Let's get right to the point: Using my services as an independent local agent doesn't cost you a thing. Period. Quite often when I'm first talking with a prospective client they warily ask something like, "Uh, so, do I pay you somehow for your help?" Possibly they are thinking, hey, I can do all the research myself and save the cost of using an agent. That's just absolutely incorrect because that's not how agents get paid. In fact, we are prohibited from charging for our education and enrollment activity. So, how do we get paid? The good news is that agents get paid by the insurance companies they represent when they enroll you in coverage. And you pay exactly the same rate for your insurance whether or not you use a local agent as a Medicare consultant. There is no extra fee or cost for enrolling through a local agent like me.
Let Me Say That Again...
It's important to emphazise that the actual enrollment of a prospect into a plan is how I get paid. All the time we spend together getting you enrolled in Medicare, filing the appropriate forms to avoid late enrollment penalties, educating you about the basics of Medicare, reviewing your health situation and arriving at an appropriate plan choice to fit your specific circumstances; all of that happens before the enrollment. It's the actual enrollment that compensates me for all of the time we spend together reaching that point. This is why I emphasize to my clients: I will spend as much time as we need for you to reach a point of certainty about your choice of plans, but please continue to work with me for your actual enrollment because that is how I get compensated.
How Agents Lose Enrollments
Here are the ways that agents lose out on the actual enrollment after spending significant time with a prospect:
prospect thinks they don't want to "bother" the agent and so they enroll online instead of with the agent
prospect gets a call from a outbound call center and decides they may just as well enroll with them because the call happens to come at a convenient time
prospect thinks they will avoid having to pay the agent if they don't actually enroll with the agent (but now you know that that is not how agents get paid, right?)
prospect has a friend or relative in the business and is using the agent for their experience but gives the enrollment to the friend or relative (yes, this happens)
Please Enroll With Me
After we have spent time together helping you to reach an enrollment decision, please enroll me so that I can be properly compensated for my efforts. I will be there for you after the enrollment to support you in your use of Medicare coverage, something that a call center agent won't do. I will stay in touch with you throughout the year through email, newsletters and phone calls. And I will contact you around the annual enrollment period (AEP) to see if any changes to your coverage should be considered. So, by all means, please enroll with me so I can continue to support you on your Medicare journey!