If you’re a senior health insurance agent looking to grow your business, selling solely Medicare Advantage plans and/or Medicare Supplements will only get you so far.
You know better than to “put all of your eggs in one basket” in regards to your stock portfolio. The same logic applies to your portfolio of health insurance products.
Listen to this article:
To attract more clients and generate additional commissions, you must consider “investing in” ancillary products.
What does ancillary mean? These insurance plans provide beneficiaries coverage that supplements their major medical coverage. There are several different types, such as hospital indemnity plans, critical illness plans, and dental, vision, and hearing plans. Want to know how to grow your business fast? Offer these “extras” to your clients.
Make Prospecting a Breeze
By contracting to sell ancillary benefits, you can expand your client base more easily.
When you exclusively sell Medicare Advantage or Medicare Supplement plans, only a certain subset of seniors will find your services attractive: those who want to change their major medical coverage. However, when you offer ancillary products, your services also become appealing to seniors who simply need additional coverage.
By offering ancillary products, your services become appealing to seniors who need additional coverage.
Original Medicare and Medicare Supplements don’t provide much coverage when it comes to dental, vision, and hearing services and long-term or short-term care. Dental, vision, and hearing plans in particular are widely needed among seniors. By promoting products that can fill in coverage gaps and lessen out-of-pocket expenses, you can catch more prospects’ attention.
Offering ancillary products also differentiates you from your competition. While a large portion of senior market agents sell Medicare Advantage or Medicare Supplement plans, fewer sell dental or critical illness plans. Supporting these product lines can set your business apart from the masses, giving you the upper hand.
Further, offering ancillary benefits allows you to connect with more clients and ultimately provides you with your “bread and butter” sales. With ancillary products, you can sell year-round to individuals both over and under 65. Plus, writing a dental plan, for example, is an easy way to get your foot in the door. Once your prospect becomes your client, you can develop that relationship and discuss their primary coverage when the time’s right.
Bolster Your Current Book of Business
Putting ancillary services in your portfolio can also help you make the most out of your current book of business.
Your existing clients are the best leads possible; they’re free and already comfortable with you as their advisor. Products such as hospital indemnity plans are an easy cross-sale to cover Medicare Advantage hospital copays. While you’re discussing your clients’ inpatient hospital benefits, you can naturally bring these plans into the conversation.
Marketing coverage for ancillary services can also allow you to meet more of your clients’ needs and build client loyalty. Many people like the convenience and ease of doing all of their health insurance business through one person. By selling ancillary plans, you’d be better able to serve as their one-stop shop. Additionally, clients with multiple policies through you have less need to shop around elsewhere. Therefore, offering ancillary products could also improve your client retention.
Marketing coverage for ancillary services allows you to meet clients’ needs and build client loyalty
Pave Your Path to Success
Health insurance is a risky business (pun intended). Branching out and promoting multiple product lines is essential for agents to secure a steady flow of income during the on and off-seasons of their major products.
The universal demand for ancillary products and the diverse and advantageous nature of their benefits makes them an excellent complement to your senior market products. Whether you want to improve your business a lot or a little, adding coverage for ancillary services to your portfolio could just be one of your best decisions yet.
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