With the hectic AEP & OEP 2022 season in your rearview, now is the perfect time to take stock of how it went while getting a jump on the year ahead.
If the last three months seem like a blur, it’s little wonder. Annual Enrollment Period (AEP) 2022 wasn’t even over when the Open Enrollment Period (OEP) began in December, bringing with it the usual ups and downs, as well an extended window that, technically speaking, doesn’t end for a few days yet.
Luckily, there’s that light at the end of the tunnel to look forward to (no marathon selling sprints for basically nine more months!), as well as the thought of a welcome break. But before you know it, it will be time to saddle up again and get yourself organized for the year that yawns before you.
After you wind down with the flurry of last-minute tasks to help ensure your clients are all clear with coverage for the new year, take a moment to look over our tips and suggestions for making the most of the next few months, as well as the coming sales season.
Recovery from 2021
While you’ve been busy as a bee ensuring your clients prioritize their health, it’s a distinct possibility you’ve been neglecting your own. And not just your physical health (stress can take a huge toll on the body!), but also your mental wellbeing.
As you take a breather from the long haul of Q4 2021, consider these suggestions to help you get your zen on:
Nurture one new healthy habit. Technology can most definitely cause stress, but it can encourage calm too. Right now there’s a bumper crop of healthy habit-tracking apps designed to help you turn those New Year’s Resolutions into reality, whether it’s reading more, learning the art of meditation, or getting more proactive about your personal finances.
Keep an eye on your intake. Your nutrition intake that is. Admittedly, delicious party treats and over-the-top family dinners are part of what makes the holidays so much fun. A little indulgence goes a long way, however. If you need a hard reset to get back on track, toss or donate any processed foods lurking in your kitchen or masquerading as snacks in your desk drawers. Next replace with healthy options – stockpile wholesome snacks for work (nuts, fruit, low-fat microwave popcorn) and fresh ingredients you can turn into balanced meals at home.
Take time to unwind. Whether you need a few days away or a week to dawdle around the house, it’s imperative for your overall wellbeing to carve out time to relax. Plan a weekend-long Netflix binge, read a book, or finish a home project or two. The point is to simply take enough time out to let your batteries fully recharge before diving back into the daily grind.
Reconnaissance for 2022
The literal definition of “reconnaissance” is “preliminary surveying or research.” Now that last year’s top two selling seasons are behind you, you’ve got some downtime — and a little recon of the results will help you make it your best year yet!
Before you can create a roadmap for success, you need to set goals to reach. And to set goals for where you’re going, you need to know where you’ve been. Here’s a sample of questions that will make the beginnings of a great working doc or spreadsheet to help you begin defining actionable goals for the year.
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- What were your overall sales during AEP and OEP?
- Where did your leads come from?
- How many leads did you have per source?
- What was your cost per lead?
- How much money did you spend on social media ads?
- How much money did you spend on Google ads?
- How much money did you spend on other types of advertising?
- Which channels proved the most profitable?
- How much time per week did you spend on administrative tasks?
- How much time per week did you spend on sales tasks?
- How much time per week did you spend on marketing tasks?
- Which areas of your business are automated and which aren’t?
- Which areas of your business could be optimized to improve overall efficiencies?
Drilling down a level or two on any or all of these questions will help highlight where you have room to grow and what resources you will need to get there.
Revving Up for 2023
Once you have the semblance of a growth plan in place, the next step is to get organized for executing it! While you’re in a bit of a lull period, it’s a fantastic time to handle some basic housekeeping, both with new and existing clients. Make sure your CRM is updated with the most current and accurate client data and double-check for duplicate records.
While you’re at it, now’s a good time to also take a good long look at your CRM overall. Does it play well with your other digital tools, such as your website? If not, do you need to simply reconfigure a few settings, or is it time for a CRM upgrade?
If everything is running smoothly, put in some proactive time also on keeping the lights on. Use automation workflows in your CRM to update basic email templates and create trigger emails for birthdays, policy update and special enrollment reminders, customer loyalty campaigns, referral campaigns, etc.
Once you’re all systems go, you’ll be freed up to think about strategic planning for the rest of the year, particularly the upcoming AEP and OEP windows — they’ll sneak up on you before you know it! If you want to stay in the know about those critical save-the-dates, as well as Quotit updates, and hot-off-the-press industry happenings, let us help.
Whether you are currently saddled with time-consuming manual processes, shoring up your sales and marketing processes, or facing stunted growth due to limited resources, a CRM system like Quotit can help.
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