As an insurance agent, you know that some customers are on a tight budget – and seniors can have even less extra money than others to put towards their healthcare. The majority of seniors live on a fixed income, because they are no longer working and have to rely on their retirement savings to last for the rest of their lives. For this reason, they have to budget wisely; this is especially important when it comes to their healthcare expenses, since Medicare does not cover everything, and the cost of it continues to rise every year. That means that if you’re working with Medicare beneficiaries, they will be looking for ways to save as much money as they can! Medicare Supplement Plans will help them, but before you make your sales pitch to a Medicare beneficiary, you first have to understand how to work with customers who have different budgets.
Gather Information
No two clients will have the same needs or budget, so in order to best help your Medicare client, you will need to know what they can and cannot afford. It can be awkward to discuss their finances and budget, so you need to keep the conversation going in a professional manner: instead of hounding them with questions about it, casually bring it up in conversation and let them know that they can feel comfortable discussing their finances with you. Once you get a better understanding of what their finances look like, you can suggest either a more comprehensive Medicare Supplement Plan, like Plan N or G, or a more basic plan, like Plan A.
Compare Quotes
Everyone loves a deal, but everyone also loves to see side-by-side comparisons and breakdowns of their options. Once you’ve established what kind of budget your customer is working with, you can dive into comparing Medicare Supplement Plans and providing them with quotes. Remember, don’t make the mistake of only providing your customer with the top few plans that you think will work for them; provide them with all of their options and help them figure out which plan will fit into their specific budget.
Explain What Expenses To Expect
After you’ve reviewed all plan options with your customer, make sure to go over all the expenses they should expect with their plan before they make their decision. You already know that each Medicare Supplement Plan offers different levels of coverage at different price points, but these plans are new to your customer, so it is important that you take the time to go over what they can expect to pay throughout the year. Remember to explain how much Medicare’s Part A and Part B deductibles, premiums, and coinsurance will cost them, so they can add these expenses to the price of the plan they’ve chosen; this will give them a better idea of how much they should budget for healthcare for the year. This is good for your customer and good for you – a customer who knows exactly what to expect is less likely to be unhappy with their plan.
It’s not always easy to talk to a customer about their finances, but it is important to do so, so that you can help them find a plan that fits their budget. If you don’t take the time to do this, you could end up losing a customer through disenrollment, which would also mean losing the commission for that sale. Instead, through conversations with your client, make it clear that by understanding their expenses for the year, you will both be better equipped to choose a budget-friendly plan. Just remember to go over what they can expect, and go that extra mile to make sure the plan is right for them, so you don’t both lose out in the end.
