Scroll down for a discussion on Individual health insurance marketing within the Individual Health Insurance Forum.
The states in general cannot control association coverage. And unfortunately judges have upheld that it's the responsiblity of the client to review what they bought ...
The states in general cannot control association coverage. And unfortunately judges have upheld that it's the responsiblity of the client to review what they bought during the 10 day free look. If you accept it after the free look bascially you assume all the risks.
"I purposely give up quickly. When I get "call me tomorrow at 2pm" I'll call at at time. If they answer and say "bad time, call me in two more days" I'm done. A couple years ago I'd hang in there. Now I just put a big fat black line through my spreadsheet and move on.
The bottom line is I like this job better when I generate a ton of leads and only work with people who appreciative of my services. Instead of prospects being in control of me, I'm in control:"
John, I agree with you. There are too many people out there who need and want our services. Playing ping pong with those who don't is a waste of time. It's nice to see someone who maintains a sense of humor, when dealing with these people.
My response is: "I can't call you back then, the warden only allows me to use the phone on Mondays." This usually illicits a "What?" response. Then I say, "Yeah, sounds like nothing more than a brush off, doesn't it?"
The truth is, if you walk into someone's office, or call them on the phone when noone else is, you are more likely to get information and build a relationship. I was cold calling one day (a topic that gets bad press - I personally enjoy contacting new people), and called on an Attorney. He told me that his practice had health coverage, but he was not happy with it. The problem being, the only time he felt pain was the one day a month he had to write a check.
I called him back, once every three months. The third time, he told me to come in and talk to him. He has been one of my best clients for the past three years, and I have received a handful of leads from him since.
I didn't send him a postcard, didn't send him a letter. Just picked up the phone, which is free, every three months.
The only other way that I market health insurance, other than door to door or telemarketing, is by using Constant Contact. As long as I stay under my alloted contact number, it's free.
As I said before, I don't buy leads and I don't hire Telemarketers. The reasons have been stated in other forums, by other agents, as to why these two forms don't provide the response you desire.
I also can't stress enough that joining a leads club is an utter waste of time for the Health/Life Agent. The only leads you will get are the Diabetic, or Heart Surgery person. Or, you get someone who has already purchased a plan through the internet, and they want you to explain it to them.
PowerCore and BNI are the two biggies, here in Atlanta. Wasted alot of time, and almost went broke, paying the dues for each club, when I got into the business. I came to the realization that they've already built a relationship with another agent, and THAT agent was getting the healthy leads, and I was getting the "leftovers". You also have to remember, as long as they give me a "lead", it counts for them.
For me, it's a three-prong attack: Telemarketing, Door-to-Door, and Referrals. That way, any business is a 100% profit for me.
One way that has gotten me alot of STM business: I am lead facilitator for a Job Networking Group. These are all unemployed people, who are either on COBRA, or no longer have benefits. That also costs me nothing, and I become a trusted advisor.
Health insurance is a great door opener, but you should never spend too much time, or money, with someone who won't even talk health with you. Move on.
Health insurance agents need to realize that at a 20% contract level your average commish is $700 ($3,500 AV.) Just two deals a week is $72,000 a year. Even if it took you eight solid hours a day to get those two deals a week I assure you that other sales professionals are logging in 60 hour weeks and running all over their state for less pay.
My response is: "I can't call you back then, the warden only allows me to use the phone on Mondays." This usually illicits a "What?" response. Then I say, "Yeah, sounds like nothing more than a brush off, doesn't it?"
Nice.....
As I said before, I don't buy leads and I don't hire Telemarketers. The reasons have been stated in other forums, by other agents, as to why these two forms don't provide the response you desire.
Would you be kind enough to elaborate on the cons of hiring telemarketers? Besides having to mass hire telemarketers, I have not had any other issues as of yet.
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[COLOR=#000066]"Tell me and I will forget. Show me and I will remember. Involve me and I will understand." Confucius
It was stated by another agent that no one puts the care into your phone calls better than you. While there are many phenominal telemarketers out there, and I'm sure there are, you are relying on someone else to set the appointment for you. That means that, perhaps, the qualification aspect suffers, or the person being called gets confused that you are coming, since they spoke to someone else, and not you.
Personally, I'm a bit of a control freak. I like to be in complete control, when it comes to prospecting and appointments. If I am on the phone with them, during the initial call, then I can get a feel for their personality, and what their "hot buttons" may be. That way, when I meet them, it isn't the first time they have spoken to me.
Let me ask you a question, would you put more pride into something that has your name on it, or someone else's. If it's the latter, then everyone would be working for someone else, and our industry would not be frought with sole proprietors.
My guess (and maybe I'm taking a leap) is that most of us here got into this business for ourselves, to show our clients and prospects what WE could do for them. What they would get out of hiring US, individually vs. going elsewhere.
It was stated by another agent that no one puts the care into your phone calls better than you. While there are many phenominal telemarketers out there, and I'm sure there are, you are relying on someone else to set the appointment for you.
Well put, but I cannot generate the number of leads I want myself.
That means that, perhaps, the qualification aspect suffers, or the person being called gets confused that you are coming, since they spoke to someone else, and not you.
I only give the option for me to see the client if they want to fill out an application versus fax or the internet, so I am not concerned about them seeing me. I am only concerned about the time/day we set to discuss their options and complete an application if warranted.
Personally, I'm a bit of a control freak. I like to be in complete control, when it comes to prospecting and appointments. If I am on the phone with them, during the initial call, then I can get a feel for their personality, and what their "hot buttons" may be. That way, when I meet them, it isn't the first time they have spoken to me.
I either generate my own leads or follow-up after a telemarking lead to qualify and it has been working well so far.
Let me ask you a question, would you put more pride into something that has your name on it, or someone else's. If it's the latter, then everyone would be working for someone else, and our industry would not be frought with sole proprietors.
Exactly the reason why my telemarketers do not go into to much detail qualifying. The whole job is to generate the minimal level of interest and I take care of the rest. My thought is this, "My telemarketers do not pressure ANYBODY, so if a prospective client has interest I am going to find out what interests them the most and go from there with one simple question." What interests you the most about receiving information from my company regarding the latest health insurance plans? Then I immediately send them information and schedule a follow-up time to go over things with them. Of course, there are a lot more qualifying questions, but this approach simplifies things for everybody involved.
My guess (and maybe I'm taking a leap) is that most of us here got into this business for ourselves, to show our clients and prospects what WE could do for them.
Exactly my thoughts on the approach I currently use to generate leads and keep clients on the books.
It was stated by another agent that no one puts the care into your phone calls better than you. While there are many phenominal telemarketers out there, and I'm sure there are, you are relying on someone else to set the appointment for you. That means that, perhaps, the qualification aspect suffers, or the person being called gets confused that you are coming, since they spoke to someone else, and not you.
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That's a nice theory but I like to work at least 8 leads a day. I get 2 leads per hour when I'm on the phone which means 4 hours a day of marketing which I don't have. I have to farm it out.
Does it matter? I'm now paying telemarketers a flat $12 an hour and they generate 2 leads per hour. I'll take all the exclusive $6 leads anyone wants to throw at me.
So is my time better spent - 3 or 4 hours a day, trying to find interested prospects or is my time better spent contacting prospects who have already conveyed interest?
If I'm telemarketing I'm generating two leads per hour - that's two people per hour who convey interest in getting quotes. Doesn't mean they health qualify, will actually purchase, or I can even offer them a better deal. And you're not gonna go over all of that on the initial call with most people - guaranteed.
If anyone has found something where you're only dealing with health qualified leads who are ready to purchase then please let me know your secret.
To me it's all about just contacting people who have at least conveyed interest in quotes. Many won't health qualify, I can't beat what they have now, or they simply aren't buyers.
Another factor is enjoyment of what you do. I don't enjoy cold calling half the day - I did it for a long time and I'm over it. I'd obviously much rather call on people who have not only conveyed interest, but know I'll be calling. Part of my script is "....the owner, John Petrowski, will follow up with you to go over the information." If they don't agree to that it's not a lead and my marketers don't send me the info. They do indeed run across prospects who will say "You can send me the information but I don't want anyone contacting me." That junk and I don't deal with that.
Well I think another important part of marketing health insurance is demographics. We cater mainly to the Asian American Market and people know us as such since more of our agents are Asian Americans. This forms a stronger bond between customer and agent since they would share a cultural understanding of a certain lifestyle, diet, habit, etc.
Re: Individual health insurance marketingGo to Top
Hi guru, the topic itself is wonderful and showing the use. now a days marketing is done through various methods to improve their business. but here in your post you would have beautifully explained how to do simple insurance business.but collecting the database and hiring the telemarketer for insurance business is good idea of making our work simple and easier. i wont agree to your topic that marketing sounds cool but doesn't work we can also try for it some how it definetly helps in its own way to improve our business.
Re: Individual health insurance marketingGo to Top
Well, I guess John should now post yet another thread that is somewhat revised! I'm feeling pretty vindicated in some way as I occassionally check in on his blog! Seems as all those crazy ideas I brought up like local networking is now working for him!
As in things that may work now?
MARKETING THAT SOUNDS COOL BUT DOESN'T WORK [COLOR=red](should read things that might just work after all?)[/COLOR]
1) Postcard mailers Expensive and low return. 40 cents a pop and mail 1,000 at a cost of $400. Return is .05% or 5 leads. That's $80 a lead and you might not close any of those 5 leads. Or you might close one but it's a low individual premium that doesn't even earn you $400 in commish.
2) Ads in local publications Failed concept. Small ads that are inexpensive and don't get hardly any return. Quarter page or larger ads are expensive and the majority of your calls with be from broke or uninsurable people. Only works well on a large scale - thousands of dollars.
3) Friends and family then expand off referrals This is the MLM mentality - you sell a friend, get 5 referrals then each one of them give you 5 referrals and after a while you have hundreds of people to call. Ummmm, no. Doesn't work. You'll sell one or two of your friends and family and it'll end there. Oh, then your family member calls you bitching about the plan.
4) Business by osmosis Some new agents think they just have to pass around their cards and basically let everyone know they sell health and the phone starts ringing. No, it won't.
5) Networking clubs Although this method might get you the occasional deal it by no means will get you those 4 to 5 consistent deals per week you need to make this work.
Re: Individual health insurance marketingGo to Top
One area I would have to disagree on is the Postcard Mailers.
Even when I worked with Schmega, and had to use their cheesy compliance approved "Finally - Affordable Garbage Plans", etc postcard, I found they worked well for a couple reasons:
First, even if you figure the cost is $.50 per piece between the postage and printing cost, and you do 1000 mailers(Infousa gives credit over 10% undeliverable so that can be added in to overall costs regarding returns/undeliverables) you're looking at $500 spent. Of those 1000 mailers lets say 75% actually reach their destination, so now you have 750 people who at least touched your card. Of those 750 let's say 50% have employee benefits and just toss them out, so you have 375 possible prospects left. Of those 375, 200 just toss out anything they get in the mail, so you have 175 left. Of those remaining, for various reasons, 100 are not interested after looking at your card, leaving 75 that might consider speaking with you. Of those 75, maybe 3-5 choose to call that week, and you sell 2 of them(these are averages that have always worked for me: mail 1000, sell about 2 of those, sometimes 3).
However, the intangibles of this type of marketing are many and include:
-I change colors of my postcards with each new run and I can't tell you how many times, when I used to go out and see customers personally, that they had a color I used 1,2,3+ years ago; folks often times hold on to these things until they're ready. So, even those that don't call right away might pop them on the fridge until later.
-Speaking of "popping them on the fridge", I have had numerous sales from customers who said "I was over at Bobs house and he had this card on his fridge...". It's maybe 2 sales a year that way, but they are sales.
-When doing direct mail, the people that call you or visit your website are generally not going to contact a lot of other reps or be contacted right then by other vendors (like Internet leads) so you have some exclusivity, which always helps.
-Lastly, my experience with Postcard sales, and this may be tied to being more exclusive, is that these sales remain on the books longer, as Internet shoppers, or those you have telemarketed, tend to always be looking for a better deal and have less loyalty, for whatever reason.
I agree that large ads in local publications and networking groups, etc are not the best ways to go but I will defend my postcards to the death!!
Re: Individual health insurance marketingGo to Top
Threats of violence and intimidation work well too.
Other than that and previous stuff listed I like putting magnetic biz cards on the doors of trucks at Home Depot...you'd think they'd get pissy but I get a good response in general.
Re: Individual health insurance marketingGo to Top
Go target small businesses and hand out a flier to the owners and tell them you can provide health insurance for a low cost. Most of these people do not provide health insurance to businesses. Tell them they can qualify for a group rate, since they have more than two people. It will be easier to issue with no strict underwriting guidelines, tell the owner you can start an HSA so the can deduct the premiums of his income tax
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