If you’ve built a career selling Medicare insurance, you’re probably very comfortable with health insurance products, but there are some good reasons to introduce your clients to other solutions. By diversifying your portfolio with life and annuities, you can take your business to the next level while providing additional value to your clients – and if you don’t provide that value, another agent might swoop in to do it for you.
It’s time to get out of your comfort zone and diversify your business.
Take Care of Your Clients
A survey from Allianz found that 63% of Americans are more worried about running out of money than they are of death.
Healthcare and financial concerns often go hand-in-hand. Healthcare is expensive, and retirees often have to balance their medical needs with their financial realities. Medicare agents help by comparing plan options, and they can also provide guidance on Medicare’s Extra Help and Medicare Savings Programs.
Offering annuities is another way to take care of your clients. Annuities give retirees a way to secure retirement income, so they don’t have to worry about running out of money. Many seniors are interested, and LIMRA says retail annuity sales increased by 13% in 2024 to reach a record $434.1 billion.
Life insurance is yet another way to help your clients take control of their finances. Many seniors still have a need for life insurance coverage, whether they want to make sure a loved one is taken care of, or they want a tax-advantaged way to leave a legacy. Retirees may also be interested in affordable final expense insurance plans, permanent life insurance policies that build a cash value, or hybrid policies that offer long-term care benefits.
Grow Your Business
Finding new clients takes work. If you’re only selling one product at a time, your business growth is limited. By expanding your book of business, you can sell multiple policies to a single client, allowing you to grow your book more efficiently.
For many agents, finding solid leads is the hardest part of the job. You already have a great list of leads – your existing clients.
Boost Your Retention
Even if you’re happy with your current revenue, there’s a good reason to diversify your book of business – if you don’t offer your clients all the products they need, they might switch to another agent who does.
Think about it. If one of your clients wants a life insurance policy and you can’t provide it, they’ll have to go to another agent. This gives that agent a foot in the door, and they can use the opportunity to offer Medicare coverage as well. And why shouldn’t the client accept the offer? Most people think of insurance as a hassle, and having to work with multiple agents just makes it more difficult. If someone can get everything, they need from a single agent, it’s very appealing. By diversifying your portfolio, you can boost your retention rate.
How to Compliantly Cross-Sell Life and Annuities
Selling life and annuities seems like an easy decision for insurance professionals who are already serving the senior market, so why doesn’t everyone do it?
One reason is that many agents don’t want to get out of their comfort zone. Expanding to new lines can be intimidating, but for the reasons already provided, it’s well worth the effort.
Another reason is that some agents may be worried about CMS compliance. This is something you should absolutely be thinking about, but it’s not a reason to avoid life and annuities. You simply have to follow CMS rules.
As a Medicare agent, you need to complete a Scope of Appointment for each meeting, and you can’t market any health-related products not covered in the Scope of Appointment. Furthermore, you can’t market any non-health related products during a Medicare meeting. (CMS regulations are subject to change, so make sure you’re keeping up with the latest rules.)
This means you can’t sell life or annuities during a Medicare appointment. However, you CAN tell your clients that you sell more than Medicare and provide a list of what you offer. If they are interested – and many will be – they can follow up, and you can schedule a separate appointment.
If you are selling health-related products, such as ancillary health insurance, you can discuss this in the Medicare meeting as long as it’s in your Scope of Appointment. If it’s not, you’ll need to set up a separate appointment for that, too.
To make it easy, list the products you sell on:
- Your business cards
- Your social media accounts
- Your website
- Your email signature
Not sure how to access life and annuity products? WAP has you covered. We offer access to a wide array of products, including life insurance and annuities. Contact us.