Using Automation to Stay In Touch with Your Senior Market Clients

The senior insurance market comprises a wide variety of individuals with ranging communication preferences. Some are technologically savvy, embracing emails, texts, and apps; others prefer a card, phone call, or in-person visit. 

Some are open to all of the above.

Regardless of how they like to be corresponded with, one thing the senior market values higher than all else is honest, transparent communication. This is especially important when discussing insurance. Consistent, meaningful communication is vital to maintain, but doing so can be a lot. Luckily, your team can use one little trick to make it easier.

Hint: it’s automation.

How to Maintain Consistent Communication with Workflow Automation

Communication is essential to all health insurance client relationships, but it can be difficult to remember to reconnect and maintain that level of conversation. 

Overcome this hurdle with workflow automation. Automation is a typical feature of CRMs and agency management systems (AMS) that automates processes based on defined criteria and triggers, minimizing the need for human intervention. Not only does this technology make it significantly easier to stay on top of everything that needs to get done in the day (like client communications), it also boosts customer experience quality and streamlines compliance-focused communication.

The automation tool in AgencyBloc’s AMS+ solution is Automated Workflow. Let’s dive into some specific scenarios that better illustrate how automation can help your team maintain quality and timely communication with your senior clients without sacrificing efficiency.

Happy Birthday Celebrations

A simple but effective way to stay in contact with your senior-aged clients is sending a happy birthday message.

Everyone enjoys receiving well wishes on their birthday. Sending the message using automation makes the process even simpler. Use the trigger “Individual’s Birthday is Approaching” in AMS+, then create an action. This could include:

• An email to the birthday client
• An email to the agent of record to alert them of the birthday
• A task assigned to the agent of record to call or send a handwritten note to the client

After that, the automation will run like clockwork each year, and you will have a quick and easy touchpoint with your clients that is meaningful. 

Pro Tip: Be different from others in your community and send the client a happy birthday email on their half-birthday to remind them you’re still thinking about them.

Medicare Scope of Appointment Communications

Dealing with senior clients means adhering to the strict CMS rules and guidelines. One of those involves the Scope of Appointment (SOA) form, which beneficiaries must complete before meeting with a licensed insurance agent to specify the Medicare coverage options they want to discuss.

This required document must be filled out annually and at least 48 hours before an agent meets with a beneficiary. Additionally, agents cannot discuss anything beyond what is outlined in the signed SOA. 

To ensure your team is ready to go for each meeting this enrollment season, employ automation.

Generate a unique, electronic Scope of Appointment form for each prospect or client directly from AMS+. Once the contact has filled out the form, it will automatically attach to the contact’s record for easy reference and compliance. Or attach the form to your scheduling tool, like the meeting scheduler in AMS+, to make the process even more efficient.

Medicare Annual Notice of Change Communications

Another time-sensitive Medicare-specific process to keep in mind is the Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) letter. This is sent directly to a beneficiary from their plan’s provider every September and details changes to their Medicare Advantage or Part D drug plan for the upcoming year. While your team won’t be responsible for sending the notice, this is a prime opportunity to reach out to your clients and alert them to the message. This can ensure they know what to expect and remind them that you’re there to help.

Ongoing Client Conversation Check-Ins

It’s vital to set up consistent, meaningful communication to onboard new clients and get them going. But, it’s also crucial to maintain that level of communication throughout their client journey.

The #1 reason clients leave their agency is due to a “lack of regular and meaningful communication.” Your clients want to hear from you, and they want to hear from you regularly. 

With Automated Workflows, you can set up ongoing touchpoints with your clients to maintain a consistent level of communication, boost client retention, and continuously build your agent-client relationships. Additional common client touchpoint workflows include:

• Policy renewal reminders
• Anniversary celebrations
• Turning 65 notifications

Using these workflows, you can put a process behind your communication efforts to streamline your ongoing client conversations without the hassle of always remembering to do so.

"Since starting using Automated Workflows less than 2 months ago, I've written 6 new clients and I have received 6 referrals for new business. AgencyBloc allows me to set up a workflow timeline for my entire book of business 'hands off'."
—Danny M., Medicare101.net

Find more ideas and execute them with our free Client Retention Emails & Workflow Recipes.

Working & Nurturing New Leads

We’ve discussed using workflow automation for onboarding and client retention, but there is one more piece to the puzzle: using automation to win over new senior leads.

Yes, seniors are online, so you must have the ability to capture them at their peak level of interest.

To streamline this process and make your lead nurturing strategies incredibly efficient, you need to do the following:

• Build a lead form and place it on your website — optimize your lead form to ensure it’s made for conversion
• Tie your lead form to your AMS to funnel lead information directly into your system (check out the customizable Lead Form in AMS+ to achieve this)
• Attach workflow automation to your lead form to notify you instantly of a new lead submission — with Automated Workflows, you can receive this notification via email or task assignment
• Create additional actions for your workflow to generate a conversion-focused nurturing process that takes leads from interested to invested

Once this is live, your team will instantly be notified of new leads to reach out to and have a documented, proven process to nurture and convert your leads. For more ideas of what automation and communications you can use for lead nurturing, download our free Lead Nurturing Email, Text Message, & Workflow Recipes.

Work Smarter, Not Harder, with Workflow Automation

Having automation capabilities in your arsenal by using an AMS like AMS+ can put your agency ahead of your competition, giving your agents the ability to communicate more effectively with senior clients while staying on top of business.

"AgencyBloc is awesome! Last year we saved a minimum of 40 hours (a whole week!) during Open Enrollment. Anyone in life and health, individual business, and Medicare knows we're constantly under a time crunch, so the time savings is priceless."
—Pam S., Redline Health

This blog was originally published on September 22, 2020, and was most recently updated on September 24, 2024.

Posted by Allison Babberl on Tuesday, October 1, 2024 in Insurance Automation

1. client retention
2. insurance automation