As we wrap up AEP, the hustle and bustle of signing new clients is all but over. However the work doesn’t stop at the completion of the application, in order to build a good reputation in the industry and rapport with your clients, you’ll need to stay in touch with your clients, we’ll discuss why and how in more detail below.
How to stay in touch with new clients after the contract is signed
Establish a System to Follow up with Clients
A great resource to reference in regards to following up with clients is Humana’s 3-30-60-90 Conversation Guide. It explains how to effectively follow up with clients within the 3 months following you signing your client to a plan. Here is a brief summary:
3 Days after you have enrolled the client, call and thank them for their business and review what materials they will be receiving via email/mail.
30 Days after enrollment call and ensure your client has received all materials, including their ID Card. Also cover the benefits of their plan briefly and be sure to they have an understanding of how to take advantage of those benefits.
60 days after enrolling check in on your client to see how they are liking their plan’s benefits. Make sure they have all important numbers for contacting their plan’s carrier and remind them to reach out to you if they have any questions.
90 days following their enrollment, follow up by asking them again how well their plan is working for them. Keep them apprised of any approaching enrollment periods and that they can reach out to you for any reason at any time.
Request Feedback
Another great way to not only keep in touch with clients following a closed sale but also improve your business, is to request a small survey or general feedback from your client. This will provide valuable insights into what areas of your business you could improve upon and also help build a stronger rapport with your client.
Organization is the Key to Success
During the rush of AEP, it can be easy to focus entirely on signing as many new clients as possible, only later realizing you have not kept their information organized in a way to easily reference it later and follow up with them. A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool allows you to do just that! With a CRM, you can enter in each client’s information from contact info to the details of the contract they have with you, allowing you to more easily create your post-AEP follow up system.
Agent Partners with Keystone Advisors offers a complimentary CRM system through Agent Accelerator‘s Lead Management System, allowing you to keep track of your prospects and close more sales. This CRM also allows you to create Reminders, Disposition Leads, Birthday Reminders, Client Notes and other features so that you to better manage your sales pipeline and increase your closing ratio.
How to Stay in Touch in the Long Run
Humana’s 3-30-60-90 rule is a great short-term guide for building a relationship with your clients, however, your need to stay in touch with them does not end after 90 days. Here are a few ways to maintain and further build that working relationship with your clients.
Mark down their birthdays
A very simple act, but can make a huge difference in your clients’ eyes, sending out a happy birthday email or even a card is a great way to let your clients know that you care and see them as a valuable client and not just another closed sale. It also gives them a chance to respond back with any questions they may have forgotten to ask you, the last time you talked.
Social Media, Social Media, Social Media!
More and more, seniors are actively using the internet for personal and business purposes. A great way to stay in your clients’ and make them aware of your presence and availability is by having a strong, consistent internet presence.
A couple good ways to build this presence are:
Keeping a blog
This is a great way to share valuable industry news with all visitors to your site, both potential and current clients, while also allowing your clients to keep up with what is happening in your business.
Having a strong internet presence
Seniors are becoming more active on social media than every before, having one or more business social media accounts allows you to share industry and company news with your clients, as well as interact with them through post likes and comments. Just make sure you are staying compliant during any social media interactions.
Why Stay in Touch?..
As mentioned before, letting your clients know you haven’t forgotten about them is a great way to not only reassure them about their decision to work with you, but also will benefit your business. A couple major benefits from staying in touch include:
Referrals
While this should not be the main motivator for your consistent communication with your clients, it is definitely a beneficial results of your efforts. Clients who feel you care and like how you run your business are more likely to provide references in the future.
Continued Business
Clients can need assistance at any time throughout the year, whether it be a question about a specific benefit, or if they are at the airport and need a quick answer about travel coverage. By building a strong client bond, you give them the comfort and confidence to reach out to you during these times of need and gives them every reason to stay with your for their Medicare needs year-after-year.
Staying connected with your clients does involve work and organization, but pays huge dividends to both your client and to your business. Clients want an agent who cares and can provide them the help they need, when they need it, staying in touch and building a strong client rapport does just that.