Medicare Cold Calling Target Goals

[Josh]

With tons of agents looking at getting into selling Medicare supplements and with even more Medicare agents looking for more marketing methods cold calling comes up.

A questions was asked by defenderzeta

If I am calling a DNC scrubbed list of t-65 and 65+ prospects with income qualifiers, what is a reasonable lead to sales over the phone appointment goal using the approach Chris Westfell has on his website?

If I buy 1,000 or 10,000 phone records what is a reasonable expectation of return?

Results will vary by area and closing rates have a wide swing too. If you're calling in areas with relatively high numbers of folks on supps and the plan everyone has is relatively high because you have a more competitive carrier, obviously you'll do better than if you're calling through areas rich with retiree insurance and Medicare Advantage plans.

If you call folks using the following approach, you'll generally get 1%-3% to move forward positively.

Hi, how are you doing today?
I'm glad/sad to hear that. I'm calling you today because I'm helping folks save hundreds of dollars on their Medicare. Would you like to find out how much I can help you save?

If you're using a telemarketer your approach could look a lot more like this:

Hi, how are you doing today?
I'm glad/sorry to hear that.
I'm calling you today because we're helping seniors save hundreds of dollars on their Medicare and get better coverage, would you like to find out how much we can help you save?

(if yes)

Great! We're an independent insurance agency which means we work with many carriers to get you the best rate and the best product for your needs. Do you know who you are currently with? Do you know what you're currently paying? Great, thanks for sharing that (if they don't, that's fine). Is this usually a good time to reach you? Excellent, I'll have the agent give you a call tomorrow at around this time. I'll pass along your information so he can do a little research before he calls you back. If he can't reach you here, would there be another number he should try? One last thing, your confirmation code is xj9 (or whatever).

Thank you for your time and we look forward to helping you.

This can all be super regional. In some areas people might just be non-responsive and in others it could be rich with retiree benefits or MA plans. On the other hand, if you're in an area saturated with folks on Med supps that have had significant rate increases and you have a good portfolio to help them get in better products, you can knock it out of the park. One gentleman that has since passed away (Frank Stastny) made a habit of trying to get their carrier and permission to call them back if there is a rate increase, even if they weren't interested at the time. He would keep notes and if he caught wind of significant rate increases he had a hot prospect list of folks he already knew had carriers with rate increases.

 

[defenderzeta]

Typically if a agent using a 2 or 3 line dialer is grinding a good list, whats a reasonable expectation of closed deals in a 40-60 hour grind (ive been doing cold calling for 15 years, I have stamina )

 

[Josh]

Typically if a agent using a 2 or 3 line dialer is grinding a good list, whats a reasonable expectation of closed deals in a 40-60 hour grind (ive been doing cold calling for 15 years, I have stamina )

That's really going to depend on the area/agent. I'm sure active producers can give you a better idea on the conversion ratio, but you should be able to generate about at least one hot lead per hour.

It's also important to consider that if you're using a dialer you cannot call cell phones. Because of the way lists get compiled cell phone numbers routinely find their way in the mix. Of course, the chance of you getting in trouble is fairly low, but it's certainly something to be mindful of.