The first tool agents should use to keep track of their Medicare clients is a CRM. The right software helps with tracking, efficiency, marketing and more.
What Data Should I Be Tracking?
To effectively track your Medicare clients, you will want to be keeping tabs on more than just their basic contact information. Add the following: preferred contact method, prospect/client status, enrollment status, birthday, lead source + date. On top of that, you will want to keep track of the products that client has purchased or expressed interest in, including the carrier, policy number, status, coverage type, application submission date, effective date, renewal date, term date, servicing agent, and account manager.
While you may be tempted to use a spreadsheet for this information at the start, this will quickly be overwhelmed with data and become unmanageable. Not to mention, this data should be stored securely, and a spreadsheet that lives on individual laptops presents problems. Thankfully, there is a wide selection of tools at your disposal to help you keep track of your Medicare clients and their information.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems
Online software can help you securely manage a large collection of customer data. You can organize it to your needs and collect as much information as possible about these clients. There are industry specific agency management systems (AMS) out there that offer different benefits. The one you ultimately go for has to be the platform that best meets the needs of your business and your budget.
What To Look For In A CRM
Your time as an insurance agent is divided between paperwork, appointments, client communication, events and other business meetings and necessities. A good CRM should help you automate your processes, streamline the workflow, and support lead generation and retention.
A good CRM should be mobile-friendly for agents on the move; this also enables quick updates between meetings. Your team should be able to message with updates through the platform related to specific data points and clients, to keep everyone on the same page and make sure no deadlines for submission are missed.
Some client tracking systems require time and energy to train in the next workflow. Look for software that is intuitive—this is supposed to help you become more efficient, not make your day more difficult.
An absolute must for your software is the ability to pull reports. You should be able to quickly search for upcoming renewal dates so you know who to contact for appointments, and for birthdays if you want to send personalized messages or cards.
Most importantly, you want a client tracking tool that your team is on board with and that improves the way you do business. For recommendations, reach out to your network of agents or speak to the team at Magellan Healthcare with questions.
