Senior Insurance Blog

With the growing popularity of the phone & Internet sales process among senior insurance agents across the country, many are seeking out solutions to enhance the experience for both agents and consumers.  One solution that is being used to great success by many of our top producing agents is screen sharing software. 

For those of you who are unfamiliar with screen sharing software, it is software that you either install on your computer or access through a website that allows you to display whatever is on your Internet-connected computer onto other Internet-connected computers.  Additionally, most screen sharing software also allows you to grant permission for your audience to take control of your computer.  These two functions can also be reversed, so that you can view and control another Internet-connected computer.  Instant messaging, VOIP (talking), video conferencing, and file sharing are other features that may be included with screen sharing software to give you the ultimate communication tool.

If you haven’t yet looked into incorporating screen sharing software into your sales and other business processes, we highly recommend that you do.  Here’s why:

Increased interactivity with clients:  The biggest benefit is the interactivity that screen sharing allows.  No longer does your audience have to just sit and stare at a monitor throughout your whole presentation.  Your clients can actively take control of whatever program or file is on your computer (that you determine) and vice versa.  Your audience’s attention to the presentation will be much greater, and they’ll appreciate the more “in-home feel” without you actually being there.

More dynamic, engaging presentations:  No longer are you confined to just a PowerPoint presentation.  Since you have computer control throughout the entire presentation, you can make your presentations more dynamic by bringing up and showing various files based on the custom needs of the client.  Website, videos, music, and other files can all be presented whenever and however you want in real-time.  Then combine this with the IM, VOIP, and video conferencing features of most screen sharing software, and you have all the tools you need to give a highly engaging presentation.

Better reinforcement of training / education:  If you are experienced with giving more educational presentations, you know the challenge of getting your audience to remember what was actually taught.  A good example of this is getting seniors to remember many of the important points about their policies, or about the Medicare program in general.  Screen sharing isn’t going to solve the problem, but it can help improve the learning experience by allowing you to present periodic reinforcement activities.  Web based questionnaires are a great tool to accomplish this.  With the real-time feedback on their performance you can adapt your presentation accordingly to make it more effective.

Reduction of application errors:   Rework is something I think everyone can agree is bad for both business and our mental health.  With screen sharing you can ensure zero defects on applications as you can walk a client through an application, seeing exactly what they are typing.  The amount of time and money saved by eliminating application errors can be very significant over time, and that is just for the app process.  I’m sure you will find many areas in your business where such technology can eliminate further rework.

Better evaluation of the sales process:  Yet another great benefit of many screen sharing software is that you can record your sessions.  By recording your sessions you can evaluate what went right and what went wrong, and then use that data to improve your future presentations.  And after you record that perfect presentation, you can use that video as a training tool for others in your business, post it to your website to keep visitors longer, or even post it to YouTube and have it show up in the search engines to generate traffic to your site. Of course, always remember to follow HIPPA regulations and other common courtesies when recording, broadcasting, and disseminating information.

The Gerber Life Medicare supplement product is now available for sale in nine new states - Alabama, Arizona, Louisiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, West Virginia, and Washington. Virginia is expected to be approved in the near future.

Gerber Life is offering very competitive rates in each of these states in addition to high commissions and a brand seniors know and trust. Contact us at info@psmbrokerage.com or at 1-800-998-7715 for more info.

 Medicare News Flash: Doctor Payment Cut Delayed

A 21% pay cut was scheduled to take effect yesterday (delayed from April 1 by Medicare holding off paying claims), but at the very last minute Congress approved legislation last night (59 to 38), as did the House (289 to 112), that delays the 21% Medicare physician payment cut to May 31. This extension is a part of an $18 billion bill that adds to the deficit. Since the bill is classified as an "emergency" it was able to bypass pay-as-you-go rules.

All major stakeholders on this issue agree that it needs to be permanently fixed but with that permanent fix estimated to cost nearly $200 billion over 10 years many politicians don't want to push for the added cost. The problem is that the delays are a viscous cycle, making the core issue more expensive with each delay. According to American Medical Association President Dr. James Rohack the issue needs to be resolved soon because baby boomers begin aging into Medicare next year and that is going to add millions of seniors onto the system over the next decade. This crush of seniors on Medicare will require a strong, robust health infrastructure, but the continued confusion and uncertainty regarding this issue threatens to undermine it.

Sources: KHN, NPR, AP, Health Leaders Media

With the passage of the PP&AC Act comes many new laws, so many in fact that most American still know little about them and are confused about what it all means to them. One segment of the American population to be most confused and concerned about the changes affecting them are senior citizens. And where there is confusion you will always find devious individuals who will try to profit from that confusion.

Shortly after President Obama signed the PP&AC Act into law, there was a cable television advertisement that told viewers to call an 800 number to take advantage of a “limited enrollment” period to get special coverage that is now entitled to them by the passage of health care reform. There are also several news articles going around reporting that there are door-to-door salespeople going around selling “Obamacare” insurance policies.

Combine confusion about the new laws and the fear generated by the worst economy since the depression and you have a perfect mix for scammers to take advantage of consumers, especially senior citizens. As agents, we encourage you to talk to your clients and tell them to beware of any potential offers they receive in relation to their health care. This also means you’ll have to stay abreast of the latest scams as well. Here are some areas of the Act that could potentially be exploited:

The $250 prescription drug rebate for Part D – scammers may offer expedited payment for a price.

The creation of Plan B – federal and state governments have 90 days to create this program, but scammers may likely start selling policies for this Plan B though it won’t exist for quite awhile.

Better access to nursing home records – scammers may offer bogus data services whereby they try to get seniors and their families to pay a lump sum or for a subscription for data on nursing homes that is either falsified or that is freely available elsewhere.

Of course there are numerous areas of the bill that will be exploited so be prepared to see all manner of exploits. To verify any offer received by your clients, one of the best ways to do so is to call your state insurance department and see if the entity offering the deal to your client is licensed to do business in your state.

If you come across any scams, we encourage you to let us know so that we may warn the entire PSM community. Stay vigilant.

Precision Senior Marketing will close at noon CST in observance of the Easter holiday. For immediate inquiries e-mail us at info@psmbrokerage.com. Thank you for your business have a good holiday weekend.

On Sunday, the Senate version of the health care reform bill passed in December comes up for a vote in the House of Representatives.  Many journalists, political analysts, and politicians believe that the outcome of Sunday’s vote will either make or break the Obama presidency.  If the bill fails news outlets from NPR, CNN, Fox News and others are reporting that President Obama, as well as the entire Democratic Party, will be significantly weakened. 

If one needed validation of what is at stake, President Obama has delayed a trip to Asia in order to rally those in the Democratic Party who are still undecided or still opposed to the health care reform bill.  With the Obama Administration tying the health care reform bill so closely to his party, Democrats in opposition may have no choice but to vote yes or else see their overall influence and reputation greatly diminished with a failed bill despite a large majority. 

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), who previously voted no in November, will now vote yes after having four meetings with the President.  Mr. Kucinich stated “You do have to be very careful that the potential of President Obama's presidency not be destroyed by this debate,” he said.  “Even though I have many differences with him on policy, there's something much bigger at stake here for America.” 

According to Mara Liasson at NPR, President Obama is also telling Democrats in opposition to health reform that despite their no vote, Republicans will still tie them to a failed bill and the Democratic base will exile them.  With such political arm-twisting, it will be interesting to see which Democrats have the gall to remain in opposition.

For those of you who would like to read the actual bill, you can find it here: http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/03/18/health.care.pdf

“Nobody wants to read your copy.”

This is the cold, hard truth about advertising according to popular copywriter Steven Pressfield, and I believe him.

There is a phenomenon in the advertising industry called “Client’s Disease.” Essentially every client, whether that client is your own organization or an external customer, mistakenly believes that because it cares about the product it’s advertising everyone else will as well.

The harsh reality is that no one cares, and it’s not because they are mean or have a grudge against you or your organization, it’s just that they have better things to do, such as solving their own problems.

Knowing and accepting this fact is half the battle in advertising. The other half is capitalizing on it by communicating to your audience that you can solve those problems. This is the only way to get your audience to even give your ad or website a few seconds of consideration. Though there is no concrete evidence, most experts agree that most people spend about 10-15 seconds to glance over a communications piece before deciding to continue to look into it or reject it. So it’s critical that your copy and other elements are finely tuned for maximum effect.

Here are 10 tips to enhance your copywriting so that your audience gets the message and decides to stick around long enough to buy into what you are selling.

1. Know your audience. More specifically, know what problems they want to solve. Also, know their demographics, interests, political affiliations, and other relevant info that can help you craft your message and gain their attention.

2. Communicate how your product or service solves your audience’s problem. Whether it’s protecting assets through insurance, increasing retirement income through an annuity, or getting the highest commission percentage possible, your audience has a need and it’s your biggest priority to tell them how you can meet it.

3. Explain why you are better than their other options. As an insurance agent or broker, you obviously have to deal with a lot of competition. So right after you tell your audience how you will solve their problem, you need to tell them why you’re their best option. Be very specific with this.

4. Tailor your message to the medium. One piece of copy isn’t going to universally work for all mediums. In fact, you may need a whole new message depending if you are communicating your message through a Google Ad, direct mail, e-Direct, or website.

5. Call them to action. Once you’re done explaining, it’s time to get your audience to respond. Whether it's getting them to call you, landing them on a specific page, or getting them to sign up, you need to tell them what is the first step they can take in solving their problem.

6. Be honest. Though everyone expects some exaggeration or puffery during the sales process, you must be careful to not step over the line into illegal territory that may lead to an expensive suit that can wreck your business.

7. Keep it concise. Keep your message as brief as possible and only focus on the audience and the solution they seek. No one cares about your rags to riches story or how your business has been around since the horse and carriage days.

8. Stay on message. If you are promoting solution X, then don’t get side tracked by also trying to promote solution Y that isn’t relevant to the problem. If you can get them to buy solution X, you’ll have plenty of other opportunities to promote solution Y.

9. Avoid clichés. People can immediately see laziness, especially in writing. If you’re using over-used and tired phrases or wording, such as “Step up to the plate and sign up now!” then your audience will tune you out, and you'll see your credibility diminished.

10. Proofread… and then proofread again.

As we mentioned before, one of the sales methods you’ll want to take advantage of this year is the webinar. And if you are already doing a webinar, then perhaps you’ll find some useful nuggets of knowledge that will help you refine your presentation.

1. What you need. In order to conduct the most effective webinars you will need the right tools. Here is a list:

• Presentation software such as Microsoft PowerPoint

• Web conferencing software such as http://www.megameeting.com or http://www.gotomeeting.com

• Stock media from sites such as http://www.gettyimages.com or http://www.shutterstock.com

• Video editing software (free) such as Windows Movie Maker or iMovie

• Video camera and tripod

2. Planning. Your webinar is a project that will require a few hours of planning to ensure a smooth execution, low cost, and as little rework as possible. First, you will want to think about your audience. Do you sell direct to seniors? Do you solely recruit agents? Are your clients more affluent? Are they mostly minorities?

Once you’ve identified your audience, you’ll want to identify the key issues that are important to them when considering the product or services you are trying to sell. Your webinar subject matter will vary greatly depending on if you are selling Medicare supplements, annuities, or even both. Regardless, you’ll want to remember to focus your subject matter on only 3-5 major points.

After identifying the 3-5 major points you want to convey to your audience, the next step is to create an outline of the information you will convey about those 3-5 major points. The key here is to get the right arrangement for your information so you can then start thinking about the detailed content you will present. The more visuals the better, so consider how you can visualize as much information as possible.

The last part of planning your webinar requires that you finalize all the content you want to put in your webinar and think about the logistics of creating that content. You’ll need to write the script for your oral presentation, and if you plan on showing a video clip of a customer explaining her financial devastation from not having a Medicare supplement, you will of course want to identify the customer, pick the time and place to interview, and so forth.

3. Creating the content. With your plan in place, now comes the execution. You will want to contain your entire Webinar within the presentation file. This is easy to do as you can easily drag and drop other types of files into the presentation file. If you are unfamiliar with how to use presentation software, I recommend buying a presentation software tutorial or book to enable you with maximum creative ability.

The first thing you will want to do is choose your theme. The color and structure of your theme are both important in addressing your audience and presentation style. If you are going for a more upbeat style, then brighter colors will compliment and enhance your presentation. If your subject matter requires respect and a more serious tone, then you’ll want to use darker shades of colors. Stay away from blacks as a primary color as it comes across as too serious and it can be hard to read text from. If you aren’t happy with the included templates, you can find many impressive templates for purchase with a simple search for “PowerPoint (or other software) templates.”

Next, comes adding your content. A good rule of thumb to follow is to use as little text as possible. This means keeping your bullet points to 3-5 on each slide and never writing paragraphs of text. Use charts, tables, photographs, videos, and so forth to convey your message when possible.

When it comes to charts and tables, make sure the data and source is correct and that you have permission to use them. Also, always use professional stock photos. Nothing loses respect more than low-quality, amateur material. Stock photo sites allow you to buy at different sizes so you shouldn’t have to worry about resizing photos. If you have to resize photos to conform to your design, know that you can safely scale down, but never up. When scaling down hold down the shift key when resizing the photo. This will prevent distortion and pixilation.

With the popularity of YouTube and reality TV, less than professional quality video is accepted if done right. If you are doing a client interview video or if it’s a video of yourself, make sure you record it with at least a tripod. You don’t want any shaking in your video. Also try to record in as well lit a room as possible. Dark video isn’t appealing. Once you recorded your video, you can then edit it with one of the free programs mentioned above. Music always helps, so buy some stock audio to make your video that much more attractive and effective. Again, cheap and short tutorials are readily available to show you how to use the video editing programs.

4. Edit and Test. Once you’ve created your presentation make sure to edit it for mistakes. You’ll also want to test your webinar to a sample audience to make sure it’s perfectly executed. The software should give you the ability to record your webinar, so make sure to watch yourself and see if there are any improvements to be made.

5. Marketing. With your webinar all ready to go, you’ll want to consider how to get the most eyeballs to watch it. Before you do though, consider the costs. Typically, each “seat” in a seminar costs money. The more “seats” you need the more it is going to cost you. So as you can see, it will pay off to ensure your audience is as targeted as possible for maximum effectiveness.

If you have a large budget and want as many eyeballs as possible, then you’ll want to communicate your webinar information through an E-blast, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. You can also use more traditional methods like radio and print, but they cost a lot more.

Once you’ve executed your perfect webinar and have it recorded, you can then use it as a very effective promotional/educational piece. Set up a webpage to show the recorded webinar and drive traffic to it. You can also put it on a disc or thumb drive and send it out to those less Internet savvy. You spent the time, money, and effort to make the perfect webinar, so make sure you leverage it as much as possible.

The most successful producers know that one of the keys to success is to make generating leads a strategic objective of the organization. Lead goals should be S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely). It is a principle that we stress during our recruitment process. The reason we bring up this subject is because this month’s issue of Senior Market Advisor has a decent article titled 50 Best Ways to Generate Leads. The tips were selected from numerous submissions sent in by readers and industry leaders.

The tips are redundant and don’t really tell you anything revolutionary, but they serve as an excellent reminder and reinforcement of best practices we should continue to follow in order to generate quality leads. To save you time, we’ve condensed the 50 tips into five and added our own spin on them. Feel free to contribute your own tips in our comments section below.

Focus on Referrals – If you’ve done a great job with your clients, then never be afraid to directly ask for referrals. Your loyal customers are extremely valuable because of this so customer retention is important. Additionally, look to establish referral partners. If your clients have a good experience with the professionals you recommend to them, they will further trust your advice and see you as a solution provider for a range of services.

Leverage Technology Smartly – Not all technology is right for your business. If you know 90% of your market doesn’t use computers, then don’t waste your time creating a Facebook page, a Twitter page, or an E-blast campaign. For example if your goal is to keep your clients continuously updated on the latest news, it may be better to send out text messages to their cell phones rather than through twitter or through an e-blast. Also be aware of how much time you spend tinkering with technology – it may be better spent generating leads the old-fashion way.

Quantify Your Networking – You already know the importance of networking, but are you measuring the effectiveness of your networking? It’s good to set predetermined goals and continually try to improve your numbers. If you are going to a one or two hour event, keep reminding yourself that you need to make an X number of new contacts within that time. How many of these contacts turned into leads? How many of those led to real business? Look back each year and see if the events you attended were the right ones and are worthwhile to attend again.

Target and Customize – In all your marketing efforts take the time to plan and really make your efforts as lean as possible. By lean, I mean as targeted and customized as possible. Some of the ideas proposed in the article were to send out handwritten notes, personal pictures, using names in communications whenever possible, and meeting clients at special times such as their birthday months. Additionally, standing out from your competition is important too. Is anyone else using video testimonials? According to one industry leader, video boosts retention by 50% over live presentations.

The Don’ts – For every thing we should do, there are many actions that we need to avoid. Here is a list of don’ts that you should keep in mind:

* Don’t use mailing labels that lack personalization
* Don’t always copy your competitors – they may be on the wrong path
* Don’t “freestyle” your presentations
* Don’t promote products – promote solutions to problems
* Don’t just rely on one method to acquire leads
* Don’t sell yourself as an expert in more than one or two knowledge areas

Happy 2010 everyone! As an independent agent, not only do you have personal resolutions to make, but business resolutions as well. To help you come up with some great ideas, we surveyed our top producers and asked them what their resolutions are for 2010. Here are the top five resolutions you need to make for 2010:

Get More Education – We are all constantly bombarded with new government regulations, technology, products, and so forth. In the Information Age, what you don’t know is a significant threat to maximizing your income. Many of our respondents made resolutions to take weekly evening classes. Classes ranged from minimizing tax liabilities to online marketing. Many local community colleges offer affordable classes. Online classes/tutorials are also a good, convenient alternative. One agent suggested the site http://www.lynda.com. This site offers online video tutorials for an array of software and technologies at an affordable price.

Optimize Your Processes - Do you have certain processes that perform well for you? Then squeeze everything you can out of those processes by optimizing them. Many of our respondents said they wanted to improve various business processes that would result in reduced printer usage, less travelling, and fewer rework and mistakes. One agency reported that it will utilize checklists more to reduce mistakes and rework in the contracting process. Recently, NPR reported on the effectiveness of checklists in hospitals. Check out the article here.

Consult More Experts - As much as we would like to think we can do everything ourselves or that we already know everything we need to know about our business, we know that the most successful people and individuals are those that can leverage the knowledge and abilities of a team. Many of our respondents said they would consult with more experts this year rather than try and do it themselves. Accountants, lawyers, bankers, technology experts, and other dedicated professionals can offer very valuable services in a short amount of time. For example, you agency owners will want to find out how much your unemployment insurance expense will increase due to changes in state laws and plan accordingly. Small businesses are projected to face anywhere between a 2.5% – 600% increase in payments (yes, that is six hundred) according to entrepreneur.com.

Measure, Measure, Measure – When you are so busy doing your daily work, it really is difficult to find the time to look back and quantitatively see if what you did really benefited the business. Did you spend thousands of dollars on building a Web site? Have you recouped your investment yet? The same applies when looking forward as well. Conducting a survey of your target market can help you determine if you really need to take on a new product. Many of our respondents vowed to really look at measuring ROI before making significant investments. Want to learn more about measuring ROI? One agent recommended the book How to Measure Anything by Douglas W. Hubbard. It has a 5-star rating on Amazon with 55 total customer reviews.

Improve Sales Presentations - One big issue among our respondents was sales presentations. Many feel they can improve their presentations to close more sales. Many promise to incorporate more imagery into their presentations. Showing too much documentation or talking too much can quickly lose the interest of potential clients. This is especially true when selling products over the phone. As you well know, not having a physical presence makes the sales process that much more difficult. To compensate many agents are integrating their Web sites into their phone sales process to present images and information while making their pitch over the phone. Some agents said they are going to look into video conferencing technologies for those seniors who are more computer savvy. Even if a senior doesn’t have a camera of their own, they can still see your face and get more of that personal feel without having you there in their homes. One good place to start is http://www.megameeting.com.

So what resolutions have you made for your business? We encourage you to share your resolutions and ideas in our comments section.