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Hello,
I wanted to share my experiences with the UHC ICA system. I have been an agent for 10 years, selling LTC & annuities. Maybe this will help other agents considering the same thing and maybe I can acquire more ideas on how to best make more money by adding senior health products.
A Sales Manager at UHC under the ICA system advertises on Craig’s List looking for agents that want to make 40K to 75K selling Medicare solutions products through UHC ICA with leads provided. When I talked to her she tells me they provide plenty of leads, she keeps it vague, but says many people call in and they turn these over to you to work. They have had more than enough and didn’t have enough agents to work them all last year. She says they are “looking for a few select agents they can work with and trust”. She says I fit this type. I told her I have no reason to sign a captive agreement other than to get leads because I don’t like being captive usually. She assures me this will be great as I can cross sell other products just not other MA products.
So I sign contract and proceed with certification process. She has trainings about 1 hour away from me, which I go to a few. I start to realize the trainings are minimally helpful, a bit disorganized. I also notice a few more agents from my area with more experience in Medicare health than me there at the 2nd training session. She told me they don’t “put all there eggs in one basket” concerning agents. This concerns me. I ask her when and how many approx. leads should I expect? She states that I sound like I am too concerned about leads, which might lead to me being some sort of “sleazy” type agent who might violate CMS rules. She needs “compassionate”, “Medicare educators”. This takes me off guard but I stick with the fact that I really need to know about leads and how to make a living in this market. She softens her stance a bit but she concerns me now. She is concerned with me too it appears.
I stop showing to meetings an hour away as they take my whole day and leave with minimal info I feel I need to be ready to sell. She calls me up and asks where I am at. I tell her I can’t go anymore and I need some straight info about questions I have regarding leads, contract, etc. She says I am not ready for leads and I do not ask questions or take notes during training class and look uninterested to her. She says her “intuitions” about me were correct, whatever than means, lol. I agree I am not ready for leads, but could be when I know more. She gets mad at my “straight talk” and I get mad at her evasive talk. I tell her I will not work with here anymore let me out of contract. She says too bad she had 75 leads. She also says she did not know I was so “lead dependant”.
My intuition of what is going on here. She contracts agents by promising leads and support. The amount of leads will be based on how many they have, what type they have, depending on demand, all of which are unknown factors to them right now. The agents she chooses to get leads are depending on how many she hires, based on experience, etc. They do not have a handle on the leads but are planning ahead by hiring more than enough agents. It’s a win-win for them. If you sell without their leads, they make money. If you happen to be a good producer whom they like and trust you may get leads if they have enough after giving to paid employees and other agents in area. So if you ask specific questions about leads they get mad as they don’t know and you are asking to see their cards so to speak. Does this sound right?
I wanted to share my experiences with the UHC ICA system. I have been an agent for 10 years, selling LTC & annuities. Maybe this will help other agents considering the same thing and maybe I can acquire more ideas on how to best make more money by adding senior health products.
A Sales Manager at UHC under the ICA system advertises on Craig’s List looking for agents that want to make 40K to 75K selling Medicare solutions products through UHC ICA with leads provided. When I talked to her she tells me they provide plenty of leads, she keeps it vague, but says many people call in and they turn these over to you to work. They have had more than enough and didn’t have enough agents to work them all last year. She says they are “looking for a few select agents they can work with and trust”. She says I fit this type. I told her I have no reason to sign a captive agreement other than to get leads because I don’t like being captive usually. She assures me this will be great as I can cross sell other products just not other MA products.
So I sign contract and proceed with certification process. She has trainings about 1 hour away from me, which I go to a few. I start to realize the trainings are minimally helpful, a bit disorganized. I also notice a few more agents from my area with more experience in Medicare health than me there at the 2nd training session. She told me they don’t “put all there eggs in one basket” concerning agents. This concerns me. I ask her when and how many approx. leads should I expect? She states that I sound like I am too concerned about leads, which might lead to me being some sort of “sleazy” type agent who might violate CMS rules. She needs “compassionate”, “Medicare educators”. This takes me off guard but I stick with the fact that I really need to know about leads and how to make a living in this market. She softens her stance a bit but she concerns me now. She is concerned with me too it appears.
I stop showing to meetings an hour away as they take my whole day and leave with minimal info I feel I need to be ready to sell. She calls me up and asks where I am at. I tell her I can’t go anymore and I need some straight info about questions I have regarding leads, contract, etc. She says I am not ready for leads and I do not ask questions or take notes during training class and look uninterested to her. She says her “intuitions” about me were correct, whatever than means, lol. I agree I am not ready for leads, but could be when I know more. She gets mad at my “straight talk” and I get mad at her evasive talk. I tell her I will not work with here anymore let me out of contract. She says too bad she had 75 leads. She also says she did not know I was so “lead dependant”.
My intuition of what is going on here. She contracts agents by promising leads and support. The amount of leads will be based on how many they have, what type they have, depending on demand, all of which are unknown factors to them right now. The agents she chooses to get leads are depending on how many she hires, based on experience, etc. They do not have a handle on the leads but are planning ahead by hiring more than enough agents. It’s a win-win for them. If you sell without their leads, they make money. If you happen to be a good producer whom they like and trust you may get leads if they have enough after giving to paid employees and other agents in area. So if you ask specific questions about leads they get mad as they don’t know and you are asking to see their cards so to speak. Does this sound right?
- What is going on here?
- I am concerned about UHC ICA contract but I notice FMO has same contract provisions for replacement under 4.7b if you replace they can cancel your renewals, although some “inadvertent” and “occasional” is unavoidable. What does this mean? How will they know? Do they really enforce this?
- In the UHC ICA contract you must be “exclusive” for MA products. How will they know if you aren’t?
- Who can tell me what MA products I need in Santa Clara County and why? Which ones don’t I need and why? There are 35 plans that show up on medicare.gov.
- How can I analyze which ones I need when I am told not all that are on medicare.gov will be there this year and not all that are going to be approved will be on there yet?
- How can I make money with senior health products? (Please be specific with products, target ages, etc. ex. Sell med supp only, to ages 67 to 77, save them money, cross sell annuities, LTC. Or sell MA only during OEP/AEP, rest of year sell med supp+annuities.
