The Power of Voice Inflection – the simple change that goes a long way!

The Power of Voice Inflection

– the simple change that goes a long way!

Sales Coordinator, James Gramp

James Gramp

James Gramp

Sales Coordinator

With his signature common sense, quiet good humor, and brilliant customer service, Jim is the other half of the RBI phone answering dynamic duo! An Arizona native, Jim manages agent relationships for the East Coast and specializes in the RBI agent tools, especially the Agent Market Edge. Jim has been a licensed health insurance agent for over a year, and has worked at RBI for 2 years. An accomplished bassoonist, he is known around the office for his amazing musical skills. In addition to keeping busy around the office, Jim frequently contributes to our blog, bringing a new agent’s perspective to the RBI online presence.

Zig Ziglar once said “Selling is essentially the transference of feeling.” I’m not a naturally boisterous kind of guy, so I have to remind myself of how I sound and how I am coming across when I’m interacting with clients. I’ve learned through personal experience that if you speak without any voice inflection not only will you sound like a robot, but you WILL miss out on sales. This is something I’ve been working on since I started at RB Insurance Group and it’s something you should never stop practicing!The Power of Voice Inflection

Listen to Yourself

Whether you’re in a one-on-one home visit or setting appointments over the phone, it is imperative that you master voice inflection. The best way to do this is follow another Zig Ziglar tip. Record yourself giving your sales presentation/script and listen to yourself.  There is a certain initial shock value to how different you sound on a recording versus inside your own head (Here is a great article if you’ve ever wondered why you sound so weird on a recording). Once you’re over the shock, however, listen to your inflection and start to really figure out where you can emphasize certain words to drive your message. I know it sounds silly but just do it! You’ll be surprised at how you perceive your own presentation and immediately start improving your skills as a communicator.

Just Smile!

One way to help improve your inflection, especially over the phone, is to smile while talking.  You may be surprised by why, though. It has more to do with physiology than psychology. For those of you who have sung in a choir, you know that the wider you open your mouth and the more teeth you show, the better tone you get. The same applies over the phone. Smiling helps your voice sound more friendly, warm, and receptive.

Changing the Emphasis of your Words

Be aware of how stressing certain words changes the feeling of what you’re saying. For example, take the following sentence, “What would you like us to do about it?”

  • “What would you like us to do about it?”
    • Emphasizing “would you” makes you sound defensive.
  • “What would you like us to do about it?”
    • Emphasizing “like us” makes you sound curious as to what you can do about it.
  • “What would you like us to do about it?”
    • No emphasis makes you sound apathetic.

Simply by changing your sentence inflection you completely change the perceived meaning or connotation of what you say. Understanding how you are perceived by your clients and prospects is just as important, if not more important, than your mastery of the materials you present.

Breathing is Everything

The inflection in your voice can be greatly affected by your breathing. Typically the more stressful a situation you’re in, the shallower your breathing will be. Your vocal cords tighten and  your voice goes up in pitch — then you just sound strained. Slow down and take deeper breaths the next time you’re in a stressful situation. You’ll notice that your pitch will come down and immediately make you sound more warm and calm.

Voice Inflection Increases Your Sales Effectiveness

As insurance agents, it’s important to provide the best education and explanation we can to our clients. For most of us, our primary route of communication is our voice.

Think of your voice as a tool and inflection as a skill that you can fine tune into an educational instrument, especially if you find potential clients lacking understanding or confidence in what you are telling them. When you properly use inflection to communicate key concepts about a client’s insurance policy, they will have a better understanding of their coverage and more confidence in you as their advocate.

If you’d like more useful tips on how to practice your voice inflection, give me a call at 1-800-997-3107, or send an email!

Are you loving the content and tips you see here? Our contracted agents benefit from our amazing support on a daily basis! Get started contracting today by clicking here for a list of carriers!


Medicare cost-sharing
Sales Champion Summit
Annual Enrollment Period

Video: Medicare Sales Engine Basics Roll-up

Did you miss Webinar Wednesday? Check out our Medicare Sales Engine Basics Roll-up below!

We’re winding down the week here at RBI, but can’t let you head into the weekend without going over what you missed! Webinar Wednesday this week covered RBI’s own FREE CRM and how it can help you grow your business! Here’s the Medicare Sales Engine Basics Roll-up with what you need to know:

Did you know that the typical agent uses multiple CRMs to manage their leads and clients?  At RBI, we think that’s too much work. That’s why we built a custom CRM system for RBI agents to manage their business easily! This week Rebecca Howard, Sales Coordinator with RB Insurance Group, walked us through the Medicare Sales Engine. Top takeaways? Track your commissions, get easy follow-up for your leads, and increase your conversion rate from leads to clients. Additional things we love? Fully HIPAA compliant, real-time user help. Staying in touch with your clients is now a breeze, making client retention fast and easy. Best of all, it’s streamlined to work across internet browsers and devices.  Watch the Medicare Sales Engine Basics Roll-up now!

Medicare Sales Engine Roll-Up

Look for this symbol on all our new “60 Second Roll-Up” videos!

Did you like this Medicare Sales Engine Basics Roll-up? You can watch the recording of the whole “Medicare Sales Engine Basics” webinar by clicking here. Simply input your information, and click “register.” The recording will start to play automatically.

Would you like to get access to the Medicare Sales Engine and other great agent tools?  Get contracted today and you’ll be able to use the FREE Medicare Sales Engine right away!  Click here for a list of our carrier-partners, or call us at 1-800-997-3107 today to get started! 


Medicare cost-sharing
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Annual Enrollment Period

ICYMI Duals for Newbies Wrap-up

Charlie Ferrell

National Sales Manager


Charlie started his senior insurance career after a brief 30-year stint in the restaurant industry. In the 12 years since then, he has been blazing trails and setting standards for excellence all over! A native son of Utah, he has been a state manager for RBI as well as a managing general agent for UHC, Coventry, Molina and other carriers! Charlie came to RBI as the National Sales Manager in 2015, and is an invaluable resource for our agents and staff for marketing, compliance, and sales topics! If all of that wasn’t enough, Charlie specializes in the Dual-Eligible market and is leading the charge behind RBI’s new “Dual Eligibles for Newbies” seminars!”

ICYMI Duals for Newbies Wrap-up

National Sales Manager, Charlie Ferrell



As many of you know, it’s our commitment to help our agents achieve more! As you can read about here, we take our agent’s needs very seriously. So out of all of our training options, we were excited to see that the Dual Eligibles for Newbies class went so well! We had a great group of agents, both in person and joining us on the simulcast also. If you weren’t able to attend, or if you aren’t contracted with us for a DSNP carrier, here’s the ICYMI Duals for Newbies Wrap-up!

ICYMI Duals for Newbies

Week 1: “What is a Dual Eligible?” –  We spent some time the first week discussing, “what is a dual eligible?” We learned who qualifies and what the different income levels for the different Medicare Savings programs (or MSP’s) are. We also distributed some great handouts with the different qualifications for MSP’s, now updated with the 2017 Federal Poverty level that became effective January 31st, 2017. We covered how Medicaid plans coordinate care and billing (or don’t coordinate and leave it up to the provider). The homework was to drive your neighborhood to find these resources close by.

ICYMI Duals for Newbies

In Case You Missed It (ICYMI): Duals for Newbies

Week 2: “Where to find Dual Eligible members” – The second week, we covered where to find Dual Eligible members. We learned how to use the Census.gov website as well as the HUD housing search tool. We also did several live searches for other community services to see where they are concentrated. Homework was to schedule at least one Medicare Educational event.

Week 3: “Planning your week for max results” – This 3rd session was all about how to plan your week, especially how to vet your potential resources to see if it would be a good match. Our takeaways? Make sure you treat this as a full time job and you will be rewarded with a full-time unlimited income. Plan out your week, month and quarter and set your goals appropriately.

Week 4: “Create a marketing plan” – The 4th and final session was structured around building a marketing plan. As our marketing department always says, you have 2 resources to generate income: time and money. Just a couple changes can increase your sales dramatically. Direct mail is a great way to generate leads quickly and is very affordable. RBI has resources, such as the “Every 5 Sales Drive” which makes more marketing money available based upon your sales. We used the MAPS method to plan a budget and then schedule out a complete week including study time.

What’s the bottom line?

Here’s just a few of the impacts we are seeing already: the production of agents who attended all 4 sessions is 100% higher for the month of January than their production for the month of January in 2016. 75% of all attendees created marketing plans. Best of all, 100% of attendees developed at least 1 new referral source to increase their business. All of our agents had some sales success during the event and were excited to get out and out their newfound knowledge to use. Almost all of them purchased some kind of direct mail piece and community marketing together to jump start the new year.

RBI – we make it happen for you!

If you weren’t able to attend the Dual Eligibles for Newbies class this time around, consider joining us for Webinar Wednesday on February 15 at 10 AM: “Reboot: Finding Dual Eligibles.” This is a great way to kickstart your Dual Eligible game!

Want to get started? Take a look at our carrier-partners to pick up additional contracts! Call RBI at 1-800-997-3107 to speak to one of our sales team! 


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Video: Medicare Supplements 201 Roll-up

Did you miss a Webinar Wednesday? Check out our Medicare Supplements 201 Roll-up below!



The last two weeks we have focused on Medicare Supplements. We are going to join Charlie Ferrell, in our Medicare Supplements 201 Roll-up! But first, here’s a quick summary of what we covered.

Building on our Medicare Supplements 101 webinar from last week, we went deeper this week to understand the differences between Guaranteed Issue and underwritten policies. Guaranteed Issue pays less than underwritten business, while underwritten business helps keep rates low. Carriers can still deny an application with all “No” answers to health questions. Having a mixture of Guaranteed Issue and underwritten policies is a great way to structure your sales. And since 42% of Medicare Supplement policies have been written in the last 3 years, it’s important to make sure you are quoting the best plans. Use the quoting tool inside the Medicare Sales Engine to get answers!

Medicare Supplements 201 Roll-up

Look for this symbol on all our new “60 Second Roll-Up” videos!

Did you like this Medicare Supplements 201 Roll-up?  If you want to learn more, register to watch the full recording of the Medicare Supplements 201 webinar, by clicking here.

If you’re interested in going further with Medicare Supplements, sign up for our live Medicare Intensive class “Contracting for Success.”  Live out of state? Register for our simulcast option!

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Unlock Your Best AEP Yet

Your Office Shortcuts: Mark Email Addresses as Safe Senders

If you’re anything like us, you send and receive hundreds of emails every single day.  Have you ever had that annoying situation where you KNOW someone emailed you something, but it’s not showing up in your inbox? If not, consider yourself lucky!  For the rest of us poor mortals, it’s easily one of the more irritating office happenings. Turns out, there is a solution!  So here’s the 1-2-3 tutorial — the latest in a series of RBI Office Shortcuts: how to mark email addresses as safe senders.

Email Error Message

Have you ever had that annoying situation where you KNOW someone emailed you something, but it’s not showing up in your inbox?

Step number 1: Don’t Panic!

Are you good? Good. Now that the deep breathing exercises are out of the way, it’s important to figure out if you’re using Gmail, Outlook.com or Yahoo!Mail. Each of these systems are a little different, so we will walk through them separately. Let’s start with Gmail:

Gmail

  1. First, sign into your Gmail account at Gmail.com.  Easy enough.  Proceed to the next step.
  2. Next, add the email address that you’re expecting an email from to your Google Contacts.  (If you don’t know it by heart, now’s the time to call great-aunt Betty and ask her for her email address.) Why are you doing this? Because Google will usually deliver email that comes from your contacts without any problems.  If you are still not getting your email, you may need to mark the message as “Not Spam.” How, you ask? Keep reading, we got you covered.
  3. In the left hand menu, look for the folder entitled “Spam.” Click on it to open the Spam folder. Tip: if you can’t see a folder titled “Spam,” click on the word “More.”
  4. Search for emails containing the domain you want to get email from.  In our aunt Betty example, her email is ilovebaking@notarealemail.com.  The part after the @ sign is the domain.
  5. Select all the emails that you find with the domain. Usually you do this by clicking the little square check box next to the email address.
  6. Click “More” and then “Not Spam.”  This usually takes care of the problem.  If not – proceed to the next step.
  7. Create a filter to tell Google that you want your email!  First, click the gear looking icon in the top right corner, then click “Settings.”
  8. Click on “Filters” and then click on “Create a new filter.”  Then, enter the domain of the email you want to mark as safe.
  9. Click on “Create filter with this search,” then in the box headed “when a message arrives that matches this search” choose the option “Never send it to spam.” Then click on “Create filter.” That’s it!  You’re done!  Now all the emails from aunt Betty will get to you with no problems!

If your problem still persists, you should try reading the article over at Google on how to mark or unmark Spam in Gmail.

Outlook.com

For those of us with an email address from Outlook.com, here’s the down-and-dirty. Tip: these instructions also work for Windows Live Mail, Hotmail and MSN Mail.

  1. The fastest way to get your emails, is to add the email address to your contacts list. Easy. If that doesn’t work, add the email address to your safe sender list. Proceed to the next step.
  2. Click the cog icon in the top-right corner and then select the option “More mail settings.”
  3. Then, choose “Safe and blocked senders” and then click on “Safe senders.” Then add the domain of the email you want to receive to the list of “Safe Senders.” That should do it!

If that didn’t work, check out this article from Outlook titled “I didn’t receive an email someone sent me.”

Yahoo!Mail

Yahoo!Mail is really similar to the tutorial for Gmail.

  1. No doubt by this point, you’ve noticed that the first step is usually adding the email address that you want to get mail from to your Yahoo!Mail contacts. So try that first. Otherwise, keep reading!
  2. First, click on the settings menu button, and then select “Settings.”
  3. Next, click on “Filters” and then click the word “Add.”
  4. Now you’ll enter a “Filter Name,” type in the domain of the email that you want to get in the “Sender” field.

    Mark Email Addresses as Safe

    “Now your friends and family can call you instead of tech support!”

  5. Choose “Inbox” as the folder that the mail should be delivered to, then click “Save” and then click on “Save” again!

If your problem is still hanging on, read what Yahoo!Mail experts had to say by clicking here.

Step number 2: Bask in your new knowledge!

That’s all there is to it, now you can mark email addresses as safe senders all day every day.  Check you out, you’re a pro! Now your friends and neighbors can call you instead of tech support!

At RBI, we love to solve your problems and make your goals happen for you!  Our customer service and support team loves talking to our agents!  If you’re looking for a partner who cares about you and your business goals, click here to see a list of carriers and get started contracting today! Call us at 1-800-997-3107 to find out more!

 

RBI Agents: Your Voice Matters

If there is one thing that we at RBI take seriously, it is how successful our agents are in meeting their business goals.  Your voice matters to us, and as a company, our ever-present goal is to provide you with the best services, tools, and resources in the industry.  That includes, at times, some soul-searching for ways to do better. So here we are, on the last day of January 2017, taking a look at what you have to say to us.

Taking a pulse of RBI AgentsYour Voice Matters

You may recall that at the end of AEP, we sent out a survey to all our agents, asking for feedback on how your AEP went, and ways that we could improve your experience with RBI. We also followed up with phone calls to every agent on our books, asking them the same questions. Questions like: “How many sales do you plan to make per month?” or “What can RBI do to earn more of your business?” and “Would you recommend RBI to other agents/agencies?” The response we got from our agents was amazing. So many of you took the time to speak to us, or filled out the survey on your own — and we are grateful!

We asked, you answered.

As with any survey, we got a lot of different types of feedback, from the laconic agent who responded with one word answers to the humorous (How can we improve? “Give me donuts”).  But the majority of your responses were thoughtful, and thought-provoking. You asked for things like “can I get more training,” or more marketing support, or pointed out carriers that RBI should pick up, so the agents could have the benefit of an FMO-advocate in that relationship.  And above all else, you asked for better communication, so that if we did offer training and so on, you would know what was available to you. We took all those responses and reflected on how we as a company could turn that feedback into action.

Your voice matters – and leads to actual change!

Here are some of the big changes that we have implemented for this year:

  • Webinar Wednesday: Now we offer weekly training webinars on Wednesday mornings at 10 AM MST, each one covering a different Medicare-related topic.  We limited these to about 30-45 minutes long, to be mindful of time-constraints for our busy agents. Join in by clicking here to see the calendar and register!
  • Medicare IntensivesNext we added in some live events in our office, to help out those agents who do better in a “classroom” setting. We formatted these to be a longer, deeper look into Medicare topics, and added in a simulcast option for agents that live out of state.
  • RBI Classroom emails: You may have noticed an increase in the emails you are receiving from us. We want to make sure you are informed about the ways we are available to help you, the tools and training that you can access. With RBI Classroom emails, you can see these resources and training in real time.
  • Additional Carriers + Changes in contracting: We are in the process of adding 10 additional carriers across the US, based upon your AEP survey responses. We also updated the way our contracting process works on our website, to make it even easier to get contracted with the right carriers.
  • Agent Market Edge + Promotions: We have updated the Agent Market Edge online portal with additional products and services, and expanded our marketing credits offerings.  We are developing and testing new compliant mailers for hospital indemnity, final expense and more!
  • Updated Blog Content: If you have been on our blog before, you know that we always strive to make sure it has tons of great content. But navigating on the blog has been difficult, so we have updated the categories and “related content.” Now finding what you’re looking for is much easier.
  • NEW Vlogging component: We recognize that not everyone is a “written word” person. And as one more way that RBI is going above and beyond this year, we are adding a video-log (“vlog”) segment to our blog.  This feature went live just a few days ago — we are extremely excited to expand this in the coming months!

What’s the bottom line?

We love our agents. And we want to do right by you. You asked us for meaningful change and we are doing our very best to make it happen for you. If you like what we are doing, please consider being a part of our family by contracting with us. If you are already contracted with RBI, don’t forget that if you refer an agent to us, you can participate in our marketing credit program!  See all the details here.

Finally, as part of our on-going efforts to be the best FMO around, we’ve created another survey to check in. Please take a moment and tell us how we are doing with our new programs! Click here to leave feedback or call us at 1-800-997-3107 to speak to one of our team!

Video: Medicare Supplements 101 Roll-Up

Did you miss a Webinar Wednesday? Check out our Medicare Supplements 101 Roll-up below!


This week, we focused on Medicare Supplements: so here is Charlie Ferrell, in our Medicare Supplements 101 Roll-up! First, here’s a quick summary:

Most agents in the senior market are familiar with Medicare Supplements (Med Supps) at a surface level, but are you aware of the upcoming changes?  Medicare Supplements work alongside original Medicare Part A and B, to cover “gaps” in Part A and B. The advantage to working in Med Supps is that there is no lock-in period, like with Medicare Advantage. However, the most popular Medicare Supplement Plan (Plan F) is going away after January 1, 2020.  Now is the time to prepare for this change, by taking advantage of the resources and opportunities available through RBI. Watch below for a 60 Second Roll-up of the details!

Medicare Supplements 101 Roll-Up

Look for this symbol on all our new “60 Second Roll-Up” videos!

If you would like to learn more about Medicare Supplements, click here.  Watch the full length recorded webinar “Medicare Supplements 101” by clicking here.

Want to get additional Medicare Supplement contracts? Take a look at the carriers we partner, or call us at 1-800-997-3107 today!

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Video: Mastering Hospital Indemnity Roll-Up

Did you miss a Webinar Wednesday? Check out our Mastering Hospital Indemnity Roll-up below!



This week, we focused on Hospital Indemnity: so here is Charlie Ferrell, in our Mastering Hospital Indemnity Roll-up! But first, here’s a quick summary:

Are your clients struggling to pay for a hospitalization, chemotherapy or skilled nursing? Hospital Indemnity is the answer, especially relevant for those struggling to cover the financial gaps in traditional Medicare Advantage. A hospital stay comes with ancillary costs that are a burden to many Medicare Advantage clients. Hospital Indemnity works as cash-in-hand for these clients, and provides the peace of mind they need! Watch below for a 60 Second Roll-up of the details!

Hospital Indemnity Roll-up

Look for this symbol on all our new “60 Second Roll-Up” videos!

Register here to watch the full recording of the “Mastering Hospital Indemnity” webinar. For other great tips on why you should pick up a Hospital Indemnity product, or how to sell Hospital Indemnity, subscribe to our blog!

RBI has a number of great Hospital Indemnity carriers that we work with, including Equitable, Medico, as well as GTL.  If you would like to pick up a carrier, please click here for contracting information, or call our office at 1-800-997-3107.

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Video: Low Income Subsidy Roll-Up

Did you miss the Webinar Wednesday this week? Here’s a quick review with the What is Low Income Subsidy Roll-Up!


If you are interested in a new way to get energized this new year, you need to watch this What is Low Income Subsidy Roll-Up!

Low Income Subsidy is a federal program to help Medicare recipients who are making less than 150% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). Low Income Subsidy helps reduce the costs of medications by up to $4000 per year for those who qualify. Because medication non-compliance is the number 1 reason behind hospitalization in this country, it’s important to educate yourself and your clients on the aid that is available. Watch our short 60 Second Roll-up to get the quick basics:

Low Income Subsidy Roll-Up

Look for this symbol on all our new “60 Second Roll-Up” videos!

Now that you’ve got the basics down, register here to watch the recording of the full webinar: “What is Low Income Subsidy?” If you want more information on this important topic, you can check out this article on our blog. Finally, to see what types of programs are available in your state, click here.

Still not sure where to go from here? Call RBI at 1-800-997-3107 and speak with one of our experienced team! We have lots of resources to get your on your way!

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Video: Finding Dual Eligibles Roll-Up

Did you miss this a Webinar Wednesday? Check out our Finding Dual Eligibles Roll-up!


Now that AEP is over, are you struggling to know what’s next? If so, check out our Finding Dual Eligibles Roll-up!

Dual Eligibles are a largely under-served community of Medicare recipients who also qualify for Medicaid.  Dual Eligible clients are a valuable market for agents because they have a year-round special enrollment period or SEP.  If you don’t know much about Dual Eligibles, or would like to get started, we have resources to help you out! Join Charlie Ferrell, National Sales Manager at RB Insurance Group, to learn more. Watch the 60 Second Roll-up below!

Dual Eligibles Roll-up

Look for this symbol on all our new “60 Second Roll-Up” videos!

Dual-Eligible clients offer a great financial opportunity for agents who want to keep their AEP momentum going!  In addition, many agents say that their experiences serving the Dual-Eligible community has been a rich lesson in compassion. If you would like to get involved, click here to access a related blog post.  Finally, to watch the recorded version of the “Finding Dual Eligibles” webinar, click here.

Interested in getting started, but still not quite sure what’s next?  RBI has resources for you! Click here to sign up for our 4-part class “Dual Eligibles for Newbies” or call 1-800-997-3107 to speak to our team!   

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