Cold Calling for Medicare Supplements

kastonebreaker

I am a licensed insurance agent. I have recently attempted to break into Medicare Supplement sales. I thought it would be a rewarding experience to help seniors become prepared for this new phase in their life, but I'm actually feeling utterly frustrated. I found out really quickly how hesitant and untrusting the senior population is when it comes to Medicare, and in many cases it's with good reason. I've found that as soon as I mention the words: "I'm calling from the Medicare Division of XYZ Insurance Company" they are so quick to get off the phone that I don't even have time to say goodbye. But, of course, if I don't mention Insurance Company they always ask me right away where I'm calling from. Does anybody have any advice on how to approach the senior population with the apparently touchy subject of Medicare?

Any help is much appreciated!

SpeedRacer

As a starting point, based on your company's records why do customers buy this product and why do they buy from your organization?

kastonebreaker

Well my company is a pioneer in the business of Medicare Supplements. We focus on Part B, C, and F, which are great supplements to the Part A they automatically get enrolled in upon turning 65. The cost of the supplements is very reasonable, they have choice of physician, and we have the ratings to back up our product.

Skip Anderson

First of all, are you certain you're getting more rejection on these products that on other products?

Anyway, how about something like:

"...my customers tell me they're very nervous about Medicare plans and nervous about people who sell Medicare plans on the phone. Would you say you are nervous about those same things?"

If they say "yes", you've gotten your first "yes", and that's a great place to start. Then you can spend a moment putting them at ease. If they say "no", then you can just dive into your script.

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Skip Anderson
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Houston

Buying Facilitation questions like, "How would you know when it was time to reconsider health care coverage and possibly add new supplements to what you're already doing?" might help. Buying Facilitation is Sharon Drew Morgen's realm so if you have questions about the questions she's the one to ask. She's a member here so you could probably send her a PM.

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It's just that simple and it's just that hard.

kastonebreaker

These are really helpful ideas to really perfecting my script as well as having a response to rebuttles. I've attempted more calls today armed with your advice and am still not able to utilize it b/c I can't get passed an introduction. Law of large numbers is not on my side today! lol Medicare and Insurance are scary words. Any advice on perfecting the intro? I open with this: "My name is XYZ and I'm calling from the Medicare Division of United American." I then go into benefits and how I can help. Am I far off base here? It's entirely possible as this is my first position that involves cold calling.