- Hey everybody, I am Rebecca Gordon.
And this is...
- Erin Bennett.
My special guest.
Sylvia, right now is on a special assignment.
I think looking at hurricanes,
on a hurricane watch someplace.
So I hope she is safe.
So the cool thing about it just being me,
I don't have big sissy breathing down my neck.
We're gonna talk about OEP
and what you can do to stay relevant with your clients.
Stay tuned.
(Logo thud)
Alright.
So, first off, I want to show this video.
You all know that we made these super awesome t-shirts
for our show, the weekly Wednesday Wrap Up.
They are autographed.
And for every one that you buy,
100% of the proceeds is going to go to NICU.
All right? So we're not making anything off of this.
But we are supporting the best cause for us agents,
that there is NICU.
So you buy a shirt, you hit us up in the comments
we'll send it to you.
Send us a picture of you wearing the shirt
we're gonna show you on the show.
Right here is, Ced looking super handsome.
In fact, I think the shirt
makes him look more handsome.
- Yes, definitely.
- So it's guaranteed to make you look thinner
and more handsome.
- And younger.
He's actually 10, now.
So support NICU.
They support us.
This is a great cause.
20 bucks and you'll look super cool.
There's my plug.
All right.So we just started in January and we're an OEP.
- Yes.
- And what's really cool about having Erin with us today,
Erin has probably over 1200 senior clients.
- Yes.
- You've been doing this a long, long time.
- Yep, quite a few years now.
- And if any of you have been to our office
for training or seen any of our videos,
good chance you could have seen Erin.
She writes a ton of D snips.
I'm pretty sure she's had almost every scenario
that could hit you.
So we are a OEP.
So January to...
- March 31st.
And, are you afraid that your clients
are going to get any calls from anybody trying to sway them,
since this is kinda that period where you can switch.
- You can switch,
but you can't call clients to switch.
So, I would hope folks aren't calling my clients
'cause I think that breaks the CMS rules.
But, they are still running all the ads from AEP
so clients can call in.
And if the client calls in and says,
"Hey, I have this plan."
Someone could say,
"Oh, I have a better plan for you."
- Right, so all the carriers is still all the commercials.
- Right.
Are still out there.
And they can still,
I just saw one last night.
So I'm like,
You know, it kinda makes it
makes it ware if a client isn't loyal to you,
or lost your business card.
- Right.
- Could just reach out to that
and they could switch them and then you lose them.
And that's their only time they can switch.
It's a one-time switch.
So it couldn't be like,
they call me in March, then and say,
"Oh, Erin, I made a mistake."
I couldn't switch them.
- It's too late.
So, what are some things
I like to call this,
and actually this is your phrase,
staying sticky with your clients.
You know, I look at this first quarter as kind of that...
It's a sensitive time,
all that hard work and you're right.
They see a commercial and they think,
"Oh heck, maybe I still have time to better my plan."
or heck we can't blame consumers.
I mean, this stuff is confusing.
What are things that as agents,
we need to be doing
this first quarter to stay sticky
so we don't lose our clients.
- Number one, make sure they got their cards.
Make sure they understand how to use their cards.
You know, some folks jump off
of a Medicare supplement into an Advantage Plan.
So make sure that they understand they're only
going to be giving their Advantage Plan card now.
Make sure that they've given it to the pharmacy.
Just make sure that they're up to date with their doctors.
They're up to date with their pharmacies.
And they know how to use it,
moving forward.
Also the, over-the-counter benefits.
They do, you know, it's free product.
So, all clients like everything free
and if you're showing them how to get more things for free.
- So, how does that call look for you?
If you're calling some of your new clients,
maybe newer relationships,
what is that OTC call look like?
If you're gonna call them in January.
- So I'm just, I'm reminding them.
Because that was part of what they, you know,
they liked about the plan.
So you just wanna make sure they're using it.
Did they get their catalog?
Cause some will accidentally throw it away.
The carriers do send so much paperwork
and stuff that it could have got thrown away.
Hey, let me drop one in the mail to you.
I make sure I have a copy of each of those for them,
making sure they understand it's a quarterly.
Not a monthly but a quarterly,
and that they're utilizing it.
- Do you go through and help them place that first order?
'Cause I know, in looking at the different carriers,
you know, you have to do it this way over here or this way.
- And I walked them through it.
A lot of my clients in that senior range
like to do the paper or the call-in.
I don't have very many that like to get on the computer
and do it.
Probably the most confusing one is
when they have the Walmart option.
Because they think they can just go
use that card at Walmart.
So that really does take some understanding
and make sure that they're clear on it.
But you know
once they use it the first time, they pretty much know.
And again, just to keep that stickiness going,
in April, I'll just do another quick call.
"Hey, remember your benefits reset."
I don't do it every quarter.
I do remind my D snips a little more.
Because they definitely need it and they're so loyal.
When they get $300 a quarter,
that's $1,200 a year to them.
- It's a lot.
- That's a lot of benefits
that they really really appreciate.
They're so thankful.
- So is there something that you traditionally do
with your clients?
Like the first 30 days of an OEP.
So January,
do you do something in February,
do you do something in March?
- Traditionally getting through all my clients,
can take me that length of time.
But a lot of the times I will say to them,
"Give me a call if you have questions.
If you get a snag on that over the counter.
If you go to the doctor, and there's a snag
the doctor fell out of network, call me right away.
We have time to make that change."
I let them know that, you know, if there are any snags
we have time to fix it.
If we fix it before the end of March.
So I don't necessarily tell them right off the bat,
"Oh we can change your plan if you don't like it."
But I do let them know
if there's a snag within the first three months of the year
we can revisit it.
- I know,
Something Sylvia has talked about
on the show several times is that she likes to
encourage her clients to,
during that first 90 days
fill a prescription, make sure it's smooth.
Get your physical, make sure they're still in network.
Make sure it's smooth so that we can react.
- Right? (indistinct)
That's why I tell them,
"Make sure that the pharmacy has your card.
The pharmacy takes that card
and that all your prescriptions are in."
I mean, we looked them up.
'Cause we'll always look them up prior to.
But doctors can fall out anytime during the year.
So I'm always like try to go
to your doctor the first quarter.
Do your blood work, do everything.
Because if you set it that way, then you know every year.
So I try to get them to be in a routine,
not just check in for their insurance card,
but checking their routine for their own health.
That they know every January, February
they're going to their doctors
and they're renewing their prescriptions
and they kind of get on a schedule.
And then they have it in their head,
'cause a lot of them will be like,
"Well, when did I sign up with you?"
And so it just helps.
That's the annual.
- Well, I do that.
Just, I keep myself and my kids on a routine.
My God, keeps me straight.
You mentioned something in the very beginning
about making sure that your clients have their ID cards
because we are getting calls from agents
that some of the carriers are very late
on getting ID cards out.
- One in particular.
- One in particular is awfully late
and yeah,
it's making our phones ring
and you, the agent's phones ring.
So putting being proactive on with your clients
have you gotten a,
"They're coming and kind of..."
- And so what I do a lot
of times when I know I'm calling that client
'cause I have to pull their account up anyways,
I'll go into that carrier's website,
find their account number
and then I'll go in and find all the pharmacy information
and email it to them or give them,
"Hey, when you go to the pharmacy,
they're gonna need the bin, the PCN and the group."
and give them all that information.
Because the prescriptions are the first thing
in the first of the year that they may need refilled.
So when I'm calling, I have their group
or I have their policy number
that the pharmacy would need to find them.
And then all that information.
- Are you mailing that to them as well?
Are you emailing?
- I email.
- You do email.
- I email a lot.
Also, some clients don't have emails.
They'll have me call their pharmacy for them.
Which, it's another step.
But again, it's keeping the loyalty there.
You take that extra step,
you call the pharmacist.
The pharmacist knows what they need.
I know what the pharmacist needs.
I have it ready so(indistinct).
- And the way you do it speaks volumes.
Your retention is amazing.
The referral amount that you get
is astonishing.
Well, that is great advice.
And I appreciate you being here today.
- Oh, you're welcome.
- And this is a critical time,
there's January, February, March.
Be touching your clients, be sticky, be relevant.
Because like Erin said,
they're seeing the commercials
and the people are thinking,
"Wow if those commercials are still on,
I guess I still have time."
- Exactly.
- And then that could lead to you losing a client.
So, thanks for watching.
If you have any questions,
hit us up in the comments.
Please,
like, love, share us.
Please, please.
And I thank you
and I hope you have good selling.
Happy new year.
We'll talk to you soon.
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