Medicare sales and cross selling
If you are selling Medicare, you should think about how to meet all the coverage needs of your clients. That is why Medicare sales and cross selling go hand in hand. Before you try and do this, be sure you have the necessary product knowledge on anything you intend to offer.
A great way to get insight into your client’s potential needs is with a client needs assessment. Each agent should tailor the assessment to include the applicable product lines they are licensed to sell and have a good knowledge of.
If your client understands that you are able to offer them coverage for all their personal insurance needs, they will be inclined to call you when they decide to add to their current coverage. It is best to take care of their most urgent concerns before talking about additional items.
Watch our quick YouTube video on cross selling during AEP
Medicare sales cross selling – be aware of underlying health issues
If you conduct a needs assessment or spend enough time speaking with your client, you will probably find out if your client has any illnesses that will prevent them for obtaining some types of coverage that they will not qualify for. If you ask about any recent claims they have had, this may be an indicator if they are a good candidate for some types of coverage.
Some other things to find out from your client
Is the client or their spouse presently working? If the answer is yes, do they have any employer benefits and if so, what are they?
Have they ever served in the military (are they a veteran)? Sometimes veterans receive benefits. You need to find out if they do and what those are.
Medicare sales cross selling – Cancer, Heart attack and Stroke coverage
Because many people have a family history of either cancer, heart attack or stroke, this product is not difficult to sell. This product is sometimes called critical illness insurance. Be sure you understand the client’s budget before you show them quotes from companies that will fill their coverage need.
Cross selling – Long Term Care Insurance
Most people do not have long term care coverage. Although LTC has changed over the years, there are still some good coverage options available. There are some short-term care policy options that include home health coverage. There are also some life policies that include an optional LTC rider. You can ask your client if anyone in the family has needed home health or nursing home care. If they have, ask them if they know how it was paid for. Do they have a way to pay for it if they need it?
Cross selling – Life Insurance
Life insurance is not like LTC coverage because many clients have at least some life insurance coverage. If you want to start a discussion about life insurance, you need to find out if the client already has coverage and if so, how much. Once you get the answer, you can ask questions to determine if they have enough to cover what they need it for.
Here are some reasons people purchase life insurance:
To replace income lost due to the death of a family’s financial provider.
If they want to cover their final expenses. If they have a policy in place, it may not be enough to cover their final expenses. This means they may want to consider purchasing a policy that provides a bigger benefit amount.
Policies can help pay any outstanding debts owed by the policy holder.
In some cases, the policy holder wants to leave a financial gift to their chosen beneficiary.
If they do not have a policy, you may be able to help them decide if a policy could benefit their loved ones.
Cross selling – Final Expense
Final expense insurance is a kind of life insurance. If the client does not have life insurance in place, this type of policy can help family members pay for their final expenses and avoid leaving them with a large bill after you are gone.
Cross selling – Annuities
These days many people want a safe place to invest their savings due to low interest rates at banks and stock market volatility. Simply ask your client if they are happy with their current rate of return on investments. Let them know a fixed indexed annuity can provide a dependable place to invest savings and a better return rate than many CDs. In many cases, you can offer them an annuity product that will provide a better return that what they currently have.
Now that we have given you a few products to consider adding to your portfolio, it is up to you to decide what will be the best value add.
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