As a broker, do you utilize the employers in your local community? If not, you are not alone! Employers are often an underutilized resource in the Medicare industry. If you are not forming and developing relationships with local businesses in your area to build your book of business, you’re missing out! Employers offer a direct pathway to people, which includes those who are turning 65 or planning to retire soon. This space is ripe with potential to build your book of business. Plan Advisors has developed a guide to help you connect with employers to educate employees and clients nearing Medicare age.
Let’s Get Started!
Are you overwhelmed when thinking about the upcoming AEP? At Plan Advisors, we understand that it may seem daunting. However, we believe that working through a new market, like employers, is the first step to building a solid foothold within your community. All it takes is a little work, and you’re on your way to finding employers which enables connection with new Medicare beneficiaries. Here are a few steps to get you started:
- Call organizations and businesses in your area and ask them if they provide Medicare educational services to their employees. If not, you can schedule a meeting with their HR directors to share information about Medicare and how you can help those approaching retirement. Once an acquaintanceship is established, it’s your job to nurture the relationship and prove your worth.
- Follow-up with past employers of the retirees you serve. This will cover your bases, and you may discover employers you did not initially consider. A lot of your leads and individuals are going to derive from current clients. Capitalize on this!
- Start simple with materials such as informative handouts, but always be willing to journey above and beyond with in-person seminars and consultations for prospective clients. This is a great way to build a relationship and instill yourself as an expert in your field and someone who will be dedicated to the needs of your clients.
Let’s Scope Out an Audience!
Once you’re working on forming connections with new employers and establishing your role as their Medicare expert, what’s the next step? You maintain those relationships! At the same time, however, you must continue working to build new ones while being dedicated to helping your current beneficiaries. Here are a few more tips and tricks for finding your niche market through these employers:
- Meet and Greet. Mingle with HR representatives at businesses in your local community. Be confident in yourself and your knowledge to be able to reach out to new people. The larger your network grows, the more exciting opportunities you may find moving forward. You want to become the go-to Medicare expert for the employers that you form connections with.
- Cultivate. Introduce educational material above promotional material. Employers don’t want to be sold to, but they may desire the information you provide. It becomes important to note that employers are not always familiar with or considering Medicare. Therefore, providing handouts or conducting seminars for potential Medicare customers is a great way to teach them what they need to know and what you can do for them, without pitching yourself to them.
- Relieve. Focus on alleviating the burdens that HR is feeling by marking one thing off their checklist. Again, the employers may not be considering the steps and information needed to help their employees navigate Medicare. Be the Medicare expert.
- Develop. Get to know seniors early, develop fellowship and camaraderie, before they turn 65 or retire. You, their friend, can prepare them for the future—what to expect, when to call Social Security, and what plans are best for them. If they already know who you are, your goals, and what you can do for them, that is one less obstacle they have to consider when the time comes.
Finding new pathways to seniors and potential clients can seem unnerving, but with these steps, tips, and tricks, you’re able to gain from this underutilized lead source. By utilizing your local community’s employers, you’ll be able to help those of retirement age navigate the Medicare space with ease.
Need help sowing the seeds for AEP? The Plan Advisors team is here to help you diversify your lead sources for a more successful AEP.
One of the more common questions agents get asked from their Medicare clients is “what is the Medicare Part D late enrollment penalty?” It is fairly easy to explain that if a Medicare member spends more than 63 consecutive days without having Part D or creditable drug coverage, they will be required to pay a late enrollment penalty should they choose to enroll in a Part D plan in the future. The typical follow-up question is “will I have a late enrollment penalty?” This is also usually pretty easy to answer, assuming the agent asks the proper questions of the client and the client responds with accurate answers about prior coverage.
content on Low Performing Plans. CMS plans to “nudge” consumers once again, with a reminder that the plan they’re in, if applicable, has consistently underachieved (less than 3 stars for 3 consecutive years). The beneficiary is directed to a variety of options for reconsideration at the bottom of the letter. Last year there were 525,000 members across 26 plans that were impacted. Letters go out once in October for those on these plans currently, and again in February of 2014 for those who selected a low performing plan this AEP with a 1/1/14 effective date. 
