Episode Summary
In a conversation with Medicare sales director Jamie Gaskill, she provided insightful tips on leveraging retail marketing opportunities for insurance agents. Jamie explained that since COVID, retail partnerships with major stores like Walmart have become the number one source of leads for many Medicare agents. The foot traffic and community presence make stores an ideal lead-generation avenue.
Jamie recommends that agents walk through potential retail partners like Walmart, dollar stores, and pharmacies to understand senior shopping patterns. Observe where older customers tend to congregate and linger. Identify high-visibility spots near pharmacy counters, checkouts, or main aisles to position marketing materials for maximum impressions. Locations near senior housing and public transit hubs also tend to see heavy senior traffic.
For Walmart specifically, Jamie detailed that they offer a formal 3-month Medicare marketing program. This requires a 20-hour-per-week in-store commitment from agents and has a $1,500 store fee. However, it provides dedicated space for brochures, business cards, banners, and lead capture. While not cheap, Jamie emphasized that in-store marketing is about long-term relationship building within the community. She shared an inspiring example of an agent who worked in dollar stores consistently for two years and later sold their entire book of business for $1.3 million!
A key mindset is seeing retail as planting seeds and nurturing future clients over time. While immediate leads are great, the real value is becoming the familiar local Medicare expert through sustained presence. Jamie advises distributing brochures and business cards during in-store hours to extend your visibility beyond just face-to-face interactions. She also noted that while Walmart follows the Medicare annual enrollment timeline for formal programs, sometimes extended in-store access can be negotiated.
In summary, retail marketing creates unique opportunities for Medicare agents to establish community presence, nurture leads, and build relationships over time. Jamie emphasized that impressions made during retail outreach extend far beyond just the in-store hours. Retail helps agents become the trusted, go-to Medicare advisors that seniors turn to year after year.
The key takeaways for retail Medicare marketing include:
- Walk through potential stores to identify optimal positioning
- Commit to a consistent in-store presence of at least 20 hours per week
- Build community relationships and become the local expert over time
- Distribute brochures and cards to extend your visibility
- Follow Medicare enrollment periods or negotiate extended access
- Choose locations near senior housing and transportation hubs
Leveraging retail marketing can help agents plant seeds that blossom into lifelong client relationships. Consistent community presence and outreach are key. What retail strategies have you found most effective?
Timestamps
(0:00:05) - Broker Link podcast features Jamie Gaskill, a Medicare sales director
(0:00:43) - Why retail marketing? Where else do you have a chance to reach customers?
(0:02:48) - Who is the best type of Walmart agent for retail marketing
(0:04:51) - You talk about family-owned local grocery stores, small-town dollar stores
(0:10:03) - You do have to build that relationship. We have a wonderful agency that works in every retail location
(0:12:06) - With brokerage bucks, we will reimburse you for marketing
(0:16:06) - The annual enrollment period for Walmart is from October 15 through December 7
(0:22:37) - You should probably anticipate an announcement coming relatively soon about this, right
(0:27:50) - Jamie: Get out there and explore some of the stores around you
(0:29:39) - How do you get started with the Brokerage Inc.?
