Congratulations, you did it, we made it through another annual enrollment period, and we want to congratulate you on a great annual enrollment season. We are blessed and thankful to have partnered with you during this very important season for both you as an individual and us as a company. Now that we've gotten through it, we have an agent checklist to keep you on track for the upcoming months. A lot of agents are going to pause and take a deep breath and exhale. And that's great. We expect that you will.
However, there's a difference in pausing and completely stopping. What I mean by that is I want to encourage you to use the last couple of weeks of 2020 to your benefit as you prepare for 2021. Here is an agent checklist of things that you can do now that can help set the table for the upcoming year.
Post-AEP Sales and Bonuses
Keep in mind that Medicare Supplements can still be sold during this time. There are going to be many of you that will run across opportunities between now and the end of the year to still be able to write Medicare supplements, and those fourth quarter bonuses are still being paid out by the carriers.
Agent Checklist to writing Medicare Supplement Apps
Secondly, keep in mind that during this time frame you will have individuals that are turning 65. You are still able to write those individuals that are turning 65 and those can be great opportunities and really get you jump started for 2021. You should make good use of your time is to go through and clean out old supplies.
Agent checklist for organizing in the new year
You know, many of us have not had time to slow down and stop and some of the carrier pre enrollment kits look very similar in 2021 compared to the ones in 2020. I'd encourage you to take some time, clean off those shelves, clean out those closets, dispose of those so
that you don't have a situation where in the future you accidentally pick up an old sales kit. Another thing that you can do is write thank you cards. You know, those are things that you can do that on a personal level mean a lot to the individuals that we serve.
Strengthen Agent - Client relationships
There may have been that individual that you met, this annual enrollment period that really touched your heart. Feel free to reach out to that person. Know that that person probably appreciates your time more than you could imagine. And a handwritten thank you card is a good way to show people that you truly care. And in this business, it's all about the relationships that we build in time and the trust that they have put in us.
For many of them, they're scared. They're nervous. This may have been their first time that they've ever enrolled into a Medicare program. So it's important that you, as the agent, remember that we're not in this just to sell, but also to service and be a good friend here in the community. So those thank you cards go a long way and I'd encourage you to do that.
Checklist to get ahead on your continuing education
If you're like me, you will procrastinate when it comes to your continuing education. This is a great time of the year to get that taken care of, get it out of the way. My birthday is in March and inevitably there have been years that I have waited till the last minute to do the continuing education. March is a busy time of the year, and your birth month in all likelihood will be a busy time of the year as well. So my advice is to go ahead and get the continuing education knocked out during this time (post AEP) that's a little bit slower so it doesn't get in the way of you transitioning into the New Year.
As always, we appreciate the opportunity to serve you here at Tidewater. We thank you again for a great annual enrollment period. And I wish you happy holidays.