Episode Summary
This podcast episode focuses on providing tips and strategies for insurance agents to prepare for the upcoming Medicare Annual Enrollment Period (AEP).
The host opens by introducing the guest, Josh Slattery, VP of Sales and Marketing, and asks what agents should be thinking about first when prepping for AEP. Josh emphasizes the importance of having a plan, getting AHIP certified, and submitting sales events early to carriers like UnitedHealthcare.
UnitedHealthcare is requesting events be submitted by July 4th so they can review and provide national advertising support like direct mailers. Josh explains that taking advantage of carrier-sponsored advertising is crucial and helps agents get sales leads.
In terms of timing, Josh advises agents to stop doing general Medicare educational events and shift to promoting specific plan sales events starting in September. This transition helps build anticipation and excitement for AEP. Then in October, agents should be in full sales mode with seminars and meetings focused on enrolling consumers in plans.
Another key strategy Josh discusses is hosting member retention meetings in early October before open enrollment kicks off. This allows agents to connect with existing clients first before they get inundated with ads. Agents can review any changes to the member's current plan and encourage them to bring friends who may also be interested in enrolling.
Given how the last two years were disrupted by COVID, Josh predicts this AEP will see a return to normalcy with carriers fully supporting in-person sales events again. However, agents should still leverage virtual enrollment options like voice signature and text enrollment when appropriate. This allows for more efficiency.
In summary, the key steps for agents are: get certified early, submit sales events to carriers to get advertising support, transition to sales mode in September, conduct retention meetings in October, utilize virtual enrollment when possible, and take advantage of carriers re-embracing in-person events.
Josh closes by plugging some upcoming webinars on carrier benefit rollouts. He emphasizes that agents need to stay updated on new plan offerings to properly guide clients in selecting the optimal plan during AEP.
Timestamps
(0:00:05) - The Broker Link helps insurance agents prepare for the annual enrollment period
(0:00:47) - Josh Slattery: Start thinking about marketing prep ahead of Medicare AEP
(0:02:33) - United is asking for all sales events to be submitted before 4 July
(0:04:55) - United gives you until the end of the month to submit your events
(0:10:15) - Most agents will cease doing educationals in September and do sales meetings in November
(0:13:48) - The carriers are back to advertising in-person events for Medicare Advantage
(0:17:12) - We have several upcoming training sessions to help you prepare for carrier rollouts
(0:18:28) - Don't forget we have some upcoming training for you on July 14
