Im having issues with online health apps. How do you do your apps after closing a sale? Do you have your clients go to your site and apply from there? Or do you do a paper app? I closed about 10-12 people whom said there were ready to do an app and get covered and I told them to go to my site and they can do it online and save the $25.00 app fee. They all agreed that they would do it yet they haven't. When I follow up and ask if they had any questions about completing the app they all just say "well we are going to, we just haven't had time yet".
Online Apps
- Thread starter Golddoor
- Start date
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Well, you really didn't close them.
Most folks will not follow through and complete the app, even if it were only 2 questions. You have to walk them through the process, step by step.
What I do is take the information over the phone, filling in a paper application with their answers. I then transfer that to the e-app and complete it 90% of the way, sending it to them for final review, entering the payment information and submitting to the carrier. In some cases if there is extensive medical history, I will email them an abbreviated app with the medical questions, and have them use as a worksheet. When I call to get the info they have already found meds & dosage, doctor names & addresses, dates, etc.
Is this extra work?
Yes, but at least they have very little excuse for not following through when 90% of the app is completed for them. I still have tire kickers, procrastinators and folks who are "healthy" until you start listing all their meds, but I don't have a dozen people telling me they are going to complete the application and then never get around to it.
Face it. People are basically lazy.
- 14,808
When I do sales online I prefer filling out a paper app then faxing it to them for signatures. If I can't do that, I fill out the online application for them, then they E-sign.
In all cases I'm the one filling out the app. I NEVER let clients fill out applications because clients don't know how fill out an app. I put very detailed info about pre-exisiting conditions and also make sure all conditions are noted. You think client's do that on their own? No way.
Client will also stall if they have to fill it out. There's a lot of info on there - some of it they have to find, like doctors addresses and phone numbers. These are things I just do online searches for while I'm filling out the app for them.
Here's my lesson learned: was waiting over a week for a client to fill out their own app after they conveyed several times that they really wanted the coverage to begin. Stall after stall I finally got out of them that the husband had a surgery 7 years ago and they couldn't remember the name of the hospital. I Googled all the hospitals in the city they lived in and had it in about 10 seconds. In the mean time they had no intention of doing that research themselves.
I have a nice two step process for all of my leads. The first step is I qualify and send them out the information. I set a specific time for me to call back. The second step is calling back and narrowing down their choices. Then everyone gets this:
"I can either take your application over the phone and key it in online for you or we can meet and I can take your application then. Which do you prefer?"
This is my last time contacting that client. We're either:
A: Doing the app then over the phone.
B: Setting any appointment
C: I get blown off with "I'm busy washing my cat, can you call be back in say....10 months?"
And trust me; anything but A or B is a blow off. Move on. "You caught me at a bad time" is just code for "please be sharp enough to stop calling me and realize I don't want coverage now."
In all cases I'm the one filling out the app. I NEVER let clients fill out applications because clients don't know how fill out an app. I put very detailed info about pre-exisiting conditions and also make sure all conditions are noted. You think client's do that on their own? No way.
Client will also stall if they have to fill it out. There's a lot of info on there - some of it they have to find, like doctors addresses and phone numbers. These are things I just do online searches for while I'm filling out the app for them.
Here's my lesson learned: was waiting over a week for a client to fill out their own app after they conveyed several times that they really wanted the coverage to begin. Stall after stall I finally got out of them that the husband had a surgery 7 years ago and they couldn't remember the name of the hospital. I Googled all the hospitals in the city they lived in and had it in about 10 seconds. In the mean time they had no intention of doing that research themselves.
I have a nice two step process for all of my leads. The first step is I qualify and send them out the information. I set a specific time for me to call back. The second step is calling back and narrowing down their choices. Then everyone gets this:
"I can either take your application over the phone and key it in online for you or we can meet and I can take your application then. Which do you prefer?"
This is my last time contacting that client. We're either:
A: Doing the app then over the phone.
B: Setting any appointment
C: I get blown off with "I'm busy washing my cat, can you call be back in say....10 months?"
And trust me; anything but A or B is a blow off. Move on. "You caught me at a bad time" is just code for "please be sharp enough to stop calling me and realize I don't want coverage now."
i agree with john.... i do 100% of my apps online and over the phone, i havent ran an appt since about feb. the only thing i would add is i say... ok.. does this appear to be an upgrade in coverage (or, about the same as u have now but with lower premium) ?? when tey say yes... then i say... ok, all u need to do is give me about 15 minn of your time when u are at your computer, i will ask u a few nosey questions and submit it electronicly to the company and boom.. anywhere from one day to about 3 weeks it will be issused, i will then call u and let u know so u can then cancel what u have now.... so i set a telephone appt just like i used to do with physical appts.... when i call them i take them to the policy from my website and walk them through the benefits and then say... see... just what i told u over the phone and i start the app.... (p.s.... i did not check spelling on this.. so who knows..lol)
- Thread starter
- #5
Ok I guess I screwed up by trusting that they would do it. I guess I will live and learn from my mistakes! Im just waiting on one of those people to call me after they break their leg or find out they have cancer and still want to apply? :roll:
Thanks for the info guys!!
Thanks for the info guys!!
in this biz... trust no one and understand that EVERYONE is a lier... and anyone that thinks different is just kidding themself... and will write half of the biz that the agents that do understand it..... by the way... i understand it
- 1,908
Okay, I'm in the minority here. I have no problems with them not filling out the app online. I tell them that the quote is only good for 30 days, and that the company will not accept an application for that quote, either on line or paper any time after that.
I also assure them that they can do it at their leisure, and it is confidential. Saying that, I tell them that if they put any different information on the application that they have not told me, the rates may reflect that.
My feeling is, if they won't even fill out a three page application, then they probably won't be a client of mine very long anyway. The more you do for people, the less they will do for themselves, and less they will respect what you do.
Even if we are together, they will go online in front of me and they will fill it out. I don't want my fingerprints on anything. We are working with people who fill out hundreds of pages for buying a home, obtaining a business lease, etc. How little must they think of us, and what we do, where we become their secretaries when it comes to our applications. It's just as important as the others.
If I fill information in for them, then get them just to e-sing, when some claim is not paid in the future, they will bring that up, and that's not something I want to get involved in.
Do you go to the grocery store, then demand that the cashier take your list and go up and down the aisles, check you out, and bring it to your car?
Our paperwork is just as important as the real estate agent, the accountant, and the attorney. Heck, we fill out more paperwork when we visit the doctor!
I also assure them that they can do it at their leisure, and it is confidential. Saying that, I tell them that if they put any different information on the application that they have not told me, the rates may reflect that.
My feeling is, if they won't even fill out a three page application, then they probably won't be a client of mine very long anyway. The more you do for people, the less they will do for themselves, and less they will respect what you do.
Even if we are together, they will go online in front of me and they will fill it out. I don't want my fingerprints on anything. We are working with people who fill out hundreds of pages for buying a home, obtaining a business lease, etc. How little must they think of us, and what we do, where we become their secretaries when it comes to our applications. It's just as important as the others.
If I fill information in for them, then get them just to e-sing, when some claim is not paid in the future, they will bring that up, and that's not something I want to get involved in.
Do you go to the grocery store, then demand that the cashier take your list and go up and down the aisles, check you out, and bring it to your car?
Our paperwork is just as important as the real estate agent, the accountant, and the attorney. Heck, we fill out more paperwork when we visit the doctor!
- 14,808
Again I state I don't want clients filling out their own apps. Often the handwriting is so horrible that I can't make out half the app. They also do not fully disclose their conditions nor do they write the proper things about those conditions that the underwriters need. Then it's off for an APS.
When I got car insurance I called and the agent did the entire app for me over the phone in about 20 minutes. I didn't think any less of him because he didn't just throw the package in the mail and say "fill this all out on your own and fax it back to me when you're done." In fact, if he would have done that I probably would never have filled it out.
I can 100% guarantee you that if I just faxed or mailed blank applications to my clients my business would be down over 75%.
When I got car insurance I called and the agent did the entire app for me over the phone in about 20 minutes. I didn't think any less of him because he didn't just throw the package in the mail and say "fill this all out on your own and fax it back to me when you're done." In fact, if he would have done that I probably would never have filled it out.
I can 100% guarantee you that if I just faxed or mailed blank applications to my clients my business would be down over 75%.
Golddoor said:Ok I guess I screwed up by trusting that they would do it. I guess I will live and learn from my mistakes! Im just waiting on one of those people to call me after they break their leg or find out they have cancer and still want to apply? :roll:
Thanks for the info guys!!
Just a thought, why not touch bases with these people since I think you probably built up some kind of rapport already and maybe help a few people that might still be on the fence. Call and set up a face to face appt or walk them through the online app.
Personally, I rarely use the online app because of similar problems you had ( I didn't know any better either! ). The majority of my apps I write face to face either in office (mostly) or at my clients home. AND, I always fill it out myself and just have my clients sign the app. Just my 2 cents.
Joseph
- 1,908
Getting car insurance is a LITTLE bit different than getting health insurance.
Next time you go to the doctor, tell the practice manager to fill out the form for you. Tell her the same thing you told me, that the auto insurance guy filled out your paperwork, and you don't think any less of him. See if she'll do it.
Or better yet, when you are holiday shopping, have the cashier fill out your check for you. Just whip it out, and hand her the pen!
If my handwriting is on the application, and there is a claim that is not paid, or any miscommunication, you better bet that the applicant/client is not going to say, "Oh, it's my fault." They are more likely to say, "That's the agents' handwriting, not mine."
Hope your E&O is up to date.
Next time you go to the doctor, tell the practice manager to fill out the form for you. Tell her the same thing you told me, that the auto insurance guy filled out your paperwork, and you don't think any less of him. See if she'll do it.
Or better yet, when you are holiday shopping, have the cashier fill out your check for you. Just whip it out, and hand her the pen!
If my handwriting is on the application, and there is a claim that is not paid, or any miscommunication, you better bet that the applicant/client is not going to say, "Oh, it's my fault." They are more likely to say, "That's the agents' handwriting, not mine."
Hope your E&O is up to date.
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