How To Track And Optimize Your Medicare Commissions

 

There is a strange paradox in the world of Medicare sales. The better the agent, and the more sales that the agent is able to generate. The more sales they generate, the greater the burden placed on them to keep track of their commission payments in order to ensure that their books balance each month!

We don’t mean to make light of a serious situation – underpaid (or unpaid) commissions quickly add up – and can represent a real issue for those working in the field of Medicare sales.  For most agents, implementing a digital solution can help to transform their process here – reducing the burden of admin, and freeing them up to make more sales (ones which they know they’ll actually get paid in full for!)

In short, optimizing their efficiency when it comes to tracking their Medicare commissions, frees them to focus on what really matters… growing their business and increasing their revenue.  

In this article, we’ll shed light on these issues, helping Medicare agents to not only understand what causes them, but also to provide a solution to assist them in freeing themselves from the burden of tedious financial admin.

 

Tracking Medicare Commissions: Common Problems 

When it comes to understanding the issue of commission tracking for Medicare agents, it is important to understand the common problems associated with the issue. These will give you a greater macro perspective in order to deal with the root causes and mitigate against the implications that they hold. 

The biggest issue for agents generally revolves around payments from carriers for sales made. From this perspective, it is common for carriers to either miss payments, due to them being bogged down in large volumes of paperwork, or to make incorrect payments to agents due to a mismatch in communication and expectations. Either way, it results in an increased burden for the agent, from both a workload perspective and a frustration perspective. 

This issue is compounded when payments are of a recurring nature, and even a small discrepancy in this regard has the potential to become a large problem if not rectified quickly. Take for example, a minor discrepancy of 8% on a book of business equating to $120,000. This discrepancy will result in the agent losing $9,600 in profit. This example demonstrates the importance of catching the issue in good time, to ensure that it does not impact the agent’s bottom line drastically. 

While this issue has the potential to be cumulatively dramatic for the agent, it is important to note that it is usually not the intention on the part of the carrier, but rather due to the process involved. Traditionally, commission tracking and payments involve a taxing manual process, with multiple points of reference and sources to check that payments are made on time, and constitute the correct and expected amounts. If agent splits are involved, matters are further complicated, with the potential to become hugely time consuming and oftentimes tricky to ensure that they are correctly allocated. 

 

The Solution to Optimized Tracking of Medicare Commissions 

So, what is the solution?

This is where technology rides to the rescue. Medicare Commission Tracking Software, like the one offered by Commissionly, is proving invaluable in helping to mitigate the issues around payments and ensuring that as an agent, your time is spent doing what you do best… making sales. 

The Medicare Commission Tracking Tool is affordable, easy to set up and easy to use, and offers exponential Return on Investment due to its ability to catch and flag missed or incorrect payments automatically – saving money and time (which, as we all know, is also money!)

From a functional perspective, The Medicare Commission Tracking Tool allows you to connect to your carrier’s systems or bulk upload all your policy details via CSV with custom carrier templates. It has a carrier statement import system that matches the headings in your carrier reports to swiftly import commission payments, which means that you can convert multiple carrier reports into a standard format so that you can extract useful resorts from the data.

The system also offers One Click Discrepancy Reports, which quickly identify any Medicare commission payments that do not match the schedule or amount you expect to receive, and it also has the ability to automate agent commission splits, so that if and when you are working on a sale with other agents, you can produce commission reports that will ensure clarity around remuneration, and manage the expectations of all parties involved. 

 

Tracking Medicare Commissions: Why It’s so Important to Get it Right 

There is no doubt that Medicare commission tracking is a vital aspect to the business of any Medicare sales agent. Mitigating against this expensive, time-consuming problem sooner rather than later is vital when it comes to ensuring that your bottom line stays intact, meeting your expectations and ensuring the longevity of your position in the market. 

In addition to optimizing your efficiency, implementing a Medicare Commission Tracking Tool also holds a number of secondary benefits that go beyond simply ensuring that you are paid in full. It allows you to build better ongoing relationships with carriers, as issues can be resolved swiftly, without drawn out grievances that have the potential to sour the partnership. By removing the need for manual tracking, you are able to free up more time to focus on other, arguably more important aspects of your business, generating revenue and improving your offerings. It will also facilitate greater motivation from a productivity standpoint, as you see your commissions grow.

 

Take Control Of Your Medicare Commissions

As a Medicare sales agent, it has never been easier to ensure that the commission payments that you receive, match the expectations and work that you put into earning them. The days of inaccurate, inconsistent and missing payments are finally coming to an end. Technological, automated innovation is the key to fighting this issue with the greatest degree of efficiency and accuracy. 

However, it is up to you to take the first step on this journey. While there are other areas of your business that have a strong claim to your attention, ensuring that your hard work translates into due revenue, is the obvious and most vital first step in future-proofing your business and your bottom line. 

 

Book a demo today and find out how we can help!

 

Digitally Transforming Your Medicare Sales

 

The Medicare sales industry in the United States is a highly technical and extremely competitive landscape. As a result, Medicare-focused insurance agents operating within this space need to constantly keep themselves abreast of changes that can influence their position in the market.

Digital transformation is one such change – exerting an ever increasing effect on how businesses operate, especially in a post pandemic world. A new benchmark of customer experience has drastically shifted the goalposts for anyone trying to remain relevant, let alone competitive, in this industry. 

As a Medicare-focussed agent, you’ll be no stranger to the impact of digital transformation, and taking some kind of action in this area has possibly been on your agenda for some time… However, getting up and running here can feel daunting. In this article, we’ll focus on where emerging software and digital tools offer the most advantage and opportunity for businesses exactly like yours. 

 

Digital Transformation And The Insurance Industry 

It is estimated that over 90% of insurance executives today have a coherent, long-term plan for technology innovation in place. 

The reason for this is simple: technological innovation has completely transformed the world in which we live, and holds serious ramifications for any industry or business that fails to adapt in time. Beginning in the early 2000’s and accelerating with the rise of social media, digital technologies have come to shape the way consumers engage and interact with brands. Additionally, consumer expectations have shifted and they now expect the companies that they procure services from to meet them where they are, and be available to them exactly when they need them.  

Think for a moment about offerings like digitally signing documents, cloud-based access to documentation, intelligent chatbot assistance, enhanced digital security, and instant claim handling. Tools like these were beginning to show up in the industry a few years ago, however the impact of the pandemic has made these services a point of parity rather than a competitive advantage.

Add to this, the emerging generation that has never had to deal with long lead times, delayed customer service or even submitting physical claim documentation, and it becomes evident how much the parameters have shifted and how critical this paradigm shift is to the longevity of insurance companies operating in the market today. 

 

What Are The Core Advantages of Digital Transformation For Medicare Sales Agents?

Digital transformation should not be seen as a thorn in the side of those operating in the market today, but rather as a way of adding exponential value to both the business from an internal perspective, and externally from a customer satisfaction perspective. 

Digital tools offer a number of benefits, including:

1. Enhanced Efficiency

Through Artificial Intelligence and the associated technologies of Machine Learning and Predictive Analytics, every aspect of the insurance business is being optimized for speed. 

Policy writing can be processed and completed in a matter of minutes due to machine learning capabilities, claims can be handled efficiently through app based technology, and even customer service can be delivered through AI-fueled chatbots, live chat and virtual assistants to ensure that the customer has contact with the business exactly when they need it, wherever they need it. 

1. Improved Personalization

Servicing the individual needs of each customer has become more important than ever, and the implementation of fields like big data and data analytics is paving the way for a personalized experience that is unparalleled in history. Through digital technologies, insurance companies can truly create a one-to-one experience through the ecosystem and customer journey, creating greater satisfaction for clients, and greater efficiency for brokers and businesses. 

1. Scalable, Future-Proof Systems

Technology such as self-service dashboards, apps and IoT enabled devices and wearables allow insurance companies to build and offer services to clients that both future-proof the business for longevity, and is simultaneously scalable according to customer and market trends. 

1. Enhanced Profitability 

Due to the ability of digital tools and technology to increase efficiency and efficacy across the value chain, it therefore also allows for enhanced profitability by removing friction points in the system  and contributing to greater Return on Investment. 

 

Key Areas of Focus For Digital Transformation of Medicare Sales 

When it comes to getting started with digital tools and technology, there are a few areas of focus that produce the greatest outcomes and return on investment for companies. These areas are detailed below: 

1. Personalization

It is estimated that 80% of customers are more willing to deal with companies that offer a personalized experience, and 90% of customers are willing to share behavioral data in order to ensure a seamless brand experience.

While the above statistics relate to consumer markets in general, they are especially true for services such as Medicare sales, due to the importance of healthcare in the lives of individuals. This therefore lends credence to the call for the implementation of digital technologies in the Medicare sales domain, and highlights the value and benefits of software such as CRM, due to its ability to optimize for impact in the sales funnel process. 

1. Operational Efficiency

From a Medicare perspective, back office operations such as commission tracking can become a huge obstacle when handled ineffectively. The complicated nature of deals, the amount of time and resources needed, and the expectations of individual agents can all remove efficiency from the process. That is why commission tracking software such as Commissionly can prove vital to ensuring operational efficiency.

1. Internal Integration

Lastly, the integration of digital tools is imperative to the smooth function of day-to-day business processes, as they remove individual silo’s within the operations and contribute to greater efficiency across the value chain. The Insurance Commission Tracker Tool is one such example, as it offers the ability to connect directly to your carrier’s systems. It enables the bulk upload of all policy details via CSV with custom carrier templates, and automates agent commission splits. This mitigates against the need for manual spreadsheet juggling and ensures a smooth and efficient process through the entire sales funnel.

 

Digitally transform your Medicare sales.

Medicare sales is a competitive environment that is only set to become more crowded as new entrants and technologies enter the domain. It is therefore imperative that incumbents get ahead of the competition now, in order to ensure the long-term survival (and success) of their business. By putting in place the systems to automate and optimize your processes, you not only meet increasing client expectations, but also free yourself and your agents up to maximize  the potential in the market and ensure that you actually get paid what you are owed.