Medicare Blog | Medicare News | Medicare Information

The Annual Enrollment Period is around the corner, starting October 15 and ending December 7. Now is a great time to take your certifications, read up on the 2013 changes, and take a look at your portfolio to assure you are ready for the season.

The 2013 Medicare Marketing Guidelines from CMS are now available, some highlights of the attached document below:

1. Section 50 Marketing Material Types and Applicable Disclaimers - This section covers all the required disclaimers by product type.
   
   
2. Section 70 Rewards and Incentives, Promotional Activities, Events and Outreach - This covers telephone contact, unsolicited contacts, scope of appointment requirements.
   
   
3. Section 100 Plan Sponsor Websites and Social/Electronic Media - Read through this carefully if you use a web site or and social media platforms for business purposes.
   
   
4. Section 120.2 Plan Reporting of Terminated Agents - This section says that "When plan sponsors discover incidents of unlicensed agents or brokers submitting applications, they must terminate the agent/broker and report them to the authority in the State where the application was submitted." You do not want this to happen.
   
   

Read the full 2013 Medicare Marketing Guidelines document.

Really not a lot of ground-breaking changes this year. But it's always a good idea to closely review the requirements every year to make sure you're sales and marketing activities are compliant.

If you have any questions regarding the changes or are interested in adding new products to your Medicare Advantage product portfolio, give your PSM marketer a call at 1-800-998-7715.

• AL & MS Agents: Combined Medicare Supplement Now Available - Learn More
• Humana: Opportunity is Knocking - Learn More
• Introducing Florida Healthcare Plus Medicare Advantage Plans - Learn More
• PSM Partners with Norvax to Provide Essential Sales Tools for Today’s Independent Agent - Learn More

Every once in a while it’s important to evaluate your sales process. What activities during your day may not be setting you up for success? Are you chasing the wrong prospects? Perhaps you’re doing your paperwork during the time you should be contacting potential clients? Or maybe you are using old techniques that are no longer working for you. Taking the time to influence yourself is something rarely done by sales professionals. However, identifying the things that are prohibiting you from obtaining the success you want and eliminating them from your routine will have an immediate positive effect on your sales process.

Tips to influence your sales process in a positive way include:

• Have a healthy perspective in dealing with resistance and rejection
  
  
• Use strong, truthful self-talk both when things aren’t going well and, more importantly, when they are going as expected
  
  
• Prioritize activities, relationships, and goals
  
  
• Adopt optimism that flows through your day and the people around you
  
  
• Show a great attitude

When you find yourself struggling with keeping a positive attitude in your business, whether you have a sudden influx of "no"s from prospects, or are not meeting the sales goals you hoped for, an onset of negativity can creep in and effect even more of your business. Instead, focus on creating a positive outlook with what Dan Seidman, a U.S. Olympian in basketball calls, the "Heart and Head Check Self-Test." Seidman explains, "our attitude solution is anchored in this concept: Focus on gratitude to improve your attitude. On a piece of paper, create positive responses to your feelings [to the following prompts]."

Sample Head & Heard Self-Test prompts:

• Your Industry of Foucus
  
  
• Your Business
  
  
• Your Prospects’ Perception
  
  
• Your office
  
  
• Your Job
  
  
• Your Self

For each prompt, write down a positive response and notice how you can find the light at the end of every tunnel. Once you finish, print out your responses and put them by your workspace so you can refer to them with ease. There are two ways to look at everything and when you change your attitude to one of gratitude you will see that your sales and process improve as well.

Source: InsuranceNewsNet

• Assured Life Rate Increase for PA & VA - Learn More
• Gerber Life Rates Increase for IN - Learn More
• Get Ready to Sell and Receive Renewal Coventry Commissions in 2013 - Learn More
• PSM Partners with Norvax to Provide Essential Sales Tools for Today’s Independent Agent - Learn More