Selling Health Insurance: 5 Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Selling health insurance is an incredibly competitive business. Even the best agents have their work cut out for them as clients switch health insurance plans on a regular basis.

That being the case, health insurance agencies, brokerages, and independent agents need to do everything within their power to increase their effectiveness and make sure their existing client base is consistently satisfied.

By learning from other insurance salespeople’s mistakes—and taking a proactive approach to avoid making the same ones yourself—you can build a stronger insurance business, delighting your clients along the way.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at five common mistakes agents make when selling health insurance—and what you can do to avoid them.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Selling Health Insurance

1. Waiting too long to talk about renewal
2. Neglecting a small company to focus on a larger one
3. Devoting too little time and too few resources to marketing
4. Spending too little time generating leads and prospecting
5. Keeping track of customer information by spreadsheet—or even by hand

Mistake #1: Waiting too long to talk about renewal

Health insurance buyers already move from carrier to carrier on a regular basis. If, for some reason, their plan lapses under your watch or their coverage deteriorates while getting more expensive and they’re automatically re-enrolled in the same plan, chances are that they will find a competitor and stop doing business with you.

There’s an easy fix: Take a proactive approach to renewals, giving your clients plenty of time to assess their options before picking next year’s plan. 

With the right tools in place, this can be incredibly easy, with automation taking care of everything for you (more on that later).

Mistake #2: Neglecting a small company to focus on a larger one

Every sale counts. Although some agencies and brokerages might prioritize large companies because they represent more revenue, small businesses have money, too. And, perhaps more importantly, they have contacts.

Since clients are more likely to share a bad experience than a good one, neglect a small company’s insurance needs at your own peril. All it takes is one well-connected person to have a bad experience with your agency for the entire town to hear about it.

Mistake #3: Devoting too little time and too few resources to marketing

Many insurance salespeople think that they can skimp on marketing because they’re selling a standard product that people need to buy.

A recent study, however, found that 89 percent of customers consult a search engine before buying a product. When brokerages and agencies don’t invest in marketing, how can they possibly expect prospects to find their business online?

By producing content—such as blogs, infographics, and social media posts—you increase the chances that potential clients will find your business when they try to find answers to their health insurance questions.

Mistake #4: Spending too little time generating leads and prospecting

When you have a steady slate of clients, it’s easy to get comfortable and spend a diminishing amount of time prospecting for new business.

In order to grow your business, though, you need to be prospecting on a continuous basis. For the best results, set aside some time for prospecting each week—or even each day.

>> For phone prospecting tips, check this out.

Mistake #5: Keeping track of customer information by spreadsheet—or even by hand

Some insurance agents have been keeping track of client information via spreadsheets, or even by hand, for many years. They’re stuck in their ways and resist change, so they haven’t yet moved to a modern customer relationship management (CRM) solution that makes it easy to personalize each interaction while automating routine client communications.

For example, with a CRM in place, you can automatically reach out to clients to wish them a happy birthday or let them know that their insurance coverage expires in three months. This way, you don’t forget to contact any of your clients; it’s all taken care of automatically by the software.

The Easiest Way to Avoid These Pitfalls When Selling Health Insurance

There’s no sense in making your job any more difficult than it needs to be. The good news is that by investing in modern tools designed for insurance agencies, brokerages, and independent agents, you won’t have to.

Leading solutions—such as quote and enroll tools and CRM platforms—make it easier for you to serve up exemplary experiences to prospects and clients alike during every interaction. With the right tools in place, it’ll be easier to track customer information so you can engage your clients with a personalized approach. Beyond that, you can also make sure that nothing slips through the cracks with automation. As an added bonus, thanks to the efficiencies modern solutions provide, you’ll have more time on your hands to focus on other important areas of operation.

Add it all up, and the end result is happier clients, a stronger referral engine, and a healthier bottom line. What’s not to like?

To learn more about how modern technology can help you avoid health insurance agent pitfalls, read our new e-book, the Essential Guide to Insurance Broker Software.