There are a couple of things you can do to prepare for and improve your AEP Medicare sales.
Preparation is going to be key as there is seemingly a gold rush for Medicare. More and more insurance agents are wanting to sell Medicare because of the growing number of 65-year-olds.
So, to get a leg up, you’re going to have to prepare for Medicare’s Annual Enrollment Period (AEP).
Pre-AEP Medicare sales tip: Warm them up
Before the Annual Enrollment Period begins, warm up your prospects.
You’re likely thinking, “Isn’t that illegal?” Not if you’re careful.
What you are not allowed to do before Oct. 15 is sell. However, there is no sanction or fine for simply keeping in touch.
So, to gain an advantage on all these newbies and your other competition for AEP Medicare sales is push some of your marketing dollars towards an earlier date.
There is going to be tons of advertising throughout the AEP. Depending on the competition level in your area, a Medicare prospect could be receiving several pieces of direct mail advertising a day.
That’s not counting TV ads, digital marketing, print advertisement in their newspaper, and etc.
However, there will be much less struggle for attention beforehand.
So, let’s look at what you can and can’t do.
How to legally advertise before AEP
You cannot directly sell your products before Medicare’s AEP.
That means you cannot have any of these things in your advertisements before Oct. 15:
- Specific benefits regarding your policies
- Pricing for your policies
- Any call-to-action regarding sales
What you can do is have friendly reminders about the upcoming AEP, encourage them to inform themselves regarding Medicare, and maybe put a little information about your business (without any call-to-action, though).
While this sounds like a waste of your marketing budget, what it does is show the prospect you are not a fly-by-night operation. Your business will have a better recall when it comes time for them to make a decision regarding their Medicare coverage. Some of the prospects you’ll hit will notice you’ve been reaching out to them a lot longer than others, who showed up when it was most convenient.
And same as campaigns you run during AEP, these advertisements are perfectly legal to run across all platforms of media.
If you’re looking for other pre-AEP Medicare sales tips, Cody Askins works with some of the top Medicare agents in the country and can help you become a power player as well.