RBI Agent’s Advantage Blog: guaranteed to energize your business (updated 2017)

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Agent's Advantage Blog

Meet the RBI Agent’s Advantage Blog Team:

  • Charlie Ferrell, National Sales Manager
  • Rob Bever, Director of Compliance
  • Bob Bever, RBI Founder/Managing Member
  • James Gramp, Sales Coordinator/Independent Agent
  • Elizabeth Spann, Senior Agent Contributor
  • Tom O’Neil, Senior Agent Contributor
  • Shannon Bever, Graphics/Freelance Copywriter
  • Rebecca Howard, Managing Editor

RBI’s Agent Advantage Blog:

Guaranteed to energize your business


We’re proud to be offering original, practical content through the RBI Agent’s Advantage Blog, updated to be easier to use than ever before. Now you can search posts with our keyword search, or click on related content by using the “tags.” As always, the blog is YOUR go-to for sales help, marketing support, Medicare information, and more! If you haven’t already, you can visit our blog page or sign up to get a weekly digest of the blog, just click here.

Blog Focus No. 1: Medicare agent training by experts, so you can become an expert!

Don’t read Medicare policy news from sources geared toward seniors, read it from the RBI Agent’s Advantage blog, written specifically for agents like you! Our Agent’s Advantage Blog team combines over 50+ years of Medicare insurance experience, so we bring you the latest in Medicare policy news, industry changes, and compliance issues. No more guessing about how these will affect your senior insurance business — our team breaks it down for you!

Have you seen the updated articles from National Sales Manager, Charlie Ferrell, about Medicare Supplements? What about this article by Director of Compliance, Rob Bever, which covers top compliance mistakes in MA home visits and how to avoid them?  Or you can stay up to date on the latest mergers and acquisition news that affects your business’ bottom line. Get involved in a different type of client base with Bob Bever’s post about how Hospital Indemnity can be right for your ACA clients.

Blog Focus No. 2: Practical sales training and advice to generate more sales.

We’re not here to get you to click on things. We’re here to deliver helpful information and actionable tutorials that you can implement right now to increase your sales.  Learn strategies for building a referral base within your clients, or building a partnership with other professionals in your community.

Want to multiply your revenue? Get your book of business in order and watch it stack up! Want to make sure you secure Medicare Advantage and Medicare supplement commissions? In an ever-changing retirement climate, it’s important to have the best information! Our advice on preventing disenrollment from month to month? Read how to get it done here.

Blog Focus No. 3: Marketing support/learning opportunities grow your business beyond AEP. 

RB Insurance Group specializes in helping agents sell year-round as a career agent. That means making marketing support available year-round too! Whether you need to watch some of our video roll-ups on our blog, or you are more of a word-nerd and prefer articles, or you want to participate in our live Medicare Intensives, the blog has all the details.

Learn more about Special Election Periods, community marketing and selling complementary senior insurance products to your Medicare Advantage clients.

Blog Bonus Content: Stories from the Field by RBI Contributing Agents

RBI Founder, Bob Bever, shares stories from his 30+ years in the field, including the simple strategy that helped him submit 1,800 applications during his best AEP. Our other agent contributors include 6 Hours to 6 Figures author Brandon Clay, as well as top producing agents in some of our major markets.

Like what you see? Click here to register for the weekly round-up email from RBI! Want to learn more about our contracting opportunities? Click here for a list of our carrier-partners.


Updated 3/20/2017; originally published 10/8/2015


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Referrals that Empower: 3 paths to timely results

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Our RBI team includes licensed life and health agents with a combined 50+ years of experience in the field.  As you can imagine, they know how to get referrals that empower not just their business, but also their own personal growth as agents. 


Charlie Ferrell, National Sales Manager, started as a senior insurance agent more than 12 years ago. His expertise is in Medicare, specifically Dual Eligibles and Low Income Subsidy clients.

Rob Bever, Director of Compliance, has more than 15 years in the Medicare/senior insurance market. He has around 1500 enrollments under his belt and specializes in the Dual Eligible market.

James Gramp, Sales Coordinator/Independent Agent, though James has only been an agent for about 2 years, his clients are already raving about his great service!

Bob Bever, Founder, got licensed as a life and health agent in 1978 and has applied his excellent service to his clients and agents alike! His success is the reason we’re all here!


Compliance Tip

Referrals that Empower: 3 paths to timely results

Contributions from the RBI Team



Every agent spends a significant portion of his or her time thinking about, reading about, and planning (or executing plans!) to increase sales. It’s what all of us want as agents because, after all, more sales mean more commissions, which means more security for our pocketbooks and our families. One of the most important ways to get more business is to ask for referrals. But if you read articles about this topic, you’ll notice a theme telling you to ask for referrals, but no one ever tells you how to do this. No more! RBI is here to end this trend.  Our tutorial will teach you to increase your sales with referrals that empower your business to the next level. Here’s our top 3 recommendations, plus our bonus round for agents that want to build a referral system they can “wind up and walk away.”

Referrals that Empower

“Increase your sales with referrals that empower your business!”

Number 1: Learn to pre-qualify clients

Charlie Ferrell, RBI’s National Sales Manager, is fantastic at getting referrals.  We asked him for his best advice on how to build a referral base he doesn’t have to think about every day and his number one piece of advice was to pre-qualify every client before the end of the appointment, whether you sell them a plan or not. Charlie does this by understanding that every appointment with every client is about education. “If you are educating your clients on how Medicare works, it leads seamlessly into asking the question at the end, ‘Have I helped you understand Medicare better?‘” Charlie says. “If I have done my job right, my clients know what their options are, so when I hand them a business card and say, ‘Please give this to anyone that you know who could use my services,’ the response is always positive.”  To implement this strategy, you should make sure that you do a good job educating your clients in Medicare before you present individual plans. You’ll spend a little more time with each client, but you’ll build a strong and loyal client base. This makes asking for the referral at the end of the appointment more natural.

Number 2: Make yourself accessible

“The key to good referrals is ease of contact for your clients,” says Rob Bever, RBI’s Director of Compliance. “With the CMS Medicare Marketing Guidelines, most of my referrals come outside of appointments these days, usually within 1 week of my follow-ups.” What are those follow-ups? Rob says he hands out “piles of business cards” and reaches out to his clients with follow-up letters, birthday cards and other types of letters. He usually get some referrals about a week after his birthday card or other letter reaches his client. “If my clients have 20 business cards on hand and I’ve told them, ‘If you have any friends or neighbors who have been having trouble with their insurance, have them call me,’ I’ll get referrals that way.” The bottom line? Stay in contact with your clients through phone calls, letters and other outreach. Clients can’t refer friends to you if they don’t have a way of contacting you.

Number 3: Emphasis on value

James Gramp, RBI’s Sales Coordinator extraordinaire, says his “ask” always focuses on the value he brings to the table. “If I have done my job in the appointment, the closing statement is easy enough. I usually say something like ‘If you have friends or know someone with questions about Medicare, I’m happy to help. My services are completely free, they can just give me a call.” Jim says he always makes sure to emphasize that he is available for questions, and that he is there to serve his clients’ needs without a price tag.  Pro tip: “Make sure referrals from your clients know that they have to call you due to government regulations. I usually state that explicitly in my appointments so there is no confusion,” James says.

Bonus round: Provide exceptional service and your referrals will come to you

Bob Bever, RBI’s managing member, has been in the insurance industry for over 35 years. His expertise is invaluable for picking up referrals that empower. Here’s his take, “Building your business by referrals really comes down to one statement: be the best agent that you can be. I always leave 4 or 5 business cards with my clients and tell them if they have any issues to call my mobile number. But if you build that expectation you have to fulfill it as well. Be what you advertise. My success came to me because I was willing to answer my phone anytime day or night and provide service to my clients right then.” Bob shares that when you take the time to build a rapport with your clients and then give the best customer service possible, your clients will talk about their experiences. “I still get referrals from some of my clients that I first got in the 1990’s.”

Did you like our referral advice? Do you have advice of your own? Call us at 1-800-997-3107 and tell us how you work to expand your business! If you like this article, chances are good you’ll like this one and this one. Not yet an RBI agent? Check out our list of carriers to get started contracting today! 

Subscribe to the RBI Agent’s Advantage Blog for a weekly newsletter digest of great Medicare content, like the latest in carrier news, tutorials, video roll-ups and more!


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ICYMI Contracting for Success Wrap-up

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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 Contracting for Success Wrap-up

Charlie Ferrell, National Sales Manager



If you know anything about RBI, you know that we are passionate about saving YOU time and money. One of the ways that we do this is by helping you to work smarter not harder! Our most recent Medicare Intensive “Contracting for Success” was all about building a portfolio of products that does the heavy lifting! If you weren’t able to attend, here’s the ICYMI Contracting for Success Wrap-up! 

ICYMI Contracting for Success

What we covered:ICYMI Contracting for Success Course

Would you like to sell to 80% of the people you meet? With our portfolio approach to senior insurance, this goal is within reach. Most insurance agents focus on a single product, and stay in their comfort zone to try and make sales. Instead, we urge our agents to work smarter, by picking up a few other types of products.  When you have a portfolio that is more extensive, you have the ability to convert more of the people you meet, because you’ll have the plans that they need.

We help you convert 80% of your leads to clients

The three types of products we focus on are

  1. Final Expense
  2. Indemnity Products – such as Hospital Indemnity, Dental and Cancer policies
  3. Medicare products – such as traditional Medicare Supplements and Medicare Advantage products

We suggest that you pick up 3 or 4 carriers for each category, and become the expert in who those carriers are and how they work together.  Clients will be able to tell that you have done your research. As an added bonus, when you have more to offer to clients, you’ll be able to spend more time with fewer clients, with better results. In essence, you inoculate them from being poached by another agent. This means that your clients are less likely to move to a different agent because they recognize your commitment to their needs.

What’s the bottom line?

Agents who approach their business as a whole portfolio are more successful! Consider this powerful example: this past AEP, one of our agents in MI added Hospital Indemnity to his portfolio. During AEP, he included this additional product in his client meetings and 90% of his new clients signed up for a hospital indemnity product! This translated into over $20,000 in commissions received before the end of AEP.

RBI – We Make It Happen for You

If you weren’t able to attend the Contracting for Success class this week, you can watch the recording by clicking here. You can learn more about RBI’s carrier partners by clicking here. Call our office today at 1-800-997-3107 if you want to get more information on how to get started! We are here to make it happen for you!


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Introducing Short Term Home Health Care!

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UPDATED 2017: Agents Don’t Work Alone: Build a network of professional friends

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Charlie Ferrell

National Sales Manager


NOTE FROM RBI: Charlie Ferrell, our National Sales Manager, is celebrating a work-a-versary today! On this day in 2015, Charlie made the switch from being an state manager/MGA to working full-time at RB Insurance Group — and we are so glad he did!  If you’ve called RBI for advice, you’ve probably talked with Charlie for help on individual markets, MAPS planning, or even real-time client advice. Today we celebrate Charlie’s amazing contributions to RB Insurance by bringing back one of his earliest blog articles as National Sales Manager. Though it’s newly updated for 2017, the content is as wise and relevant today as…well…as Charlie himself.

UPDATED 2017: Agents Don’t Work Alone

Build a network of professional friends

National Sales Manager: Charlie Ferrell



You may have heard the expression “You can’t be everything to everyone.” That’s just as true in the insurance business as it is in everyday life. In order to serve my clients, I’ve found I need to align myself with others who can fill in the gaps between my Medicare knowledge and expertise.

Breaking Bad Habits:

If you’re like me, you frequently find yourself fielding questions from clients on topics beyond your scope. I’m going to be totally honest with you: when I started getting more clients calls than I could handle on subjects like wills or Medicaid planning, my main referral source for years was Google. At a certain point, however, I started getting tired of hearing myself say, “Let me see if I can find someone who can help you.” There’s nothing I can do about not knowing absolutely everything about senior health insurance and finances, but I felt I could do better than sticking the duty of due diligence on my clients.

Build a network of professional friends

“Networking can be mutually beneficial for agents, lawyers, financial advisors.”

That’s why I decided in 2014 to get smart about networking. I knew it would be more helpful to my clients if I could recommend someone I personally knew and trusted for their financial or legal questions. I also knew I’d be investing in my book of business because networking can be mutually beneficial for agents, lawyers, financial advisors— their clients are probably going to need Medicare advice at one point or another!

Building New (and GOOD!) Habits:

I called a few of my longtime clients and asked them who they go to for advice. They recommended a few highly respected attorneys they had had good experiences with, one of whom deals exclusively with Medicaid planning. He helps families protect their assets when someone needs to go into a nursing home. Another attorney I reached out to specializes in wills and trusts: a perfect solution for me, since sometimes a client needs a simple will. Other clients need the whole package that puts all of their assets into a trust, especially if they have homes in multiple states and don’t want their kids to have to go through probate to spend if it isn’t necessary.

Lastly, I found a CPA to help my clients with their tax questions and financial planning needs. I now feel confident that my network has my clients’ best interests at heart and that I can depend on them returning the favor by sending their respective clients to me. I estimate that 10 percent of my new clients in 2015 came from my alignments with outside experts.

What I Learned:

It’s amazing what you can get when you ask your clients for their input. I noticed right away that my clients were much more engaged, and so were more likely to refer their friends and family to me. For these clients, it was clear that I valued their opinion. Second, I found this exercise reconnected me with some of my clients I hadn’t spoken to in a while.

Personally, I’m excited whenever I can help others. As agents, most of our clients are looking for someone they can trust to help them with life’s difficult decisions. You can be that trusted advisor for Medicare, and you can let others offer valuable advice on finances and legal arrangements. Your clients will benefit, you will benefit, and your new network will benefit as well. The bottom line is these professional relationships are a win-win-win.

Are you ready to get started? Build a network of professional friends to strengthen your business today! If you don’t know how to take the first step, click here to watch our recorded webinar “Finding Dual Eligibles” or call our team of experts today at 1-800-997-3107!


Updated: 3/2/2017; Original post date: 12/3/2015


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Introducing Short Term Home Health Care!

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Medicare Broker Compensation Announced 2019

Your Best Month Yet – Starting off right on day 1

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James Gramp

James Gramp

Sales Coordinator & Independent Agent


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.

Your Best Month Yet

Starting off right on day 1

RBI Sales Coordinator and Independent Agent: James Gramp



Earlier this week I talked about how to wrap-up your month and make sure you’re getting the money owed you from products sold over the month. But how did I get those sales in the first place? There’s a process to making sales, and it starts with day 1 of the new month!

Here’s how I’m going to be preparing to reach my sales goals for March, to have my best month yet!

Pro-Tip: Determine a Focus Area: The first thing that I need to do is determine a focus area. It does no good to plan marketing efforts if I haven’t first determined a focus area. I’m going to continue to focus on Dual Eligible and LIS beneficiaries for the next few months because it’s still a very underserved market and because of the pro-rated MA commissions. Here in Arizona 50% of Dual Eligible beneficiaries are actually enrolled in a Dual plan, which means there is still plenty of opportunity to write business.

Plan Your Best Month Yet

Making sales starts with day 1 of the new month!

Now that I know my focus area, I’m ready to look at my 5 sales strategies.

  1. Set Goals: Some of you may have a yearly sales goal that you aim for each year (which is great, don’t get me wrong!), but I find it best to set smaller monthly/weekly goals. For instance, 5 sales a week is more manageable than 260 (52 x 5) enrollments for the year. Smaller weekly/monthly goals will help keep you on track and ultimately help you reach your yearly goals.
  2. Research: It’s always good to refresh your knowledge of the MSP/Extra Help limits. Read up on carriers in your area, or (in my case) D-SNP products or other plans. If you’re not sure where to start with Dual Eligibles or Low-Income Subsidy, watch RBI’s recorded webinars by clicking here or here.
  3. Review Marketing Strategy: Food pantries, senior housing units, HUD housing, and provider offices (dental, optometrists, etc.) are all great places to find Medicare beneficiaries.  If you’re not hitting your sales goals through community marketing, then I would suggest looking at running a Direct Mail campaign to keep a steady flow of leads coming your way.  Give RBI a call to learn how to be successful with Direct Mail!
  4. Own your backyard: You want to be known as the Medicare Expert in your neighborhood. Some great ways to get this credibility are volunteering, or just taking time to chat with people you see day to day. Your next lead could be someone in the elevator, or getting gas at the next pump. Strike up a conversation and let them know what you do, you never know what you’ll get out of it. A good example of this comes from RBI’s CEO during this past AEP, when Bob Bever spent 3 minutes with a gentleman while in line at K-mart, explaining what he does, and gave him a business card. A few weeks later Bob got a call from the man’s father and was able to help him enroll.
  5. Be consistent: I cannot stress enough how important consistency is.  Especially if you have a connection with a food bank or provider office, you need to have a schedule of when you go in and setup your booth in their facility.  If  you’re not consistent with your schedule the influencers at these locations won’t know when to tell their customers that have Medicare questions when you will be there next.  With educational events I recommend doing them at least once a quarter, the more consistent you are with scheduling these events the more attendance you will see.

The best single piece of advice I can give is to treat your insurance business as a full-time job.  If you plan on doing this as a career, then you have to treat it like one and show up eight hours a day, five days a week. Many agents get discouraged after a month or two of not bringing in consistent sales. Don’t fall into this trap! Instead, ask yourself: “do I have a marketing plan to generate leads?” and “am I consistently working my plan?” One of my favorite quotes is “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Let’s plan to succeed and make this our best month yet!

RBI believes your marketing plan should be Measurable, Actionable, Profitable, and Scalable. We call it the “MAPS method to success.” If you don’t have a marketing plan, give RBI a call today at 1-800-997-3107 and plan your best month yet! You can also click here to watch the “Marketing for Success” webinar and get started! 


New Agent

New Agent: Getting Started

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Prospecting your Book of Business

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Sales Champion Summit

2017 Sales Champion Summit Wrap-up

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M.A.P.S. Method for Success: AEP Planning

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Senior Insurance Acronyms

Senior Insurance Acronyms for New Medicare Brokers

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End of the Month Wrap-up

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James GrampJames Gramp

Sales Coordinator/Independent Agent

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.

End of the Month Wrap-up: Client Retention in 3 easy steps!

RBI Sales Coordinator and Independent Agent: James Gramp



It seems like every year the days go by faster and faster.  It’s already the end of February, so I’m going to share with you my end of the month wrap-up and a few best practice tips to help you stay in touch with your clients so they remember who to call when they have questions or problems!

Here’s three ways that I keep my business on the books:

End of the Month Wrap-up

If you send a letter to your clients, hand sign it for a personal touch!

Number 1: Thank You Letters

The best piece of advice I can give you is to send your new clients a thank you letter.  This is a great way to make sure your clients remember your name.  Just think of all the seniors you run into during AEP who say they can’t remember who helped them enroll in their current plan. You do not want to be “that” agent.  Instead, by sending a thank you letter, you will stay in touch. The letter should be simple: thank them for the opportunity to be their health insurance agent and include a few business cards. Ask your clients to hand out your card to any friends or family who have questions about Medicare.  In my letters, I also like to include a picture of myself at the bottom and I always hand sign it to add a more personal touch. Depending on how many enrollments you do a month, you can personalize your letters even further by handwriting the whole note!

Number 2: Updating CRM records

This one should be a no-brainer. You should be using a CRM system to manage your clients to help make your life easier, because who likes excel spreadsheets? I use the Medicare Sales Engine, or “MSE” – which is RBI’s own agent-built CRM system. I usually update my client’s CRM record the same day I make the sale so I don’t forget, but if you haven’t yet done so, be sure to update your clients records now. If you use the MSE, check that you have converted the leads you sold into clients.  Another MSE feature I use all the time is tracking commissions: just enter the product you sold, and the commission you expect to be paid.  If you entered the information correctly, you’ll see the potential renewals for the next year on your dashboard.   The end of the month is a good time to check that your commission records inside the MSE match the statement from the carrier. The best part is that RBI provides the MSE tool completely free for contracted agents!   You can get contracted here today!

Number 3: Follow-up Call

Two weeks after I’ve enrolled new members, I like to give my clients a call to make sure they’ve gotten their welcome letter and all their member ID cards.  I usually open the conversation up by saying something like “I just wanted to make sure you got your new member ID card.”  If they haven’t, it’s time to set-up a conference call with myself, my new client and the carrier, to have the ID card re-sent.  Your clients will love the fact that you’re being proactive in asking about their experience and solving their problems.  As a bonus for us as agents, this is also the perfect time to ask for referrals.  Let your clients know that if they have any friends with questions about their Medicare to give you a call.  Be VERY clear that you cannot call them, they have to call you. You’d be surprised how many follow-up with you!

And that’s it!  As you can see, my end of the month wrap-up is just three simple steps.  If you can implement these “best practices” to your business I can guarantee that you’ll see more business stay on the books and also bring in more new business from happy clients when they refer their friends to you!

Click here to learn about the Agent Market Edge and how RBI works with print and fulfillment companies to bring you exclusive pricing! If you’d like sample ideas for client letters give RB Insurance Group a call today at 1-800-997-3107 to see firsthand how RBI can help you take your business to the next level! 


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Short Term Home Health Care

Introducing Short Term Home Health Care!

2019 United Healthcare

2019 United Healthcare Certification now LIVE

USA Senior Care Network

Save Big: Medico + USA Senior Care Network

2019 Medicare Broker Compensation

Medicare Broker Compensation Announced 2019

Video: Medicare Sales Engine Basics Roll-up

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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! 


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Short Term Home Health Care

Introducing Short Term Home Health Care!

2019 United Healthcare

2019 United Healthcare Certification now LIVE

USA Senior Care Network

Save Big: Medico + USA Senior Care Network

2019 Medicare Broker Compensation

Medicare Broker Compensation Announced 2019

Your Office Shortcuts: Mark Email Addresses as Safe Senders

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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!

 

Mastering sales is just like learning to ride a bike

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I remember I had just started a new sales job when it was time to teach my oldest son, Chaz, how to ride a bike. It wasn’t easy at first because he didn’t want to ride it without the training wheels. Until one day some neighborhood kids laughed at him.

“Dad, I want to take the training wheels off,” he said, holding back tears. 

I had encouraged him to take them off weeks earlier, but I didn’t press him. I knew there would come a time when he would want it bad enough to pursue it without carrot and stick motivation. We took the training wheels off and he got on the bike. The extra little wheels that made the bike safe were gone, and for the first time he couldn’t place both his feet on the pedals unless he moved forward. He had to build momentum.

Our long driveway was mostly straight and had a slight grade. I started him in the middle and held on for several attempts as he pedaled, learning balance and steering. At about the tenth time, I took him a little higher up the driveway and we began going down the hill. As you have probably guessed by now, I let go.

I still continued to let him know I was there, but at this point he was doing it all on his own. He was still telling me to hold him, not knowing I had already let go. He looked over his shoulder and saw I wasn’t there. He panicked and fell. After he checked for broken bones and realized he was OK, I started to laugh.

He did too. Through that experience, I learned that riding a bike and getting better at the sales process have a lot in common. You may already have drawn from this life metaphor things that relate to your own experiences, but there are a few specific things I want you to focus on the most.

  • Know your fears. What really scares you?  For most sales professionals, it’s rejection. The antidote? Don’t take it personally. Get over it! Rejection is going to happen because it’s part of the process. For others, fear of failure is at the top of their minds. It’s overcome by making goals, visualizing success and taking action in spite of conditions and circumstances. Movement is the best cure for this fear. Be persistent in spite of rejection or temporary failure. One lost opportunity or setback does not make a winner quit. They keep going. Resolve to be persistent until experience brings you competence, which will in turn give rise to confidence.
  • Know your product. Many sales people have not taken the training wheels off. They constantly need someone to help them with the products for which they should be the experts. Memorize your products’ features. Convert them into benefits your clients need.  Know what your product will do and what it won’t do. If possible, experience the product at work in your life and through your clients’ experiences. You must understand how your product will meet your clients’ needs.
  • Know your limitations and stay on the straight path. Most sales people don’t start with finesse and skill. They start out as order takers. Order taking may help you close 15 percent of your opportunities, but is not the way to build momentum for a sustainable career. How do you get to a 60 percent closing rate? Through the experience of objections, rejections, falling and failing. The school of hard knocks will teach you the little things along the way that help you evolve — to help you get better.

When I think of how I got started in sales, I am amazed and humbled by my success. Then I remember Chaz on that bike. Less than six months later he was building ramps and jumping over boxes. He had converted fear into skill. That skill brought confidence in trying new and daring things. For sales professionals, that translates to new opportunities for growth and development, facing a new set of fears and challenges with faith in your abilities.

Having seen thousands of sales people make the same progression, I’m qualified to say that mastering sales is just like riding a bike!

Don’t leave money on the table this AEP: Sell Hospital Indemnity with Medicare Advantage

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My first insurance sales trainer loved to tell me, “Don’t leave money on the table.” When it comes to coupling hospital indemnity plans with Medicare Advantage, his advice resonates a little louder. Hospital indemnity plans are very affordable for your clients and pay excellent first-year commissions, often in the 50 percent range (Of course, commission varies by states).

Most hospital indemnity plans offer inpatient confinement benefits ranging from $100 to $600 as well as an ER benefit. Depending on the carrier, optional features include benefits for skilled nursing facility days, follow-up appointments, outpatient surgery and even payment for the dreaded observation status. A cancer rider is an important option you can review with clients when discussing hospital indemnity.

Guarantee Trust Life, Equitable and Medico are carriers we are proud to affiliate with and offer to our agents. Just click on our Carriers page for more information or contact us at the number below. For those of you who concentrate on the T-65 market, note that GTL’s Advantage Plus plan is guaranteed issue for ages 64 ½ to 65 ½.

Bill Ellsworth, VP of Equitable, recorded an excellent presentation last year on how to give a good explanation of hospital indemnity during a Medicare Advantage appointment. Frankly, it’s the best training example I’ve seen, and I refer all of our Equitable agents to Bill’s training located on the password-protected Equiline.com broker site. My contact information is below if you’re an Equitable agent and are interested in learning more about Bill’s winning presentation.

In fact, Bill came out to our Arizona office last year to give us additional pointers on presenting Equitable’s EquiCash product. He definitely made me a believer. If you follow Bill’s outline, you should be able to double your MA commission for a surprisingly large number of your AEP and Lock-In appointments.

Cross selling you say! Presenting a hospital indemnity plan with a Medicare Advantage plan is totally compliant with the Medicare Marketing Guidelines.
Hospital indemnity plans are right there on the Scope of Appointment form. If the CMS-approved Scope form you are using does not list hospital indemnity, Medicare Supplements and DVH products, I’ll be glad to email you a copy.

Finally, don’t forget the younger members of the household. Many of these hospital plans are offered from 40-80 years of age. They’re particularly reasonable for the younger folks and can really help fill in those hefty ACA deductibles. Just remember that hospital indemnity coverage is not minimum essential coverage.

For contracting opportunities with GTL, Medico and Equitable, and to receive more useful training content, call RB Insurance at (800) 997 3107 or email me.