How to Sell Medicare Plans Over the Phone

Selling Medicare Advantage and other Medicare products to seniors over the phone takes a slightly different approach compared to selling face to face. Your physical presence and all the things that flow from that interaction are not available to you and must be accounted for when you’re not in front of your prospect.

When selling to a prospect over the phone remember these 8 things:

• Craft a Good Script
• Know Your Plans Before You Pick Up the Phone
• Take Time to Rehearse Calls
• Let Your Personality Shine Through
• Find a Way to Differentiate Yourself
• Strike While the Lead is Hot
• Have a Clear Concise Closing Strategy
• Offer Online Enrollment
• Craft a good script

Craft a Good Script

Creating a script doesn’t mean you read from that page word for word. You want to be able to memorize the key points and direction you will take on the call. Expect to be interrupted, and practice that when rehearsing.

Your script is designed with a purpose but it has to be conversational. You don't want to just start talking at your prospect for 15 minutes about how great you are. If your doing most of the talking, which sales people are known to do, you aren't asking enough questions.

You want to ask the right questions that will inform you of their situation so you can guide the direction of the conversation. That means you have to allow your prospect to participate in the process, so don’t forget to leave space for them to weigh in.

Think of it like a tennis match. Serve up an idea and wait for a return and keep the back and forth going as long as it’s in your planned direction. If it veers off course, its up to you to take over and bring it back on track. You want to ask questions that will reveal what current plans your prospect may have as well as any information that would help determine the type of plan that is right for them.

Know Your Plans Before You Pick Up the Phone

This remains the same whether you’re selling over the phone or in person, but it’s important to note for anyone just getting started. After the introduction and letting your prospect know the benefit your service will provide them, it’s time to start asking the right questions.

These questions will depend on the products you’re selling and the needs of your prospect.

For starters, you are trying to gain an understanding of your clients health situation, what they are looking for in health coverage, and what plans could give them the coverage they need and fits their budget.

In order to do this properly you will have to be certified to sell with at least a few competitive advantage carriers, and understand the coverage they provide. You will also want to have some ancillary plans that can cover the gaps.

Prepare by learning all you can about the strengths and weakness of each of the plans you offer. Having a good understanding of the different plans and how they can work together will allow you to quickly identify possible plan combinations for your prospects over the phone.

Take Time to Rehearse Calls

Rehearsing means practicing in the truest sense of the word. You want to practice the skills just like you would any other. Take it seriously and, if you can, get some help to play the role of the listener.

Get your game face on: You aren’t face to face with the customer, but your attitude will translate over the phone, so smile before you pickup the phone.

In 2008, a study by scientists in the UK found that smiling when you speak will change the tone and sound of your voice and may subconsciously inspire the person listening to you to smile.

The sound of your voice makes when smiling can be picked up on, subconsciously, by a listener. It not only marks your voice as friendly, but encourages a smile on the face of a listener.

It’s not magic but it is how human beings have been hard wired to react. Smiles are simply contagious, whether you’re over the phone or in person. Don’t overuse or force the technique, but also don’t underestimate it.

Check your attitude and energy: Don’t overdo this or try to fake too much enthusiasm. This can be sensed pretty easily. Try to find a way to get yourself in a good mood, with the intent to help people, and that energy will come through in your presentation.

Faking anything is usually pretty obvious, and may just make you seem disingenuous.

Make sure you’re speaking slowly and clearly: Many sales people tend to speak quickly when there on the phone, whether it’s due to nerves, excitement, or just trying to hit their call quota. It’s generally a bad habit. You don’t have to waste time, just don’t rush. Also, remember to reduce or remove the filler words, um, ahh, err, etc.

When speaking to seniors you want to be absolutely sure your speaking clear enough for them to hear and understand you. Make it a point to pay attention to your dictation and your rate of speech. The best script in the world won’t help you if your prospect doesn’t understand you clearly.

Maintain good posture: This is an easy one to forget, especially by late afternoon. If your slumped over on the phone your tone an energy level will reflect that. Try to alternate between sitting and standing to ensure you don’t get too relaxed. When you’re sitting, pay attention to your posture and your voice and attitude will reflect that.

Add verbal cues to replace visual cues: When you’re face to face with your prospect they can see your smile, hand movements, head nods, etc. These are normal responses we expect to see when talking to someone. When you’re on the phone with a prospect you’ll want to get these mannerisms across verbally. If you naturally make these motions when you speak, then continue to do so while on the phone, and add a vocal equivalent.

For example, if you are nodding in agreement, give a verbal cue such as stating “ok”, or “sure I see”. Whatever the verbal cue is that comes to mind. They can’t see the gesture, but when you verbalize the gesture it gives the same kind of flow to the conversation.

Let your Personality Shine Through

It’s important to be seen as approachable and authentic over the phone. You can do this by building rapport with your prospect. If they seem willing, ask questions about their children / grandchildren, etc.

Share personal stories with your prospects, tell a funny story if you have one. Do whatever you can to come across as friendly and caring. Since your prospect isn't able to look you in the eyes and see you smile, you are going to need to get that same feeling across with words.

Remember to use your normal hand and body movements while you're on the phone with your prospect. Moving naturally will allow your voice and personality to come through more authentically.

The techniques you use will vary wildly from person to person as it needs to be authentic and personal to each agent. Let your personality shine through with the sound of your voice and the words you choose while building rapport with your prospect.

Don't let the conversation turn into a dull question and answer session that will have your prospect just waiting for an opportunity to end the call.

Find a Way to Differentiate Yourself

One of the best ways to stand out in the  crowd is with Social Proof:

Social Proof is the process of using others reviews or testimonials to help people gain trust in the service you provide. This can be done over the phone as well, but you will need to share it with your prospect in the form of a story, detailing how you helped someone else with a similar problem.

This will help build confidence and trust in your abilities to help your prospects. They will have an easier time felling like you can honestly help them with their situation if you share a story about how you helped someone else in the same way.

Put reviews on as much of your marketing materials as possible. Put them on your website, marketing flyers, email signature, etc. This can help reduce the friction that lack of trust creates before your prospects get to know you better.

Strike While the Lead is Hot

Studies have shown that by waiting 10 minutes to call a lead rather than calling in the first 5 minutes, your odds of qualifying the lead decreases 4 times. Your odds when calling a lead within 30 minutes instead of the first 5 minutes decrease 21 times. By waiting an hour after the lead is created to contact the lead, you are fighting an uphill battle.

And if you wait 3 days to call a lead your odds have decreased several thousand times! This is extremely important information for all sales people. The chart below shows how the contact and qualification rate are affected by time.

There is additional information that shows that by calling after 20 hours or more after the lead was created, you are actually hurting your chances by calling a lead. Meaning, the prospect is turned off by waiting so long.

Does this mean you should stop calling after 20 hours? That would be a little unrealistic, but it certainly highlights the importance of contacting a lead as soon after it is created as possible.

At some point before or around that 20 hour mark, your lead may turn cold. You will either have to simply deal with the long odds or have a plan to warm the lead again somehow prior to calling.

Important to note: The information for these statistics is from 2007. With the “I want it now” culture of today, it’s even more critical to contact your leads ASAP.

Have a Clear and Concise Closing Strategy

Closing isn’t something you do at the end of a sales pitch. It requires a foundation built throughout your sales process.

Check out our article for a deeper dive on closing

These are the basic steps, in no particular order:

• Listen intently. Remember, your providing a solution to a problem
• Use the power of stories
• Limit your offer to a few good options
• Highlight the value to justify the price
• Ask the right questions and they will close themselves
• Summarize previously agreed upon points

If you are doing these things throughout your presentation, you will naturally come to a close with your prospect without seeming pushy.

Offer Online Enrollment

You will need the right tools to be efficient as well as to be able to quote plans quickly and offer your prospects the ability to enroll online.

Let’s look at a few reasons why you should be using E-Applications:

E-Apps are a great way to submit business. They are quick and easy for agents and clients alike, and can be signed electronically. An application that may take you 30-40 minutes by paper may take you just 10 minutes online.

You can pre-qualify your clients by answering required health questions.

Most insurance companies are offering bonuses to agents when they use e-apps. Why are they doing this? Because they benefit from the efficiency of online applications just like everyone else does. As agents turn more and more to online applications it allows insurance companies to streamline their business around that process.

Some carriers offer immediate underwriting approval. With these carriers you know on the spot if your client is declined. No more waiting for days just to find out the app was approved or not.

Don’t think of handling applications online as a novel method to be used in just a few circumstances. There is no reason not to be using e-apps as often as possible. It will benefit you, your clients and the carrier if you do.

Final Thoughts

In many ways selling over the phone is just like selling face to face. Your sales process won’t change that much. Nevertheless, there are a number of constraints a phone presentation places on you that need to be addressed. By understanding the challenges unique to phone sales, you can adjust your technique accordingly, and continue to be successful in any situation.

Note:

Medicare Advantage(MA) has it’s own set of regulations and restrictions you must be aware of if you are going to sell it. If you aren’t already selling MA we think you should at least consider it. The MA market is growing and evolving, and plans are selling very well.

Check out these articles for more info pertaining to Medicare Advantage:

• How to Become Certified to Sell Medicare Advantage
• Staying Compliant Before the Sale