Where are all the T65 leads with UHC?

[CarlosDanger]

Seriously. Are they all being captured by Telesales to save $$ on commissions? Or are consumers just enrolling themselves online and bypassing the agent/telesales channel? The last couple of meetings I've had with my fellow agents, they all report a drought in leads as well, so I don't think it's just me. I left a six figure job on the promise of 10,000 babyboomers retiring a day and no-more cold calling, and yet all UHC seems to send to the field are leads who are current PDP members with a possible LIS SEP, or OIS leads that are leftovers from what AARP couldn't capture and are 3wks old or more. What gives?

 

[somarco]

Your opening line most likely accounts for where the leads are going. The AARP endorsement means quite a few folks don't feel the need for an agent. They "trust" AARP for many reasons, not the least of which is their branded image.

I don't know the exact figures for in house / direct sales vs agents but it would not surprise me if 80% of their policyholders go direct.

Years ago BCBSGA got 85% of their policyholders direct. I doubt the numbers have changed much since then.

As for the 10,000 seniors turning 65, that part is true. But that is nationwide, not in your neighborhood or even your state.

Not everyone enrolls in Medicare at 65. Many continue to work past 65 and keep their company health insurance as long as they can.

Your competition is not other agents, or even the national call centers that spend thousands every month to capture eyeballs.

Your competitors are the carriers who likewise spend tens of thousands monthly to drive traffic. To a lesser extent you also have Medicare direct, SHIP counselors, social workers and any number of "non-profit" agencies where seniors believe they get unbiased information and probably at a lower cost because agent commissions are not paid out.

If you believed you were going to get the lay down leads right out of the box you are a bit delusional. Coffee, and the Glengarry leads are for closers.

Now, why did you leave a 6 figure job for one that, if you are really good, might pay half that your first year and the income is back end loaded?

 

[billyb]

Why does 10,000 baby boomers retiring nationwide every day make you think that guaranteed you a 6 figure income? Whoever told you no more cold calling may have not been truthful either. I would ask for my old job back before you are replaced. It will be years before you make that much money selling Medicare products.

 

[Northeast Agent]

Are you a captive or career agent with UHC or an independent broker? If a broker, maybe obtain some non-resident licenses, get a dialer and some non-resident licenses and call some other states for other carriers. I see you're in OH, the one state that you can't cold call seniors, anyway.

I don't buy T65 leads any longer as I found what Somarco said to be true, a lot of them are still working. Try the dialer for both T65 and also 67-75. I represent UHC/AARP but their MAPD is not at all competitive in my part of the state (except for the D-SNP). Their Med Supp is super expensive for T65's here, but if I go 30 minutes across the state line to NJ they are much more reasonable. So I don't sell much of them here unless no one else will accept them for a med supp.

 

[Josh]

Seriously. Are they all being captured by Telesales to save $$ on commissions? Or are consumers just enrolling themselves online and bypassing the agent/telesales channel? The last couple of meetings I've had with my fellow agents, they all report a drought in leads as well, so I don't think it's just me. I left a six figure job on the promise of 10,000 babyboomers retiring a day and no-more cold calling, and yet all UHC seems to send to the field are leads who are current PDP members with a possible LIS SEP, or OIS leads that are leftovers from what AARP couldn't capture and are 3wks old or more. What gives?

Recruiters promise a lot of things and in many ways I think they're worse than a used care salesperson. I realize the only thing I know about you is what you said in this post, but you might want to see if you can get your old job back.

Recruiters focus an awful lot on "dreams" and "opportunities" and they've been doing this forever. Are there 10,000 baby boomers a day retiring? Maybe, sounds about right. The problem with the opportunity is that a lot of carriers along with countless agencies are constantly recruiting to fit this "unmet" need.

If you want to have a career with the insurance industry, being able to do your own marketing and lead generation will guarantee success, anything else is much more risky.

 

[Chazm]

My advice is to ask for your old job back.

 

[sshafran]

Seriously. Are they all being captured by Telesales to save $$ on commissions? Or are consumers just enrolling themselves online and bypassing the agent/telesales channel? The last couple of meetings I've had with my fellow agents, they all report a drought in leads as well, so I don't think it's just me. I left a six figure job on the promise of 10,000 babyboomers retiring a day and no-more cold calling, and yet all UHC seems to send to the field are leads who are current PDP members with a possible LIS SEP, or OIS leads that are leftovers from what AARP couldn't capture and are 3wks old or more. What gives?

You can make six figures selling medicare supplements and medicare advantage plans. But you won't get there (at least not quickly) waiting on someone else to fill up your pipeline.

 

[CarlosDanger]

Thanks all for the input. I can't get my old job back because it doesn't exist anymore--That's why I left it--dying business model. And I was never under the impression that I would have 10,000 boomers knocking down my door, I was simply paraphrasing the UHC agent recruitment ad that I had responded to which now seems very misleading as they are sending 0 of those types of leads out to the field, and I've been with them for 3 years now. The hiring manager my first AEP said there was no reason every agent in the room shouldn't get 100 apps, which I sincerely believed at the time as I was coming off a 100% commission sales job that I had done very well at.

As for getting a dialer, I don't think my ICA contract allows us to cold-call, so I mostly do mass mailings and CM's. I actually really love this job, I just wondered if anyone knew why UHC bothers to recruit captive agents if they're keeping all the leads with telesales or some other internal policy that would explain the drought.

 

[sshafran]

Thanks all for the input. I can't get my old job back because it doesn't exist anymore--That's why I left it--dying business model. And I was never under the impression that I would have 10,000 boomers knocking down my door, I was simply paraphrasing the UHC agent recruitment ad that I had responded to which now seems very misleading as they are sending 0 of those types of leads out to the field, and I've been with them for 3 years now. The hiring manager my first AEP said there was no reason every agent in the room shouldn't get 100 apps, which I sincerely believed at the time as I was coming off a 100% commission sales job that I had done very well at.

As for getting a dialer, I don't think my ICA contract allows us to cold-call, so I mostly do mass mailings and CM's. I actually really love this job, I just wondered if anyone knew why UHC bothers to recruit captive agents if they're keeping all the leads with telesales or some other internal policy that would explain the drought.

Would you consider going independent? One other (small) factor - UHC was more popular with T65s in OH 2-3 yrs ago than it is today (at least in my experience working the T65 market in OH).

 

[CarlosDanger]

I have considered going independent, but not quite ready to pull the trigger on that yet. Giving it one more AEP and then I will reevaluate after the first of the year.