But that's not how door knocking works. Going to be pretty damn rare if someone starts asking you about all the different types of insurance you sell. If they open the door at all, they're busy trying to get rid off you. Not buy something from you.

And yes, AHIP mentions it. So do several of the Companies. And yes, it's non-compliant. So why do it?

Simply stick to door knocking with FE and/or Supplements and you'll be fine. All of this other fluffy stuff just show's you're not a door knocker.

 

[rmhaire]

I will take this advice and only cross sell if the person does not have an agent already.

You must want to starve to death. Everybody has an agent somewhere.

First of all, if you're serious about door knocking you're in the wrong forum. You need to be over in the FE forum. That's where all the door knockers are posting. Ain't none of these pecker heads out there door knocking.

And forget about cross selling until you get in the door. That's your first job. You'll have plenty of time to cross sell later.