Why should I let you help me?

[somarco]

You should ALWAYS sell yourself, not your product. You are unique, your product is not.

You probably lost control by not including the wife from the start. If I had to guess, your "pitch" was direct to the man and you never included her.

Your pitch should ALWAYS start with a fact find . . . ask questions of both of them and take notes.

How long have you been looking for Medicare information? How many people have you talked to? Why are you still looking? What questions do you have that still need answers?

If you don't like that approach, do what I do.

Tell me what you understand about Medicare . . .

They will rattle on for about 30 seconds and then stop. Invariably there are at least one or two things they go wrong. Don't interrupt them, let them continue and then point out things they clearly got right and the few things they missed.

In just a few minutes you have established credibility and demonstrated that you want to help them, not sell them a product and move on.

Ask the wife if she has a particular SHIP counselor in mind, or if she will talk to anyone who answers the phone.

When she goes to a hair salon, does she make an appointment with a specific stylist or just walk in and take the first one available?

Something you did or said allowed the wife to challenge you.

If you want to diffuse the SHIP excuse she needs to understand when she has questions she will talk to a different person each time she calls in. Same thing if they do direct to the carrier.

If your prospect is OK with talking to a different person each time, you are probably not going to make a sale.

YOU take control by asking questions, not by delivering a sales pitch.

 

[Fisher]

Tell me what you understand about Medicare . . .

That is very good and better worded than what I typically lead with. I am poaching it. Thanks for the nugget, sir!

 

[Lloyds of Lubbock]

"Act as if you couldn't care less which way they decide and mean it."
People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.
If you came to my house with that attitude, it would be a very short meeting.

 

[mmike160]

Here's my Google reviews. Make her read what my client's are saying. Okay, now let's look at SHIP (nothing). Do you want to work with a vetted professional or a volunteer?

 

[straightnochaser]

I had someone ask me that once, I just said "would you let a dental hygienist do your root canal?" and we moved on.

 

[rmhaire]

If you're trying to sell a Medicare policy then most likely you're talking to a Baby Boomer and they think different than younger couples.

Never talk down to or ignore the wife. 9 times out of 10 she's the one that writes the checks.

Sell the wife and hubby will tag along.

 

[somarco]

Never talk down to or ignore the wife. 9 times out of 10 she's the one that writes the checks.

Sell the wife and hubby will tag along.

In most cases, this is correct, the wife is the CFO and never forget that.

 

[WinoBlues]

This thread is a good read.
It would fit equally well re Traditional Life meetings.

 

[CaptainPlanet]

As opposed to starting a new thread, I feel like this is a good thread to ask how do you all go about servicing the client when they have a billing/claim issue? Do you contact member services on their behalf or do you step in after they've talked to someone at member services and need to escalate an issue...

 

[somarco]

how do you all go about servicing the client when they have a billing/claim issue? Do you contact member services on their behalf or do you step in after they've talked to someone at member services and need to escalate an issue...

I do as much as I can, depending on the situation and the carrier.

Many of the things I used to do involving claims and underwriting were handled direct with the carrier (no intermediary) can no longer be done by the agent due to HIPAA rules.

For some things I go through agent services which can be hit or miss depending on the carrier. For the most part I don't have reps since I contract direct with the carrier.

When they have a situation that needs immediate attention I am their "coach" and give them specific detail about how to handle the situation themselves. This would be for problems with Medicare or SSA for example.

Recently I had to run interference on a situation where a rogue agent decided to switch my client from her Medigap PDP to a Medicare Advantage. I told her how to get the MBO involved to intercede on her behalf.