Why You Need to Make Time for Medicare Agent Training

It’s the Annual Enrollment Period, the busiest time of the year if you’re a Medicare agent! More sales translate into more money. And we all know time is money, so the more time we spend selling, the more money we should make. It can be easy to dismiss Medicare agent training opportunities during this time, but you shouldn’t.

Whether you’re a new or experienced agent, making time for Medicare training is important, especially if you want to grow your book of business and expand your profit margin. Why, you might ask? We’ve got four great reasons, plus we’ve listed some of the best Medicare training resources out there to help you effectively spend your time.

Why Should You Complete Medicare Agent Training Each Year?

If you’re considering skipping out on training this year, we hope these reasons will make you reconsider!

To Stay Up to Date on New Medicare Products

The insurance industry, and yes, the Medicare industry, is always changing. Insurers are constantly innovating and producing new products to better meet their members’ unique needs. You need to be on top of any new products that come out. What if they’re super competitive and fill a unique void in your portfolio? The best way to stay up to date on fresh carrier offerings and discover their nuances is by attending training webinars hosted by the carriers themselves!

To Stay Up to Date on Medicare Certifications & Compliance

If you sell Medicare Advantage or prescription drug plans, you have to complete AHIP Medicare training, or an equivalent type of compliance training, each year. You likely also have to complete product trainings for most, if not all, of your carriers in order to get certified to sell their products. Missing out on these agent trainings can mean missing out on new commission, as well as renewals!

To Better Your Portfolio and Your Bottom Line

Certain Medicare agent training opportunities can actually help you discover products that you’ll want in your portfolio for the upcoming plan year. A lot of carriers introduce their new and improved products before AEP, so you’ll want to keep that (and Ritter Insurance Marketing’s Medicare Summits!) in mind for next year. That being said, many carriers will also hold product trainings throughout the year, so it’s not too late to get a better idea of what’s out there! There may be products in your local market that weren’t very competitive last year, but are this year, or vice versa. You’ll want to update your portfolio accordingly in order to maximize your sales success this year.

Certain Medicare agent training opportunities can actually help you discover products that you’ll want in your portfolio for the upcoming plan year.

To Better Serve Your Clients

Your clients likely aren’t experts on Medicare. However, they tend to believe you are. That’s why they’ve come to you for help with sorting through their options and picking a plan. The only way you can live up to that status is to always be refreshing yourself on what you already know and striving to increase your knowledge about Medicare. The more knowledge you have, the more informed recommendations you can make for your clients! And happy clients are often loyal clients.

Great Medicare Agent Training Resources for 2021 & Beyond

Here are a few sites with training resources that will help you make the most of your pre-AEP, AEP, and post-AEP time!

CMS.gov

What better place to get Medicare agent training than from the website of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services themselves? CMS.gov is a great site to frequent if you’d like to stay current on industry news and major Medicare changes. They also have important compliance-related documents, like the Medicare Advantage & Part D Communication Requirements, as well as data and statistics!

AHIP.org

Better bookmark this site now. If you sell Medicare Advantage and prescription drug plans, you’ll likely need to complete the AHIP Medicare training and test annually. AHIP.org also boasts health policy news and information, research reports, continuing education events, online educational courses, and more!

RitterIM.com

Shameless plug here, but our site is a fantastic place to visit if you have a few minutes and want to expand your knowledge about specific Medicare, life, and ancillary products, the technology that can make your job easier, or ways to generate more leads, close more sales, and make more money. In addition to our blog, which contains posts like this, we have free in-depth eBooks and quick guides on how to sell different products and more! Want to really maximize your time? Try listening to our ASG Podcast episodes while driving to and from appointments!

In addition to posts like this, we have infographics, free in-depth eBooks and quick guides on how to sell different products, videos, and more!

We hope it’s not a surprise that the national field marketing organization behind the Ritter blog is dedicated to providing a boatload of other training resources for Medicare agents. On RitterIM.com, there’s also our self-paced video training experience called Knight School that explores five pathways and provide downloadable resources.

Ready to learn more about how Knight School can help you elevate your career? Download our Knight School guide and start preparing today!

You can also visit our really handy training Events page that’s chock-full of upcoming webinars and in-person meetings for Medicare agents that range from being general to carrier/product specific. Some events are hosted by carrier reps, while others are hosted by product specialists at Ritter, and some even offer CE credits! We bet new and experienced agents alike can find something to attend that will be beneficial!

See all of our training and educational resources in one place. Download your free copy of Ritter’s Training & Educational Resources guide and learn how you can read, watch, listen, collaborate, and grow with us!

Marathoners don’t just prepare to run their next marathon overnight. And they don’t stop working to better themselves after completing their first race. If you’re new to selling Medicare, training is important to establishing your knowledge bank and building your reputation and book of business. If you’ve been selling Medicare for years, training can help you stay up to date on what’s new, as well as help you expand your product offerings and services.