Senior Insurance Blog

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.

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.

The days of software are numbered. Web applications are the future and if you aren’t using them, you are losing out on cost savings and efficiency gains. So what are the benefits of Web apps?

 * Available practically anywhere, anytime – Web apps aren’t tied to specific machines like software is. As long as you have access to the Internet, you can use it.

* No installation required – no more having to worry about long installations, hard drive space limitations, serial numbers, or remembering where you put all the CDs when you need to reinstall software after a computer crash. As long as you have a browser you are good to go.

* Always updated – one of the pains of software is remembering to check for updates and applying them. Web apps are always current and have the latest features and improvements.

* Less infrastructure required – No server? No IT manager? No problem. The company offering the tool supports the entire web application. Troubleshooting problems is a phone call away.

* More secure – It’s probably safe to say that your computer equipment pales in comparison to that of the companies that run these services. As such your data will be much more secure with these organizations than on your computer where even just one piece of malware or a hardware failure can leave you with downtime at best and losing all your data at worst.

These days there are more and more Web apps coming out. I’m going to recommend five to you, but of course, you’ll want to research further to ensure these tools will meet your business requirements.

Customer Relationship Management: SalesForce
Managing all your customer data is vital to your organization and Salesforce makes it easier and more cost effective to do it. As with most Web apps, this is a customizable service, so no matter the size of your organization, you will most likely find a cost-effective solution here. All the above benefits apply here.

Document Management: Google Docs
First, Google Docs is free. Second you can share and collaborate online, significantly reducing the amount of back and forth emails and numerous file attachments. Google docs contain the major three office applications – word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation creation. If you haven’t yet co-edited the same document in real-time with someone across the country – you’re in for a treat.

Web Development: SnapPages
There are many low-cost website creation web apps, but most look exactly like what you paid for them. Also, if you aren’t a Web designer, I highly suggest you don’t attempt to do it yourself. You don’t want to experiment with the face of your organization. Templates are great because experts who understand the requirements of good Web design design them. SnapPages has some of the best templates I’ve seen and the whole tool is very easy to use for beginners.

Secure File Sharing: Box.net
File sharing is necessary in our industry and since we all deal with very private information such as social security numbers, date of births, and so forth, we must treat our clients’ and partners’ data with great respect. This means using a very secure method of file transmission. Box.net features a 99.9% uptime guarantee, SSL encryption, redundant storage, and configurable permissions. This tool also integrates with Salesforce and is used by some of the biggest companies, such as Intel and Nike.

Telephony: Skype
If you already have a cell phone, you’re probably wondering if there are any alternatives to that expensive landline that has the benefit of being on at all times (not dependent on a battery). You’ll want to check out VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) services such as Skype. VOIP services essentially use the Internet to make calls to anyone in the world. Because of this call rates are significantly cheaper than a landline service. Skype isn’t a pure web app, but it's close enough. Skype actually has an advantage over pure web apps in that it doesn’t require a computer and browser. Skype can be used with many Internet-enabled devices or with Skype-enabled phones. Skype has dedicated services for both small and medium sized businesses that feature video conferencing, instant messaging, IP PBX, and more.

Precision Senior Marketing is proud to announce that it has teamed with SeniorJournal.com to bring you real-time news articles concerning the senior market. SeniorJournal.com is the dominate source of news for senior citizens in the United States, with no other source providing the same volume and quality of daily news concerning seniors and baby boomers. You can find real-time news headlines on the column to the right. Clicking anyone of these headlines will take you to SeniorJournal.com where you can read the full articles – no sign-up required.

Offering real-time news headlines on our blog allows us to provide you with greater value in two ways. First, you get daily headlines regarding your customers, so we encourage you to revisit this blog often. We know that many of your clients view you as advisors, and as such it would benefit your business to know the current issues that are affecting them from politics to health. Such knowledge can provide you with a great ice-breaker when making cold-calls or that one last answer they need before deciding to work with you.

Second, the partnership allows us to focus this weekly blog on bringing you the right business strategies and marketing techniques that will help you grow your business. If there is a certain business topic that you want to know more about (e.g. phone sales techniques), shoot me an e-mail at info@psmbrokerage.com and I’ll be happy to research and report on the topic right here on this blog. Of course I won’t be able to do every suggestion, but I’ll definitely explore subjects that are of concern to the majority of this audience.

We are always striving for continuous improvement, so if you have any other suggestions for this blog, please let us know.

Weekly Recap:

New Senate Bill: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid introduced a health-care reform bill on Wednesday that would extend health insurance to more than 30 million Americans at a cost of $849 billion over 10 years. Mr. Reid claims that the bill would reduce the federal deficit by $127 billion over the next 10 years and by over $600 billion in the following decade. Republicans have promised to block the bill by threatening a filibuster. To avoid this, Mr. Reid needs 60 votes (of 100 total) to get the bill to a debate. The vote will be held this Saturday. (source: CNN)

House Cancels Medicare Pay Cuts: The House voted on Thursday to cancel a 21% pay cut for doctors who treat Medicare patients. The bill was passed mostly along party lines with a vote of 243-184. Republicans are furious, alleging that the passage is political quid pro quo for AMA backing the House health care reform bill. Republicans also state that the $210 billion cost of the bill is not offset by other spending cuts or tax increases. With the Senate already rejecting a similar bill, what happens next is anyone’s guess. (source: NPR)

Whether your business has existed for five months or fifty years, organizational brand management is vital to the ongoing growth and success of your organization. Despite its importance, you’d be surprised at the amount of neglect this aspect of business management receives. Great brand management has many benefits including:

• Appear “bigger” than you really are and/or better than the competition
• Increased customer loyalty and referrals
• Increased mind share among potential and existing customers
• Enhanced ability to attract customers of competing organizations
• Easier sales process

On the flip side, poor brand management can be very detrimental to your business:

• You appear incompetent and/or inferior to the competition
• Lose both existing and potential customers
• You are forgotten immediately
• Very difficult or nearly impossible sales process
• No future growth opportunities

Though at first it may not appear that you have much control over what other people think of your organization, there are many factors (conditions or acts) that you can control or at the very least influence to continuously improve your personal or organization brand. Here are five effective methods that we recommend for enhancing your brand.

1. Write a brand management plan: Before you can manage your brand, you need to know what you are managing. Take time to gather your leaders and determine what branding goals you want to accomplish. Some things to think about include “What is our identity?” “What do we want to specialize in?” “Do we want to be seen as an innovator?” Your plan doesn’t have to be an encyclopedia, just enough to get the point across throughout your organization. I like the old saying that says “If it’s not worth writing down, it’s not worth doing.”

2. Go beyond selling: In the process of marketing and selling to as many people as possible, many organizations forget the true value of the selling – improving the situation of the customer. Yes we all have numbers to hit, but that should not come at the expense of the long-term growth of your organization. Improving the situation of the customer not only means bringing them better products, but also providing excellent support of those products, educating your customers on how to further improve their situations, and getting to know their motivations (family, money, security).

3. Don’t brand based on price: O.K., so many of you may think this is ignoring marketplace realities, however hear me out for a second. Basing your brand on price alone is self-defeating primarily because in the race to the bottom, someone will always beat you there. Of course there are cases where you have to revert to the lowest price, just don’t make it a habit. Focus your marketing on your organization’s or product’s advantages, that way when everyone is offering the same “lowest” price, you’ll be the one making the sale and have the opportunity to cross sell on a higher margin product.

4. Under-promise and over-deliver: The fastest way of driving your brand into the dirt is to not follow through on your obligations. Although it is natural to want to actively make your organization appear to be the best by screaming it to the ends of the Earth, this strategy can backfire very quickly if you can’t meet the expectations you have created. Foster excitement among your clients and the market in general by being modest and truthful with what your organization can do and then exceed their expectations by giving them more value or world-class service (within constraints of course).

5.Turn brand problems into brand opportunities: Bad things happen – it’s just a fact of life and business. Rather than hide, minimize, or outright lie about mistakes or problems, the best method is to analyze the situation, determine a solution, and then market how your organization can be better because of it. One famous case is Tylenol. In 1982, seven people died after taking Tylenol pain-relief capsules that had been poisoned by a criminal who has yet to be identified to this day. This incident could have literally put Tylenol out of business; however they proactively addressed the problem leading to the creation of federal anti-tampering laws and reforms of over-the-counter packaging. Tylenol and parent company Johnson & Johnson were praised by the media for its handling of the incident. In seven years Tylenol became the most popular over-the-counter analgesic in the U.S.

On Tuesday, a new Medicare Supplement product will be released by an "A" rated (A.M. Best) company that has one of the most recognizable brands among Americans of all ages. This new product is filed for approval in 32 states and will eventually roll out to even more. As an exclusive distribution partner, we look forward to releasing details on this new product on Tuesday. In the meantime, have a great Labor Day weekend!

Weekly Recap

President Obama to Speak Out on the 9th: He will give a speech on health care reform to a joint session of Congress next Wednesday in an attempt to refocus the national conversation on healthcare. NPR listed several poll results that show opposition to his health reform goals has grown. Three of the polls cited show opposition is around 50% as of the last week of August. White House officials say this speech will provide a comprehensive explanation of the President’s health care plans which have been ambiguous thus far.

The Compromise: In an effort to make some progress on the healthcare issue, President Obama and Republican Senator Olympia Snow are in serious discussions regarding a new health care reform plan. At the center of the compromise is a public healthcare option “trip wire”. Under this plan, a public option would only be implemented if certain performance criteria are not met. Another major compromise would be establishing a law barring insurance companies from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions. This plan is intended to win over 1 or 2 Republican votes and most of the conservative democrats.

FTC Bans Commercial Robocalls: For those of you who use autodialers or robocalls to contact consumers, you will want to take a look at this page: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/08/tsr.shtm Violators of this new law will face penalties of up to $16,000 per call. After September 1, 2009, consumers who receive prerecorded telemarketing calls, but have not agreed to get them can file a complaint with the FTC who will then investigate.

Medicare Advantage/Part D Enrollment Begins Nov. 15: Medicare Advantage marketing has many requirements, so we encourage all our agents to get caught up on all the new rules to make sure the enrollment period is spent writing business and not putting out compliance fires. Contact your PSM marketer today for a list of resources where you can get the training you need.

As you all know, identity theft is a rapidly growing problem. The Javelin Strategy and Research Center found that 10 million Americans fell victim to this crime in 2008. You may think identify theft is primarily caused by using the latest and greatest technology, but according to the Center, low-tech methods are still the most popular among identify thieves. Online methods only account for 11% of all cases.

One growing, low-tech method used to commit identity theft that may directly affect you are thieves posing as state insurance department employees. Recently, Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland warned insurance producers and adjusters to beware of scammers posing as state insurance department employees seeking personal information. According to reports, these fake employees called insurance agents and asked them to fax personal tax information. Similar cases were also reported in Nevada and California where imposters were calling agents and telling them that their licenses were going to be suspended for filing improper paperwork. The imposters then would ask for personal information, such as birth dates, social security numbers, and credit card info to correct the problem.

We remind you to remain vigilant about protecting your personal information. Here are several actions you can take to minimize your chance of becoming a victim (source: www.ftc.gov):

• Review your credit reports at least once a year, or every three months if you have already been victimized
  
  
• Place passwords on your credit card, bank, and phone accounts; don't use easily available info for your passwords such as maiden names, birth dates, phone numbers, and last four of SSN
  
  
• Secure personal information at home, especially if you live with others
  
  
• Always ask how your personal information will be secured by those who require it to do business
  
  
• Don't give out personal information over the phone, through the mail, or on the Internet unless you've initiated contact or have established trust with the entity you are dealing with
  
  
• Shred your docs with sensitive info

For a full list of actions you can take to help prevent identify theft, click here.

In the June 2009 issue of Senior Market Advisor, the magazine has a special feature entitled "100 Best Sales and Marketing Ideas." The ideas are all generated by producers such as yourself, so most of the ideas are probably applicable to your situation. If you go through all 100 ideas, you will see that they all can be summed up into 5 methods that can successfully grow your business.

1. Networking: The vast majority of the ideas are related to networking, most likely because this is the most effective method of growing your business. Hosting workshops, seminars, church meetings, and other events were said to be a great method of reaching large groups of new customers. Getting to know and partnering with other professionals in related fields, such as CPAs, lawyers, doctors, and so forth is another effective method for getting in touch with potential customers.

2. New Technology: With more and more seniors and baby-boomers utilizing the latest technology, many of the respondents suggested that having a Web site is a must, but that to really succeed, you need to implement SEO to be found on the search engines, as well as market your business through major networking sites LinkedIn and Facebook. Also be on the lookout for Internet applications that can streamline your business process such as salesforce.com.

3. Old Technology: As great as all the new technology is, it alone does not make a successful business. Some of the agents state that nothing is more effective at generating business than picking up the phone and calling (we entirely support this argument). Direct mail programs are also still said to be very effective at generating leads, as the majority of the senior market still isn't online. Additionally, faxing is still a quick, simple way for transmitting certain types of documents, especially those requiring written signatures.

4. Relationship Management: Many of the ideas mentioned were related to managing the relationships you have with existing customers. This is vital, as retaining customers costs five times less than acquiring new customers (quality management principle). Basically, you should call your customers at regular intervals to see how they are doing and to educate them on new products. Being a good listener was an idea that came up in the feature several times. There was also a common theme of treating potential clients like existing ones. Even if they don't want your business, they most likely know someone who does.

5. Education: Many of the respondents stressed the importance of continuing education, both formal and informal. We agree as one of the fastest ways to lose business is to pretend to know something you don't. Knowing the latest trends in products, technology, market trends, and so forth is an essential ingredient to success. Establishing yourself as an expert source in your network or community can generate many leads by itself. Another common theme was that sharing knowledge freely without asking for anything in return adds to the credibility of your business.

If you have the time, we recommend reading the feature. Though most of the ideas are techniques you already know, you may just find one or two new nuggets of knowledge that can spark the next great idea for your business.

With no major developments occurring in our industry this week, we thought this would be an opportune time to update you on developments occurring here as we strive to bring our agents the best products, tools, information, and community. At PSM we not only focus on agent recruiting, but also on agent retention. As such, we want to hear from you on what we can do to help you further your business productivity, from Web site features to administrative services.

Online Contracting
Our most popular tool, online contracting from PSM dramatically improves the convenience of contracting with the competitive carriers that we represent. Now you can contract with multiple companies through an easy 3-step process that takes about 10 minutes and only requires a 1-page fax. Find out more

Med Supp by Phone
Ever wonder how the top producers do it? Its simple - they leverage the latest technology to service a national market. Through a combination of old and new (phone and internet), top producers are selling Medicare supplement products from the Mutual of Omaha companies throughout the United States without ever leaving their offices. Let us show you how

UnitedHealthcare Med Supp & Med Adv Now Available
PSM is proud to now offer what is arguably the most popular medicare supplement product from the nation's leading, senior-oriented non-profit organization. This product is underwritten by UnitedHealthcare, one of the biggest and most stable insurance companies on the market. Tell me more

Poll of the Week
We're really excited about his one. Ever wonder just how many agents think the same way you do on a particular controversial issue? Well now you can find out with our new Poll of the Week feature. Each week we will pose a question or topic that you can vote on. Every Friday we will calculate and post the results from the previous week's poll, as well as post a new poll question. You also have the option to comment on your vote if you feel the need to elaborate on how you feel on a given topic. I will post select comments along with the results. Take me there

Hot or Not Industry News
Yet another cool feature, we now have a page that links to the latest, most relevant news articles on the Web. Additionally, you can vote on each article, as well as make comments. Your votes will either push a given article up or down on the list. Articles will be ordered in terms of popularity. Since our blog is focused only on the biggest industry developments each week, we have added this feature to bring you other recent developments that you may find informative to read about and comment on. Let me vote

Social Media
PSM is now on the three major social networking sites LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. In addition to our company page, we have also created the Senior Insurance Agents Group on both LinkedIn and Facebook. This is a great way to directly communicate with other agents throughout the states and to show your affiliation with the insurance for the exploding senior market.

LinkedIn Senior Insurance Agents Page

Facebook Senior Insurance Agents Page

Twitter Page

New Partnerships
When a particular service to our agents falls outside our scope of business, PSM partners with the best companies.

Continuing education credits are a necessity for our agents, so we've joined with 360Training.com to give our agents a discount on online CE courses. Now you can get your CE credits from wherever you have an internet connection. I want to learn more

Lead generation is yet another high-demand service. As such, we have partnered with multiple companies to offer discounts and competitive pricing on an array of lead generation products and services. We are proud to announce our newest partnership with The Directory, Inc., a company that has a wealth of experience, many satisfied customers, and an informative Web site. Let me check them out

Incentives are key in motivating our agents to maximize the potential of the senior market. Despite the current recession, where others are cutting costs, PSM continues to invest in its agents by rewarding superior performance. This time we've partnered with Mutual of Omaha to offer an amazing, 4-day port of choice cruise for agents that place $63,000 in premiums with any of the Mutual companies between May 15 and August 15. For more information call 1-800-998-7715.

Blog Views
Considering our blog has only been live for about 3 months now, we are proud to say that each week we average about 800 page views and are continuing to see growth as word spreads. So for those of you wondering whether anyone reads your comments, well, now you know your potential audience.

Last Thing (We Promise)
In observance of Memorial Day, PSM will be closed on Monday, May 25. Have a great three-day weekend, and thank you for tuning in each week. We hope you find our blog posts to be both informative and intellectually stimulating.