The AEP Game Plan

I woke up this morning with this on my mind, so I'm writing it down while it's fresh.

AEP is still months out. I know that. But it should be in the back of everything you do between now and then. The brokers who win AEP are the ones who started preparing for it early. The ones who fall behind are almost always the ones who didn't.

Here's how I think about getting ready.

1. Don't let AEP be the only time your clients hear from you

Your life in the fall gets so much easier when you've nurtured those relationships the other ten months of the year.

A few ways I think about it:

• A newsletter, physical or digital
• A birthday card, an email, or both
• A simple check-in. A text, an email, a phone call.

None of that costs you anything but time. Automate the ones you can and it barely costs you that. But it makes a real difference in retention when AEP comes around.

2. Know your book cold before September

You can't prep for AEP if you don't actually know what you're prepping for. Know your numbers:

• Your Med Supp vs Medicare Advantage split. This is what lets you segment your AEP outreach come early September.
• Your carrier breakdown. This tells you who needs your attention first. If a carrier makes a big change and 40% of your book sits with that carrier, those are the people you reach out to early and get on the calendar. And know this: plan changes and uncertainty are exactly what newer agents use to get a senior's attention. Get out in front of them first.
• Your year-over-year growth.
• Where most of your business actually comes from.

Every one of these shapes how you prepare. Not every broker preps the same way. Someone with a big Med Supp book does not get ready the same way as someone with a big DSNP MAPD book.

3. Get into advisor mode now, not in October

During AEP you're about to sit with a lot of seniors who need your help. They also have friends and family who need it.

Treat every client like they're your only client.

Ask every person you meet who else they know you can help. They talk to their friends. They talk about their day. You want them telling those friends they've got an advisor now, and that they need to get with one too.

Give more value than necessary. The bar for being a great Medicare advisor is low. Embarrassingly low. Listen. Know their name. Tell them things about their coverage nobody else bothered to tell them. And do what you said you'd do. If you tell them you'll follow up in a few days, follow up in a few days.

4. Be the most prepared person in every appointment

Walk into every client and lead conversation knowing their plan inside and out, and knowing exactly what changed on it for the coming year. You should also be able to show how their plan stacks up against the other carriers.

What to study on every plan:

• Formulary
• Copay structure
• Networks
• Star rating

When you know these cold, you're confident in the room, and the client feels that confidence. Be the expert. Be a student of the industry and the game.

5. Decide how you'll reach everyone before the mail hits

Build your outreach plan now. Decide today how you're going to reach every client come September. Their mailbox and their phone are about to light up, and you don't want them wondering whether you still have a pulse. Get to them first.

Work through the logistics before the rush, not during it:

• How are you handling scheduling, phone or in person?
• How long is each appointment?
• Are you pulling doctors and meds before the call, or during it?
• How are you walking them through their plan changes?
• How are you framing a recommendation that's grounded in what's actually best for the client?

Get out ahead of all of it. Tell your clients early what to expect this AEP, both from the market and from you as their advisor.

1. Set up year-round touchpoints now: a newsletter, birthday cards, and simple check-ins. Automate the ones you can.
2. Pull your book’s numbers before September: your Med Supp vs MA split, carrier breakdown, year-over-year growth, and where your business comes from.
3. Flag any carrier holding a big share of your book. If they announce big changes, those clients get reached first.
4. For every plan you write, study the formulary, copay structure, networks, and star rating until you know them cold.
5. Build your September outreach plan now: scheduling, appointment length, pulling doctors and meds, and how you will walk clients through their changes.