Fast food can sabotage a diet. How? Because it’s a quick solution for dinner time, or so some may think. Remaining stagnant in your insurance business endeavors is like fast food to a diet — the easy way that won’t get you where you want to be!
There are often reasons or circumstances that hold us back from reaching success. But sometimes, these roadblocks are based on misconceptions that can keep us from achieving what we really want.
Here are a few questions to ask yourself (along with debunked myths) to determine if you may be self-sabotaging your insurance sales success!
Are You Reviewing Your Insurance Portfolio?
We’ve already reviewed signs it’s time to expand your portfolio along with why it’s important to continuously add to your selling options. Your insurance portfolio is a key element to your business’ success, and because of this, this topic is worth another mention. A well-rounded and competitive portfolio can help you secure more successful sales (which means more money). And it can open the door to cross-selling ancillary health insurance or life insurance products with your Medicare sales (which also means more money).
Myth: Reviewing and updating my portfolio is a hassle that will take too much time.
Agents who are partnered with Ritter are in luck! Our sales specialists conduct portfolio reviews and, with that info, put together free Smart Sheets. This resource outlines the competitive carriers and plans in a specific local sales market, easily indicating which carriers to contract with. This service can save you time and take away some of the stress that assessing insurance options for contracting can cause.
Myth: Contracting is a frustrating and time-consuming process.
If you believe this myth, you’ve never used Contract Now. This tool is Ritter’s proprietary online contracting system equipped with a user-friendly interface, convenient batch contract completion, and helpful reminders before submission. You have more than 120 competitive carriers to choose from to keep your insurance portfolio stocked with a competitive range of products. Newly registered agents must speak with their sales specialist to unlock Contract Now. That’s the perfect opportunity to request your portfolio review and get started!
Are You Holding Medicare Educational Events?
Educating prospects, leads, and clients is one of the greatest ways to create trust. Think about it — would you want to leave your car in the hands of a mechanic who didn’t seem like he knew what to do? Those looking for Medicare or other insurance coverage want to be certain they are buying from an agent who is knowledgeable. What better way to showcase your knowledge than by holding an educational event? In addition to proving you know your stuff, this is also a great opportunity to promote brand awareness for your business.
Myth: Hosting a Medicare educational event will be a pain to plan.
Planning your event doesn’t have to be complicated. Educational events can be held in a public venue, so we suggest checking out some restaurants that have separate rooms or areas that accommodate larger parties. Some options include Olive Garden, Chili’s, Denny’s, or IHOP. Other locations to consider are senior living or community centers! Remember, under no circumstance should you hold educational events in home or in one-on-one settings or location that is not accessible by the general public.
You may even be able to compliantly hold a virtual education event. If you’re holding a virtual presentation, you’ll need to choose an online platform for hosting it (e.g., Skype, Zoom, Facebook Live). Carriers can have specific rules regarding a virtual event, so be sure to check with yours before making any plans, if you choose to go this route!
Next, you might think, “Well, now I have to promote the event.” And that doesn’t need to be difficult either!
- Utilize social media like Facebook to spread the word about your event.
- Invite clients in your current book of business. (They might want to attend and maybe their family members or friends too!)
- Ask local businesses if you can post flyers or utilize community information boards.
- Advertise the event in the newspaper or in a radio ad.
Just remember when advertising your educational event:
- All educational events must be explicitly marketed as “educational” to beneficiaries.
- Educational event advertisements and invitations must also contain the following disclaimers:
- “For accommodations of persons with special needs at meetings call [insert phone and TTY number].”
- “This event is only for educational purposes and no plan-specific benefits or details will be shared.”
- When your event involves Medicare Advantage or Part D, you must also include the appropriate third-party marketing organization (TPMO) disclaimer on any printed materials distributed for the event.
Myth: Keeping a Medicare educational event compliant will be too difficult.
It’s true that Medicare compliance can feel like a maze with so many twists and turns to navigate. However, if you’re partnered with a top field marketing organization, like Ritter, they can help you stay up to date with and decipher the many and ever-changing CMS guidelines.
When hosting an educational event, it’s most important that you remember your primary focus is to educate attendees on generic Medicare Advantage, Part D, and Medicare program info. It is not to lead or attempt to lead attendees toward a specific plan or set of plans.
As for additional compliance do’s and don’ts and tips for holding an educational event, we’ve outlined it all for you in another blog post and a free guide!
Check out Rules for Hosting a Compliant Medicare Educational Event
Download How to Host a Successful Medicare Educational Event
Are You Developing Affinity Partnerships for Marketing?
Affinity partnerships bring perks to both businesses involved — it’s really a two-way street! Your partner(s) can provide you with access to their members or patrons with the opportunity to gain referrals and you can promote their business and bring in customers.
Say you develop an affinity partnership with a local coffee shop. They allow you to put up marketing materials and hold events in their cafe, while the meetings you hold there allow your clients to purchase coffee.
And the partnership can be as simple as that! It doesn’t have to be a complicated deal with a bunch of promises to keep. It can be two local businesses supporting each other to increase success!
Myth: Finding businesses that would partner with mine will be impossible.
Finding an affinity partner might be easier than you think. All it could take are a few phone calls and a meeting to get the ball rolling! You’ll never know until you try.
We used a local coffee shop as an example above, but there are more businesses to choose from, like:
- Grocery stores
- Libraries
- Group insurance agencies
- Retirement planners
- Senior organizations
- Pharmacies
- Doctor offices
- Other local shops
You offer a vital service to your community and an affinity partnership could be the boost your business needs to get your name in front of more consumers!
Myth: Marketing my business/affinity partnership will be expensive and cumbersome.
Marketing can be expensive but that’s not always the case! And even so, it can take spending a little money to make money. However, digital marketing materials such as emails, videos, and landing pages can be no- to low-cost marketing options. Also, if you and your affinity partner choose to produce co-branded pieces, the cost can be shared!
To make marketing an affinity partnership easy, you can agree to swap promotional materials and distribute them to your separate audiences. So, referring to the coffee shop example mentioned previously, you could provide business cards, table tents, or branded coasters to be displayed in the café in return for handing out the shop’s menus to your clients.
Hopefully this information has sparked a desire for you to try new tactics to generate more insurance sales success! Sometimes, things we believed to be too hard or unattainable aren’t as out of reach as they seem. Ritter is ready and waiting to help you along the way. Register on RitterIM.com today to tap into our support and resources.
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