As you begin to have proactive conversations with your clients to ensure they have a proper enhanced benefits offering that complements your recommended overall health care strategy, its important that you understand all of the products and services that are available within the marketplace. Last month, I discussed how the most influential disrupter to the enhanced benefits industry must be …
Voluntary disruption
I would argue that the most influential disrupter to our industry must be the willingness of the broker community at large to adjust, adapt, and embrace our ever-changing market. “Disrupter” is the term most often used to describe health care industry thought leaders like Mark Gaunya of Borislow Insurance in Boston, Massachusetts, and Andy Neary of VolkBell in Longmont, CO. These consultants, …
How to adopt a time-proven sales closing strategy
Seventeen years ago, I was a college intern with zero sales experience and no insurance background. My manager was an old-school sales pro who preferred to have a conversation with prospects, and for the most part, shoot from the hip. To say he wasn’t a great closer, however, would be a lie. In fact, he remains one of the top …
How to close deals faster
Give me a “yes.” Give me a “no.” Just don’t give me a “maybe.” “Seems like a good idea, but we’re very busy right now.” “Thanks for coming in; call me in two weeks to discuss.” “I like what I hear so far; I’ll call you after I read everything.” “Sounds good; I’ll think about it.” Sound familiar? Whether I …
3 simple ways to crush enhanced benefits open enrollments
Raise your hand if you’ve ever had an enhanced benefits (formerly known as voluntary benefits) open enrollment not go exactly as you envisioned or would have liked. If you’re one of the few who has never had this happen and you have a perfect open enrollment season score, then I applaud you with a raised and very suspicious eyebrow. For …
The millennial marketing tactic your competitors aren’t using
“Hey cuz, do you Snap?” That’s the question my millennial client asked me a couple of years ago via text message. My response was probably not very different from yours would have been at that time and probably is still: ‘Isn’t Snapchat just for teens sending each other questionable videos?’ Similar things were initially said about text messaging, YouTube, Facebook, …
How ‘ancillary’ and ‘voluntary’ are hurting enhanced benefit sales
As an intern, green as can be, I found out the hard way that words are very powerful things that have intense meaning. I’d just closed my first 50-life case and couldn’t wait for the employee group meeting. Visions of 80% employee participation were letting my mind cash checks that inevitably my mouth hadn’t yet written. While presenting, I proceeded …
10.5 ways coaching youth baseball is the same as leading a sales team — Part 3
Over the last many weeks, I’ve shared with you the first seven ways that coaching my daughter’s youth baseball team was the same as coaching all of my sales teams throughout the course of my 16-year professional career. (See Part 1 and Part 2.) I hope you’re as excited to see the final similarities revealed as I am to share …
10.5 ways coaching youth baseball is the same as leading a sales team – Part 2
Last time, I shared with you the first three ways that coaching my daughter’s youth baseball team was the same as coaching all of my sales teams throughout the course of my 16-year professional career. This time, I’m continuing down the list starting with No.4, in this second of a three-part series. 4) I was fortunate enough to have a …
10.5 ways coaching youth baseball is the same as leading a sales team
My daughter is playing baseball, not softball. Why, you ask? How about, why not? When recruiting new sales professionals to join my sales team, it never crosses my mind that I should only hire a man because women can’t be in sales. That would be akin to telling the qualified and talented women I interview that they’d be better off …