How To Start Selling Medicare Insurance

 How To Start Selling Medicare Insurance

How To Start Selling Medicare Insurance:

There are a number of articles on the web advising How To Start Selling Medicare Insurance. Most people who write articles have never sold Medicare, Therefore, the articles are not useful. Such articles provide only generic selling tips which are basically worthless.  This post will provide real information about selling Medicare. You will not only learn how you can start to sell Medicare Insurance,  but also how much you can expect to make. We will explain all the other things you will need to be successful.  I started my Medicare book from scratch in 2007.  I maintain a personal book of 1,000+ Medicare contracts.  My agency has grown from 0 to 700+ producers. I can assure you this information comes from my own experience.

Before you get started, you must spend time to learn How To Start Selling Medicare Insurance. It is important for you to know that there are some costs associated with starting up in insurance sales.  Licensing fees, study materials,  E and O insurance and contracting fees will be between $500 to $800 before even stating to sell.  Our agency and others like us have programs to help pay up front costs for new agents. This makes it possible for agents to get started without laying out money.

 How to start selling Medicare Insurance – 1st Step-

Get your insurance license.  I suggest the online course and or the self-study course book from Kaplan or any number of other companies.  There are classes available.  You most likely will not need classes as the online course provides plenty of material.  I have other posts which provide agents more details on getting your license. CLICK HERE FOR MORE LICENSING INFO

 How to start selling Medicare Insurance 2nd Step-

Purchase Errors and Omissions insurance.  E and O is similar to malpractice insurance as it protects you against lawsuits and claims for mistakes made in the field.  Most companies now require that an agent has at least 1 million  per claim and  1 million aggregate of E and O coverage in order to be contracted.  Annual prices for the coverage range greatly from one company to the next with the cheapest being around $500 and the more expensive running over $1,000. I suggest going with a sponsored program such as NAPA or CalSurance.  Our agency also offers E and O insurance to agents.  We charge $300 for the year.  CLICK HERE FOR MORE E&O INFO

 How to start selling Medicare Insurance 3rd Step-

Take the AHIP (America’s Health Insurance Plans) Medicare certification.  Nearly all carriers now require that an agent take the AHIP certification every year prior to being able to sell Medicare plans.  AHIP cost $175 but you can get it for a lower rate if you take it through an insurance company.  United Healthcare and Aetna are two companies offering a discount.  United currently offers AHIP for $125 through their certification portal. Once you complete your United contracting, they will provide you with a link to start certifying.  Click on the AHIP cert first to take AHIP at the $125 rate.

 How to start selling Medicare Insurance 4th Step-

Identify the companies you need to sell and start contracting with them.  Given that you will need to do a separate certification with each company it is best to be selective when contracting.  It is most helpful to figure out the state(s) /counties you want to work in. Find the most competitive 2 or 3 companies in that area offering Medicare Advantage, Supplement and Part D plans.  There are a number of websites that will quote various plans available in a given area.

One example of an online Medicare rating tool is through Pinnacle Financial  CLICK FOR QUOTE ENGINE . (Our affiliated brokers can utilize the Pinnacle quote engines at no cost. Call our office at 203-796-5403 for a temporary username and password.) Once you identify the best companies in the area, you can complete contracting through a number of methods.  A contracting link is available in this post that provides access to just about any Medicare carrier.

CLICK HERE FOR CONTRACTING LINK

 Certifications 5th Step-

You must complete company specific certification training online prior to selling any Medicare Advantage or Part D plans. (Most companies do not require certifications to sell supplements).  Before you complete the certifications and maintain a “ready to sell” status You WILL NOT be paid on any MA/MAPD or Part D plans that you sell.

Lead Sources 6th Step-

Identify your lead source.  Most people are not lucky enough to have a natural market and will need to find a way to generate leads.  The biggest challenge with selling any insurance product is finding prospects to sell to.  90% of brokers that I talk to always say that they can close 90% of the people they sit in front of and that they only need to have more prospects. Closing is not the challenge in insurance but getting in front of prospects consistently certainly is.

CLICK TO LEARN ABOUT OUR FREE MEDICARE LEAD PROGRAM

Direct mail is one of the ways agents generate activity.  Mail batches currently run at about $420 per thousand mailed with agents getting a response rate of 1-4%.  We often have mail reply cards available at no cost in many states. Inquire with us to see if leads are currently available.  Online leads are a quick and relatively inexpensive way to start generating some activity.  CLICK TO LEARN MORE ABOUT MEDICARE SUPPLEMENT  LEADS

Other things to consider and know Regarding How To Start Selling Medicare Insurance:  You can make a lot of money in insurance sales and generate large renewal income streams if you stick with it for awhile, but it’s not easy. Prepare yourself for a slow start by having enough money (or another job) so you can ease into a sales career.  If you currently rely on a paycheck every week, it would not be wise to quit your job and start selling insurance.  Keep your job for a while and sell insurance on the side until you get the hang of it.  After you establish yourself,  you can learn other lines of business that will help increase revenue such as; auto, home, life, annuity, health, dental, LTC, etc…

 CLICK HERE TO LEARN HOW MUCH AN AGENT CAN EXPECT TO MAKE SELLING MEDICARE

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