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Who’s Looking for a Medicare Mentor?

medicare

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It was only a few weeks ago that we introduced you to Jake Martinez, an up-and-coming broker out of Washington state. We started thinking maybe it’s time to tell the story of his Medicare sales mentor, Gordon “Gordy” Hill. Let’s face it; who couldn’t use another success story for motivation?

A Well-Oiled Machine

Some people are just built for this line of work. They are great communicators, they are disciplined, and they have a system. This is a concise and accurate way to describe Gordy Hill, a top-notch individual producer and agency leader out of the greater Seattle area. “Persistence is the whole thing. Being able to knuckle down and make the calls and treat it like a real job. Same routine every day. I don’t really deviate that much,” he says.

They say if it ain’t broke, then don’t fix it. Gordy’s system is tried and true. But that’s not to say that tweaks can’t be made. To prove it, ask yourself how many brokers you know that have seen a 30% jump in production since the start of the covid pandemic? Gordy has. But the increase didn’t come by way of wholesale changes to his methodology. The pandemic actually allowed him to become more efficient.

How did he accomplish this? With the complications of running in-home appointments over the past two years, call centers seem to be taking the lead in Medicare product sales. So, Gordy decided to adapt his marketing model to focus on over-the-phone enrollments.

“Once covid hit, I shifted to selling completely over the phone and haven’t looked back. Business has gotten even better since that point in time,” he says. “I’ve cut out all the dead time. Driving to appointments, getting porched; all that stuff is gone.”

The Mentor’s Mentor

Having grown up on a farm, Gordy is quite familiar with hard work. But having a grandfather who was an influential real estate broker in the Seattle area gave him a taste of the business world. Watching his grandfather thrive in a sales related field gave Gordy the motivation to seek a similar profession. After graduating college with a degree in Business Finance, he landed a sales manager-in-training position with an insurance company.

“Sales was always something I wanted to get into,” he says. “I’d never done sales until I got out of college. So, it’s something that just kind of worked out.”

Hit the Ground Running

Gordy excelled to a manager role in just two years, making him one of the youngest in the company. But he soon realized that top producing managers were not compensated that much differently from middle of the pack managers. This didn’t sit well with him. So, he decided to trust in himself and took a commission only position with an insurance agency.

While there were many products in Gordy’s arsenal, he found his stride in selling Medicare plans. “Medicare was a way to get your foot in the door. But it became something that I liked doing…there was a lot of opportunity,” he said. “When I started doing Medicare, I would run 15 to 20 appointments per week.”

Much of Gordy’s business was derived from direct mail campaigns. He also possessed the wisdom to build strong relationships with local broker managers of Medicare plan sponsors. These relationships led to additional carrier marketing opportunities.

Have System. Will Train.

Gordy reached a level of success that allowed for his wife to stay home full time and take care of their infant child. He also has a home office so that he can stay close to his family. With a steady flow of leads and a tried-and-true sales program, Gordy is ready to grow his team and transition into more of an agency leader role.

He already has eight producers that have joined the team, but Gordy aspires to mentor even more hungry brokers. “I like training people. It’s something that I enjoy,” he said. “I legitimately have something to offer. I have leads. I know how to work the leads. I can show agents how to build their books.”

Just like he did with Jake, we are sure it won’t be long before Gordy has an army of successful Medicare Sales Specialists. “Jake was my guinea pig. I wanted to see if I could teach someone how to do this over the phone without ever going into the house…he clicked pretty quickly,” he said. No doubt there will be many more to follow.

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Lance HoeltkeLance has spent his entire career in the health care industry, with humble beginnings as a Medicare Sales Intern for Humana in 1999. After completion of the program he immediately began as a sales agent, marketing Humana’s Medicare HMO products in Tampa, FL and earning a President’s Club award in his first year.

After moving on to pursue an MBA at the University of South FL, and acting as a business development manager for Morton Plant Hospital, Lance returned to Humana as a sales director for the Kansas City market. Over the next five years, he would become responsible for 14 midwestern states as a Regional Vice President, and ultimately accepted a Vice President role, with national responsibility for all outside sales channels. This included all contracted agents and agencies, strategic alliances, and group Medicare. Most recently he assisted with a start up, helping to build distribution for a new FDA approved medical device for pain relief.

Lance’s role with Bishop Marketing Agency began as a Marketing Director, creating innovative ways to fulfill our mission of helping agents, agencies, and call centers optimize their Medicare health plan distribution, specializing in the Humana family of products.  After 3 years in this role, he became Larry’s successor and currently serves in the role of president.   

Lance is married to Kisa and has two children, Maya (18) and Milton (15). In his spare time he coaches high school football in Louisville KY.