Not yourenemy.

You can't sell something you don't believe in. At least- Correct ... I can't do that. Correct. You know, as a, as a standup sales guy, you know? So if you're, if you're going into a client's home and you're sitting down with them and you're saying, "Hey, Mrs. Jones, I think this product is great," or, "Hey, Mrs. Jones, I've been selling this product for 10 years.

I have a great relationship with, with the sales manager. Anything that happens, they're usually on top of it." You know, carriers come into markets and expect like, "Hey, where's all the sales at? Like, I, I thought I was gonna get a million sales. What happened?" Well, the reason why is because you're still building trust with these agents.

They don't trust you. Every episode, I'm the one asking questions, except when Sergio's here. We did this once. Now we're back for round two, and here's why it works. Sergio's our VP of sales and marketing, and he lives in the same seat I do, stuck between the carrier, the provider, the agent, and the agency.

So today, it's one man in the middle grilling another. Sergio, take it away. And here we are again with Sergio Diaz, VP of sales and marketing with Health Plan Markets. This is the second time we're doing this, except you're in my chair, and I don't know- Yeah ... how I feel about it. Yeah. It's kinda warm. So. I haven't sat there today.

That was you. Whatever happened in that chair, I'm- ... gonna have to clean it.

All right. So what are we doing today? Um- We're doing, we're doing like a reverse interview. Yeah. We, we- Okay ... I'm gonna ask you a few questions again. Okay. Um, it- I notice that, um, as an agent, we, we forget about, um, the steps from getting contracted, right? Yeah. We assume sometimes that, hey, I sign a contract and give me the ready-to-sell number.

Mm-hmm. And that's it. Mm-hmm. Right? But, you know, doing this so many years, and especially you have been involved on working with different carriers as an FMO, I would like to educate and inform, you know, the agents- Mm-hmm ... about what is the process, not only by signing a contract, but what are the steps so they could learn that it's not just signing a contract.

Mm. Because we assume that, hey, you're the FMO, give me the contract, bye. Yeah. So, um, I do have some questions, um- Mm ... is, um, about, you know, what is the process on working with the carriers and have an idea on what's the next step? Like, from, from the contracting part? From the- Or- ... agent getting that part with the carriers.

W- um, okay, so let, let's start at the start. I would say, you know, the first thing to know is, uh, as an agent, you wanna go out and sell a product. You, you, you're like, "The whole idea here is, like, I ha- I have to find clients that I enroll- Correct ... into a plan, and then that plan pays me." Mm-hmm. Okay? So there's some carriers where you can go directly to the carrier and say, "I want a contract with you.

Give me the contract," and they contract you, and you go out and sell. Now, there's, there's pieces and parts we're gonna take from that. Um, but most of the carriers, most of the carriers in health insurance require you to have an agency. They don't give direct contracts. Why? Just as an example , the last time I checked here in Florida just for UnitedHealthcare, which is the largest carrier- Mm-hmm

you know, in the country, they have over 55,000 agents in Florida that are active. Wow. So can you imagine the administrative cost it would take to manage 55,000 agents one by one by one at the carrier level? It's impossible. Correct. So that's where FMOs come in. That's where we come in and say, "Hey, look, we're, we're gonna take that burden.

You only have to deal with us." So they might have... I think in the country they have maybe 20, 25 NMOs that they deal with directly. Okay. Um, and then, you know, we're, we're one of the FMOs that, that is partnered with an N- NMO in our market. But, um, yeah, so the agents are required to come to us and say, "Hey, I need a contract with United."

I mean, I, when I say us, I mean FMOs in general. So if, uh, i- if we link up with an agent, we'll say, "All right, to, to start this process- Mm-hmm ... what we like to do is grab as much general information about you so you don't have to repeat this process 10 times." Correct. So that looks like, "I need your license, I need your NPN, I need your address, phone number, email, blood type, Social Security number-

your first girlfriend's name. I'm kidding. But, like, the, it, it feels like that when you're onboarding. Enough information- Yeah ... to get them going, right? Yeah. So you grab all that info. We save it so the next time that you contract it pre-pops- Correct ... or it's in our system so we don't have to bother you for the license, we don't have to bother you for your NPN again.

It's already there. It's gonna be in your filing cabinet in our, in HQ- Mm-hmm ... which is the, the system that we use. So onboarding is a pain sometimes, but I think it's important that agents know that, you know, just because you can't get a direct contract with a carrier doesn't mean you can't do business.

You're gonna get paid the same. The difference really is the FMO is gonna give you way more service, uh, software, uh, training, coaching- Correct ... opportunities, leads, um, partnerships. It's just, it's just better 'cause the carriers are just spread too thin. Good. Um, y- you know, uh, and what I see is that you could build relationships with these carriers, right?

Yeah. And, and, and what are i- other ideas that an agent should be doing with these carriers and how to build that relationship with them? How to build the relationship with a carrier? Um, well, the carriers, you know, why do they need agents, right? They need agents to grow. You know, the more agent... The, the thought is the more agents I have, the more sales I'll get, the more market penetration I have from a carrier's perspective.

Correct. You know? So if I'm gonna go into a market, um, and it depends on the market, but for the most part, you go into a market and that market has independent agents, you are, you are beholden to that market. Like, if you don't reach the people that are reaching the people, then you're not gonna, you're not gonna get that market penetration.

So the carriers need the agents to reach the clients. So that's first and foremost. Some carriers play, you know, different games. Like, they'll ... Maybe, maybe they'll have a call center, maybe they'll have captive agents, maybe they'll have agency contracts, maybe they'll do direct agents. Some of them hedge their bets in different ways.

Um, but from, you know, the agent, you know, why should I build a relationship with a carrier? It's important because when you're selling these products, you need to make sure that you have trust behind it. You can't sell something you don't believe in. At least- Correct ... I can't do that- Correct ... you know, as a, as a stand-up sales guy, you know?

So if you're, if you're going into a client's home and you're sitting down with them and you're saying, "Hey, Mrs. Jones, I think this product is great," or, "Hey, Mrs. Jones, I've been selling this product for 10 years. I have a great relationship with, with the sales manager. Anything that happens, they're usually on top of it.

I've had very little client complaints. I have a history with these people. I know where their office is. I know who to call when something happens," it's a very different experience. Correct. So building the relationship- Yeah ... it means a lot, right? Well, it's also one of the reasons that, you know, carriers come into markets and expect like, "Hey, where's all the sales at?"

Like, uh, "I thought I was gonna get a million sales. What happened?" Correct. Well, the reason why is because you're still building trust with these agents. They don't trust you. Correct. You know, I remember, um, one of the carriers came in and, um, you know, they said, "What, what should we do, Justin?" I said, "Well, um, I don't know, it's...

You know, come back in three years." And they're like, "What are you talking about?" I'm like, "Dude, it's gonna take you that long to build trust with these agents. Let's see how you do on year one. And then on year two, are you gonna do the same thing or are you gonna be a jerk? And then in year three, which, what's the pattern now?"

Correct. Then after year three, then the ca- then the agents are like, "Okay, I've given them a couple sales. They've shown up. I'm gonna pour in." Yeah. I mean, so- Yeah ... so, so when it comes to the, to the carrier and the agent, like the agent has to trust the carrier just as much as the carrier has to trust the agent.

Correct. Yeah. Correct. Mm-hmm. And, and you know, we have seen some, um, carriers actually come in, and then two, three years down the road they have to leave because it's a different market, right? Yeah, we all have like trauma from that. You know, it's like every AP it was like, "Okay, great, these carriers left," and it's all over again.

You gotta go chase your clients and switch them to another plan. And you know, you do that four, five, six times in your career y- you're, you're gun-shy with new carriers coming in market, and that's what's happened here. Yeah. You know, people don't want, people don't wanna change their book. Agents don't wanna change their book, and the clients sure as hell don't wanna change their plan.

Correct. Yeah. Yeah. So you sell a product that could go away, yeah, you're, you're not gonna be sleeping well at night. Correct. And, and you know what? And those are the issues that we find sometimes about agents just, you know, no building... They're not building their relationship with the carriers and, and then this happens, right?

Mm-hmm. A carrier comes in and then they leave. What happens to your client? At the same time, what happens with compliance? Mm-hmm. So making sure that you wanna be compliant, that's, that's a key on dealing with the carriers, right? Yeah, yeah. Staying compliant is big. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, it... You know, how do you coach an agent to stay clean without getting so scared-

Um, yeah, so, so, you know, going back to the compliant thing, you know, we all get a little nervous when we hear compliance, right? It's like, "Uh, now what?" Yeah. You know, we're dealing with an issue right now with an agent, and we're like, "Man," and we can't even get a hold of the agent- Correct ... which is another whole thing.

So, um, coaching really boils down to, "Okay, you got a complaint. Let's read through this complaint together. Don't respond until we read it together. Let's make sure we understand what the issue is." Then you're calling the carrier and saying, "Hey, this is what we understand to be the issue. Is that what you're saying in this thing?"

"Yes." "Okay, great. Now we draft a response." And then typically what they want is, you know, a recording or any proof of, like, what happened in that appointment. Um, so coaching comes down to w- what the issue was. Correct. And do you understand what happened, what really happened in that thing? N- nine times out of 10, it's a client that wasn't paying attention.

Correct. They... The agent did what they needed to do nine times out of 10. Then there's the one where you're like, "Dude." Yeah, I know. You know? And, and most of the time it comes down to the agent. It's really, it's usually a veteran agent. It's usually an agent that has a pretty decent book of business. It's usually, usually an agent that knows what they're doing.

They're coasting. They're taking shortcuts because they're lazy, they're moving too fast, and they're not bad agents. They're just like, you know, "I d- I did seven appointments today." What do you think's gonna happen? Right. Especially when you're late- Correct ... for the next one. Correct. You know? You have this temptation to ch- to, to do shortcuts.

That's where agents get in trouble. So coaching them is like, "Hey, you know, this is what you're doing. You need to slow down. We need to go through the baks- basics again. I don't want to make you feel like you don't know what you're doing, but at the same time, like, these are the issues that happen when you take shortcuts."

Yeah. So it's really kind of meeting the agent where they're at, making sure that you're not disrespecting them. Mm-hmm. Right? Like, "Hey, look, I'm always give them the benefit of the doubt. You know, our job is to protect our customers. Our customers are our agents." Mm-hmm. Right? So, so I feel like, okay, I'm gonna go to bat for them before I go to bat for the client.

Yeah. I just, that, that's how I feel. Yeah, yeah. Yep. Um, what's the biggest complaint that the agent has about, you know, getting contracted with some of these carriers? Um, like appointment fees Oh, yeah. Uh, well, what's happening right now is in th- in, in this point of time, CMS, and this is on the Medicare side a- and the ACA side, I think i- is ki- it's happening also, but CMS is squeezing the carriers, right?

They, they're saying, "Hey, we're gonna give you a raise, but it's not what you think or need." Correct. So the carriers are like, "Holy smokes, we gotta really, you know, tighten our, tighten our belt here." So they're looking at every single way that they're overspending or spending on things that is not productive.

Mm-hmm. So one of the, one of the buckets that they look at is, how many agents do we have that are not producing sales? Okay? Because already that's a sunk cost. I can tell you this. Just here at HPM, we spend approximately $600 per agent just to onboard them. It's the phone calls, it's the emails, it's the staff, it's the software, it's, it's the meetings, it's the paperwork, it's the time.

Agents don't know about that. Correct. Agents don't care about that. Mm-hmm. They just want the contract. Then they get the contract, and they don't sell anything And then they wanna release. So for us, we're like, "Dude, you owe us 600 bucks because- That's true ... you just, you just jammed up our staff and you didn't even do one sale."

And, and that's the funny part. They say, "Well, I didn't even do a sale, so just, you know, let's, let me go." Give me a release, yeah. It's like, "No, no, no. I need you to do a sale so I can at least break even." Correct. You know? Um, so- And, and you know what? I noticed that some, some carriers would, um, ask for that additional fee to get contracted, right?

Yeah, so, so going back to that, so, so, uh, what we're seeing is carriers saying, "Hey, if you haven't produced in 12 months, we're gonna c- we're gonna cancel you because we paid $100, $200, $300 for appointment fees just to get you appointed," and they have to do that every year for every single agent. So my early e- example of United, that's 55,000 agents times whatever that appointment fee is.

That's insane. That's millions of dollars of appointment fees that the state makes, which is good on them, that the carrier has to pay. Now, let's say half of them aren't producing- Correct ... which is, you know, I would say- A lot of money ... probably more like 70% aren't even producing. But let's just say half.

25,000 agents, they're paying millions of dollars for appointment fees, and they're not producing not even one single sale. So, so now, y- you know, we've, we have agents that, they wanna be contracted with every single company. Right, just in case, right? Correct. Yeah. Just in case. But they don't know that it costs the carrier money to appoint them.

They don't know that it costs the FMO to get them contracted, 'cause we're spending time, money, and energy trying to get them contracted, and then they don't even do a sale. So, a- and then on the ancillary side, what you were alluding to is there are carriers that say you can't even get contracted, even your, the first time, until you pay an appointment fee.

Correct. And then there's carriers saying, "Hey, if you wanna go into new states, you have to pay the appointment fee ahead of the, the state appointment that we're gonna do." So what do you recommend as an agent? Yeah, go slow. I mean, um, do you really have business there? Why are you getting contracted with this carrier?

Is it one client? If it is, don't do it. Refer it to a friend or, or, or another agent. Build a relationship that... And that's what I used to do. I was like, I couldn't sell certain products, so I would refer it out, and I made a lot of friends doing that. Correct. Um, so if it's like the one-offs, two-offs, but if you're seeing a pattern of like two, three, four, I've given out four of these, I need to get contracted with this carrier- That's different

that's different. Or there's an opportunity like your, uh, agency saying, "Hey, we have a bunch of leads from this carrier. They n- need this thing. We would like you to get contracted." Cool. Go do that. Or if it's like you have a doctor that you're working with, and they just recently got contracted with a carrier and you didn't have it, and they're gonna be like, "Hey, I need people on this plan-" Correct

then that's another opportunity. So look at the opportunity versus just, oh, I- it's a new carrier. It sounds great. I'm gonna contract. If you really don't know if you're gonna sell it, don't contract. And, and, and look at the market, right? Mm-hmm. Not every carrier is really good at each market. Right. So we have to look at the market and see what's selling so you could- Yeah

start with those first. Yeah. And then add later on, later, more products or more carriers in the future. Mm-hmm. When your book of business continues to grow, then you grow with the carriers, too. Yeah. It'll, it'll... I think the market will drive your decisions if you're not making decisions without any information.

Yeah. Um, tell me about the release. You know, uh- My favorite topic. It, it, it, I know. That, that's, that's, that's... I had it here in my notes. Yeah. And again, agents, sometimes they have an idea of, yeah, I'll request a release, and, and that's it, and they should give me a release. Mm-hmm. But what is, what's going on in the industry- Mm

with some of these companies not releasing the agents or the releasing, release process? Yeah, so the industry is really fighting releases right now. We're seeing some noise happening with that. I would say- My personal opinion, I see the value of having a release. Why? Because as an agent, if you start going, jumping from agency to agency and you're doing that often, then what happens is, is the carrier gets confused.

We've had, we've had sales information come to us, we've had compliance information come to us, we've had personal agent information come to us with an agent that left us two years ago. Correct. That agent isn't res- w- not our responsibility, and we probably shouldn't have that information. Mm-hmm. And so we have to send it back to the carrier and say, "Uh, they're not with us anymore."

And the carrier's confused. They're like, "Wait, what?" And then they have to go in their system. "Oh yeah, they got a release," and then, "Yeah, this is the third time." And d- you know, if, if there's no track record of you jumping around, then how are they gonna track that? Mm-hmm. Right? So you have to be tied. So what is a release?

A release is saying, "Hey, um, I'm with agency X and I wanna move to agency Y, and in order to move from agency X to agency Y, I need the carrier to recognize that I'm moving from agency X to agency Y." So the industry standard is you would get a release from agency X, send it to the carrier, the carrier would approve it, and then they would appoint you with, w- with, um, with, with agency Y, right?

So the carrier is that, that middleman. Correct. Now, the release itself, the letter that you get from the agency- Mm-hmm ... is not the actual switch to move you to the next agency. Correct. It's a permission slip that says, "We're going to go ahead and let this agent go. Everything's good and kosher," and then the carrier processes that and then moves them to the other agency, right?

Um, the carrier also needs to know who to pay overrides to. Okay. So if the agent, agent is like, "I don't need a release, I'll just move to this agency," the carrier doesn't know that. How are they gonna pay that new agency their admin fees for, for managing you? Which is the whole reason why they're recruiting, right?

That's how they make their money. They, they earn admin fees, right? So we've tried to shake that up. Years ago, we came up with a 30-day release, no questions asked. Correct. That's our guarantee. We still stick to it. It works. It's pretty much... Like, if you look at the world, just the world in general, a 30-day notice to end a partnership is pretty standard.

You know? It's like, "Hey, this isn't working out. My last day is gonna be this day." 30 days. Why do we like it? Well, we like to make sure that they don't owe us any money. There's no open compliance issues. Mm-hmm. They don't have any of our marketing assets, like tents, tables, tablecloths, shirts, swag, all that stuff.

We gotta get it back. Mm-hmm. We have systems that they're on that we need to shut down. We have data that needs to be moved and, and archived or shared with the agent or whatever that looks like, and that takes time, and we have an entire team to kinda, like, shut that whole process down. So, um, you know, we do welcome agents back if they've left us, but I always cringe when they do because now we've paid three times.

We've, we've paid to onboard the agent, we've paid to offboard the agent, and now we're gonna pay again to onboard the agent. So, like, the cost of it is, like- Hmm ... it kills me. So if they leave again, it's, it's, it's like, "You're out. You're done." Like, I can't keep doing this. This is abuse. So. So, um, going back to the release part because- Hmm

it, we, I see a lot of agents that they come to me and said, "Hey, I requested a release, but-" They wouldn't let me get it because- Mm. Mm-hmm ... now I'm stuck for two years with them, or what can I do if the agency doesn't give me the release? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So that's a great question, and it happens a lot. For some reason, d- there's FMOs that are just being jerks.

They don't want, they don't wanna release agents. There's no rhyme or reason, they just don't. Or they'll ignore them thinking like, "Oh, yeah, if we ignore them it'll go away." Correct. Or, "We'll ignore them and then they're locked in for another year with me. Ha ha ha." It's like, dude, it's such a bad practice, and that's what the industry's fighting, right?

Ignored agents, um, games being played with releases. 'Cause the carriers have blackouts. And so let's say you, you ask for a release, and then it's been weeks, and then all of a sudden the blackout happens, and you hit that blackout period, and then you can't get a release 'cause the carriers are not gonna move you.

So some of these FMOs play that game. It's a terrible game. Your reputation's on the line. Why would you do that? I don't know, but they do it. Um, so, so there's an auto release sequence that happens on every carrier. Every carrier has a b- a back door to getting a release for yourself. So, um, if, if your agency denies a release- Mm-hmm

you can put in a transfer request. Okay. So, uh, it's different for every carrier. Some of them process within 48 hours. Some of them process, it'd be months. Um, it, it, it varies. So- But they have that option, right? Almost every carrier has a protocol for a release, yeah. Okay. Yeah. And then worst case scenario, which really sucks, but worst case scenario, you can terminate your contract and then recontract.

And then you can recontract however you want. Interesting. And I don't really recommend that because when you do, you kinda, you kinda release your book. But there's like, there's some jazz we can play with that to help you out if you needed, needed to get out of something like that. But yeah, it's pretty bad.

Yeah. Okay. Um, what would you recommend right now? I'm an agent and I'm trying to get contracted, so I wanna like summarize this, just- Make sure that we're in the same page, right? Um, as an agent then we will, we have that agent, um, at least get two, three companies, right, first. Make sure that there's, if there's a fee, they have to under- understand that there's a fee- Mm

for contracting- Mm-hmm ... with ancillary products, right? You mentioned it. Yeah. That, that one for sure, yeah. And, um, make sure that they check their contracts, right- Mm ... um, before they sign with- Mm ... with an FMO, right? That's an interesting thing. You know, it's funny 'cause, like, you know, I, I think it's just an, uh, a cultural thing, like nobody reads their contracts.

And then and then they get, then they get screwed over, and then they have to get a lawyer, and everybody's suing each other. It's like, yeah, but if you read the contract, you'd know that, and then you could- Right ... have avoided thousands of dollars and years of pain, you know, because you could have adjusted the contract to be like, "Yeah, I don't want that," or whatever.

Right. You know, there's some standard stuff, you know, in, in contracts in general, you know, that you can't really maneuver. It's just part of the deal. Um, but, but for the most part you can, you can go with that, you know, FMO and be like, "Yeah, I'm, I, I'm really preferring this," and you can create addendums or, you know, sign-offs or, or things like that.

Um, I wouldn't go crazy with it, but, uh, you know, read your contract. Like, hello. You know? You wouldn't buy a house without buying a contract. I mean, maybe people do do that, I don't know. But yeah. And people do that, too. Yeah. Ours, by the way, our agent agreement or contract is one page. Great. We did that on purpose.

Yes. Yeah. Nice. Uh, because we wanted people to read it. It's- It's one page ... and make sure they understand what they're getting. It's one page. And the, and the options, right? Yeah. Everything is there. I've seen, I've seen, I've seen agent contracts that are, like, 50 pages long, and I'm like, whoa. And, and we used to be that, too, like, like, guilty as charged.

But, uh, I think it was, like, two years ago, I'm like, "Why are we doing this? We need to change this." So we, we made a one-page agent contract. Yeah. All right. So and then, um, if an agent sees this video, what, you know... Um, every agent took one thing from this conversation about handling carriers, what do you want it to be?

Um, I would say agents need to look as a, look at the carrier as not the enemy. Correct. You know? I think, I think some agents are, "Oh, they did this thing. Ah, I hate them and I'm gonna switch my book." Or, "I can't believe they did this," or, or, "The benefits are this way," or, you know, it, it's, it, I don't know. It's, it is, it's a relationship that you have to understand, right?

Like, if you're dating and you have a boyfriend or a girlfriend or whatever, there's gonna be good days and bad days. I kinda look at it that way. You know? It's like, "Oh, man. She's, she's really on one right now. I'm gonna go for a beer. I'll be back later." You know? That's like us sitting out a year from that carrier.

Yeah. It's just like, we're not gonna sell a lot of that this year. And they kinda do it to themselves sometimes. Like, the carriers shrink back benefits because they have financial things that they're trying to do- Correct ... or whatever the case might be to, to tighten the ship to, for longevity, right? And that's what we were talking about.

Like, they don't wanna come in and out of markets. Like, that volatility's bad. The insurance commissioner hates it. They don't wanna see that. So, like, when, when they shrink back, th- I think the agents feel like, "Oh, man. Why are they doing this? I hate this." It's really for the benefit of the industry and is a benefit to your clients to, like, "Hey, look, we can't be as rich as we used to to make this thing work a long time."

Right? Otherwise, you will have to change your plan. They will go out of business. They will leave the market. Correct. Because they just don't- And then it makes it worse. Yeah. And it makes it worse. So I think building and knowing, knowing that it's not an enemy situation, it's a relationship that there are gonna be ups and downs You have to build trust with the carrier just like they have to build trust with you.

So show up for meetings on time. Don't R- oh, man, the thing that kills me, ugh, don't RSVP for an event and then don't show up. And don't even, yeah. That is, like, that's just- Respect, man. That's just- Be a gentleman and a lady. Correct. Right? The event starts at 4:00. You're a professional. Correct. Show up at 4:00.

And carriers are gonna start doing that soon, right? Oh, dude, we... It's funny 'cause, you know, here in Florida, we have, we have, uh, agent time, which we joke about. You know, we have Miami time, and then we have Miami agent time, and it's like, dude, an hour, hour and a half late to an event, why even show up? It's embarrassing.

And some of our agents do it to us, and I, I, I'm just like- Yeah ... you know? So the, the pet peeve is, is, like, stand up, do what you say you're gonna do, show up when you're gonna show up. Don't RSVP if you have no intention of going. If you are gonna be late, text somebody or, you know, remove yourself from the RSVP list.

These people are investing time, money, and energy. They probably have food and drinks for you there. They, they have to count swag. They have to pay for the venue. Like, it's amazing that people don't consider any of that when they're invited to an event. They're like, "Oh, yeah, this is just fun and f- you know, sun," and then they go there.

Yeah. It's, it's... The behavior of some agents is, is appalling. Um- And it ruins the industry. Yeah. Yeah, and then it, then it, then the carriers, like, "We're not gonna do kickoffs anymore." Correct. There's no more kickoffs. "We're not gonna do, we're not gonna do broker mixers anymore. We're not gonna do any of this."

Why? And then the agents complain, "Oh, there's nothing ever going on." Why? Because you guys don't care. Correct. You show up two hours late to an event. You RSVP and don't show up. Yeah. It's just disrespectful. It's just- Yeah ... basic common courtesy. Yeah. You know? It is. It is. So anyway. Um, finish this sentence for me.

Mm. The agents who win the carrier game are the ones who

Show up And do what they're gonna do for the carrier and that relationship. So going back to, "Hey, there's a training. Go to the training if you really need it." Mm-hmm. You know? Agents are barking like, "Hey, I need more training, I need more coaching, I need this, I need that," and then we deliver it and they don't show up, and the carriers do the same thing, and they don't show up.

And, uh, or, or, "Hey, we're gonna, we're gonna... Let's meet." "Okay, let's meet," and then they cancel, or they're an hour late. Yeah. Or there's an event, right? Do what you say you're going to do. If you're a professional and you really wanna take this business seriously, the number one thing you should do is be true to your word.

You know, "Hey, I'm gonna contract..." You don't have to contract with every carrier. Correct. And be honest, like, "Hey, look man, I can't contract with you guys right now because you're too new, I don't have enough experience, and I truly don't believe I'm gonna give you enough clients." Yep. "If the opportunity comes for me to really pour in some clients, then I'll come and contract with you."

But the reality is, is agents are too fast to contract, too, uh, eager to, you know, impress people other than themselves and their clients. I, uh, that's silly. Don't do that, you know? We're, we're not looking for you to have 19 count- contracts. Correct. Right? 'Cause we know you're not gonna sell all of them, right?

Even going in, like, right before AEP or the new selling season, every year you have an opportunity to recertify. Mm-hmm. You have an opportunity to take a look at your book of business. You have an opportunity to decide what plans you're gonna sell next year. Correct. So do that, and if there's a carrier that you're like, "I'm not gonna sell them next year, and I haven't sold them for two years," cut it.

Correct. Just don't do it. Just let it go. If you receive a letter from a carrier saying, "Hey, I'm dropping you because of no production"- Mm-hmm ... it's gonna hurt more the agent if they received a letter than you at the end of the year just canceling- Yeah ... that appointment. Yeah. If you, if you have a non-production termination, it's probably unlikely that you'll be able to contract with them again.

Correct. There is one carrier that says, "You can come back, but you have to pay your old appointment fee, and you have to pay the new appointment fee for us to consider you coming back into our system," because they... Yeah, so they're making the agent pay. "Oh, you really wanna sell us? Okay, you pay the old one, and you pay the new one, 'cause you...

'Cause we paid the old one, and you made zero, and you're, now you're gonna pay the new one, and you're gonna-" Yeah ... pay it, and even if you pay zero, we at least break even on our appointment fees." Yeah. But they still have admin costs, right? Yeah, I can get fired up about this stuff. I know. I know, I know, I know.

Yeah. And, and, um, it, it is important just to make sure that read your contract- Build relationship with the carriers Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm Make sure you're on time on whatever you do. Yeah. Go to the events, AP kickoffs. They're gonna start soon. Yeah. Attend those. Learn about your product. That's how you're go- you're gonna build your book of business.

Yeah, build the relationship with the carrier because they're the ones paying you, and they're giving you the product to offer to your clients. So- Correct ... s- a lot of the times, the carriers will come to you and say, "Hey, how do you feel about this benefit we're thinking about rolling out?" Mm-hmm. And you can...

And I've been able to do that. I've been able to help design products that came into market and really shift everything, you know? Correct. Sometimes for the bad, but, like, but coming with ideas and say, "Hey, you guys should play a little jazz on this side," or, "Have you considered this benefit?" Or, "Here's what's going on in other markets that you might not be aware of."

And, you know, it opens eyes, and then they, they get that feedback, and you get the opportunity to sell a product that you helped design or at least- Correct ... get feedback on. Yeah. Right. So it's about that relationship, 100%. Well... I survived another session. You did survive. By the way- Yeah ... your chair's nice and warm now.

Oh, thank you. Um- Thank you ... I feel like a little bit taller today- Uh-huh ... just because I was sitting in your chair. Yeah, that's, um, that, that's, that's, uh, behind-the-scenes magic. It's, it's editing. Yeah. Sergio Diaz, VP of Sales and Marketing, thank you for being here again today. Thank you. Thank you, Justin. And, uh- And thank you for the time, man.

I hope, uh, the agents learn a little bit today about carriers. I appreciate your, your help with that. Yeah. Thank you. Awesome. Sergio spent this whole episode turning my own trick on me, and it worked. Here's the truth. The carrier isn't your enemy, and it isn't your boss. It's a relationship, same as any other, and the agents who treat it that way outlast everyone.

Send this to somebody who's about to sign their first contract. I'm Justin Jacobs. This is Closed. You have a nice day.