Cross Selling to my Medicare Clients

srock

New Member
I'm a 24 year old insurance agent and I currently average around 10 to 20 appointments a week to sell Medicare Supplement Insurance to retiree's in my area. I want to start cross selling more but I haven't found a process that takes my appointments from the client purchasing the right Medicare Supplement Insurance policy, compared to a meeting that leads to life insurance, investments, LTC, etc. along with the Medicare Supplement sale. I feel my process for selling Medicare Supplements is very good and my clients seem to be very happy but, I need to figure out a better process to earn those cross selling numbers. I have a lot of individuals that are high net worth but I can't find a process or a fact finder that shows them that I don't only do Medicare Supplement Insurance without just telling them that I do more. Anyone have anything that has worked for them? It's stressful seeing money walk out the door and I need to try something new. I've obviously read multiple books on questions to ask which creates good conversation but doesn't seal the deal for me. Any handouts or processes that work would be much appreciated. PLEASE HELP! I want to work smarter compared to harder!
 
I have been doing this for 30 years starting out in medicare like you when I was 23. I always ask the question " are you happy with the rate of return you are getting on your money in the bank" they will say no and the door is now open.

As far as showing them what else you do get a brochure showing all your services and products you offer. As for the fact finder I would not use it. I know home offices think they work and are professional but in reality they don't.

If you start getting into the investment business make sure whatever you put them in takes additional deposits because they NEVER give you everything and you don't want to be starting new investments every few years. Also if you sell them an annuity make sure you talk to them about the tax consequences they cause upon withdrawal and death.
 
I'm a 24 year old insurance agent and I currently average around 10 to 20 appointments a week to sell Medicare Supplement Insurance to retiree's in my area. I want to start cross selling more but I haven't found a process that takes my appointments from the client purchasing the right Medicare Supplement Insurance policy, compared to a meeting that leads to life insurance, investments, LTC, etc. along with the Medicare Supplement sale. I feel my process for selling Medicare Supplements is very good and my clients seem to be very happy but, I need to figure out a better process to earn those cross selling numbers. I have a lot of individuals that are high net worth but I can't find a process or a fact finder that shows them that I don't only do Medicare Supplement Insurance without just telling them that I do more. Anyone have anything that has worked for them? It's stressful seeing money walk out the door and I need to try something new. I've obviously read multiple books on questions to ask which creates good conversation but doesn't seal the deal for me. Any handouts or processes that work would be much appreciated. PLEASE HELP! I want to work smarter compared to harder!


I am securities licensed and a good deal of my assets under management come from clients that were originally referred to me for Medicare planning.

The first thing that you need to do is become sharp , study. Be able to explain to people the difference between a qualified and non qualified account, how distributions are taxed, etc. Learn Social Security inside and out. Be able to illustrate financial concepts on a spreadsheet or a napkin.

I would even recommend getting your 65 if you are really committed to doing more than Medicare.

Here are a few things that I do.

1. When I introduce myself, I detail the many ways that I help clients, and how Medicare and healthcare costs fit into that picture. I'm not just the Medicare guy.This leads them to think of questions that they want to ask me outside of Medicare.

2. During the Part A section of my "Medicare 101" session, after explaining skilled nursing, I make sure to note that Medicare does not cover long term care, or custodial care. This often leads to a conversation about long term care Medicaid, and partnership programs, which leads to a conversation about assets.

3. If they have an IRA (usually with Ed Jones here in Arkansas) and mention their advisor by name, I usually lay off and just take the Medicare Supplement order. If they have an IRA and don't mention their advisor by name, I dig deeper.

4. I like to ask "light touch" questions that aren't meant to paint people into a corner, but do start the right conversation: Where did you work? Where you able to save into your companies 401k while you were working? Are you currently taking distributions from an 401k or IRA? Do you plan to in the future? ?
 
If you don't want to go the investments route, you might also ask about Life Insurance. When was the last time you looked at your Life Insurance policy? Offer policy reviews. Many times you might find it has lapsed, there isn't as much as they thought (they had it at work) or their is a high cash value, and you can 1035 into a new policy for higher death benefit or life w/ LTC benefits.
 
I'm a 24 year old insurance agent and I currently average around 10 to 20 appointments a week to sell Medicare Supplement Insurance to retiree's in my area. I want to start cross selling more but I haven't found a process that takes my appointments from the client purchasing the right Medicare Supplement Insurance policy, compared to a meeting that leads to life insurance, investments, LTC, etc. along with the Medicare Supplement sale. I feel my process for selling Medicare Supplements is very good and my clients seem to be very happy but, I need to figure out a better process to earn those cross selling numbers. I have a lot of individuals that are high net worth but I can't find a process or a fact finder that shows them that I don't only do Medicare Supplement Insurance without just telling them that I do more. Anyone have anything that has worked for them? It's stressful seeing money walk out the door and I need to try something new. I've obviously read multiple books on questions to ask which creates good conversation but doesn't seal the deal for me. Any handouts or processes that work would be much appreciated. PLEASE HELP! I want to work smarter compared to harder!


Easiest cross sell to Medicare supplements is FE.

Just ask who they have their life insurance with. You have already saved them money on their med sup.

And beware of the desk jockeys that tell you about all the cross selling they did back in the day. They are FOS. :yes:
 
I also sell a ton to people who only call me for medicare/med supplements. Good life insurance agents/financial advisors don't leave open doors for other agents to come in through the door. So if they are already meeting you, good chance they dont have a perfect advisor. You are already past the door.
One easy strategy is not to anything in the 1st year, you are 24, keep building your book. Try going deeper in the 2nd year when you meet again for review. If you have 500 medicare supplement clients in 5 years, it will be so easy to sell 20 annuities and 20 life policies per year by just doing annual reviews.

Sometimes I ask Do you know how much of your life insurance is available for critical illness. They don't know in almost 99% of cases. Does your financial advisor have a copy of your health care proxies? Again loaded question trying to probe strength of other advisors.

If I hear they have Edward Jones, I am thrilled. EJ is fine company, but they charge a lot for expenses. I would ask if they know how much they are paying for fees to their advisor. If they have somewhat of an idea what their advisor makes and they are happy with him, I would leave it, anything else is a fair game. In my mind, I am trying to save them fees on their investments, so that they could get med supplements for free.

By the way, anytime I hear, I already have a financial advisor at blablabla, it means they have money. Bingo number 1. You are already past the door, Bingo 2. If they like and you could position yourself beyond a med supplement product salesperson, now you get super Bingo.
 
I agree with all of the above comments, very good and applicable advice.
We specialize in Medicare Supplements and offer Final Expense as a full circle.
I suggest since this is a fact gathering and relation building appointment. You should make them aware that you can offer competitive FE policies to them. The first step is to offer the review and actually show the numbers to their favor if the numbers are not to there favor then you have confirmed your honesty and complement them on a decision well done in the past and they will have confidence in your expertise. Good luck.
 
One easy strategy is not to anything in the 1st year, you are 24, keep building your book. Try going deeper in the 2nd year when you meet again for review. If you have 500 medicare supplement clients in 5 years, it will be so easy to sell 20 annuities and 20 life policies per year by just doing annual reviews.

^^^^ This is some terrific advice in my opinion. I have spoken with several agents who targeted annuities/investments with success after the '1 year' mark.

Once you have a group of 100+ clients on the books (growing your B.O.B. should be your number 1 priority when you are getting started), think in terms of "cross-marketing" instead of "cross-selling".

If you plant the seeds in the first meeting that you do more than just Medicare Supplements, when it comes up later it will usually click with some of your clients. "Oh, I remember you mentioning life insurance last time we spoke."

Monthly (or quarterly if you are just getting started) newsletters (snail mail or email) is an excellent way to stay in contact and bring up these other services without pushing too hard. You can have a "theme" with each month where you highlight a specific service that you offer (Final Expense/Life Insurance, LTC/STC, Annuities/Investments, etc.).

In chapter 8, I cover cross-selling in my book "How to Qualify, Present, & Sell Final Expense and Medicare Supplements to Seniors".
 
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