Kevin Knauss: Health, History, Travel, Insurance
Posts related to marketing of business services, usually web pages and internet searches.
That smile means I had climbed out of the hole of depression dug, by me, when I became an insurance agent. Selling insurance, from my perspective, is a soul crushing experience. Until I learned how to reset the table where I stopped selling insurance and started educating consumers, did I find a path in the insurance industry. Because, you see, I’m the guy who will take a phone call in a field of lavender to answer your health insurance questions.
By assuming that Covered California is one big selling machine, the report also paints agents as little more than clerks at a supermarket. Agents do more than just ring up the consumer’s purchase and then watch them take their goods out the door. Agents, just like Covered California customer service representatives, are available all year to help with reporting changes to Covered California and assist with health plan problems. Some agents have complained that Covered California helps enroll the easy cases and the agents must work with individuals and families who have more complicated households, immigration issues, and income questions that require more time.
In a certain sense, Covered California is no different than any other agent trying to enroll consumers and earn a monthly commission. I suppose there are other industries that must spend 1/3 of their forecasted revenue on marketing just to maintain their sales, but the percentage seems excessive on the face of it. You have to wonder how sustainable a business model is if spending 33% of the budget on marketing is necessary for survival. It also raises the question of if the exchange based model is the most efficient means of qualifying consumers for the Premium Tax Credit and distributing the subsidy.
If you are a small business, nonprofit or just a person that has something to promote, your website is your virtual store or megaphone. The greatest challenge all organizations have is attracting visitors to their websites to promote their products or services. While Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an important aspect of a good website […]
Covered California held their third sales seminar for enrollment partners on November 5th. While there was plenty of information for Certified Insurance Agents, it was apparent that Covered California has developed a marketing strategy to funnel sales to the Navigators. In addition to a media blitz including a bus to tour through the state, Covered […]
With Covered California moving forward on the Navigator grant program consumers will have to contend with even more and potentially confusing marketing for ACA health plans this fall during open enrollment. The new Navigator program will allow non-profit organizations that receive grant money to create radio and TV commercials along with opening store fronts to […]
Since there is no glimmer of hope on the horizon and I have evolved my own special contempt for managers eagerly exploiting consumers, there is little to do except walk away from the burning trash heap of marketing lies and greed.
Even though entry level base commissions have been cut, insurance companies have not abandoned all monetary incentives for their outside sales representatives.
It highly unlikely that this AgStart-Tech-Center of innovation will be able to add much to California other than becoming another impoverished program begging for tax dollars every year.
My “fire in the belly”, as sales professionals call it, has been extinguished. I’ll stick to what makes the passion bubble inside of me which is helping and educating people.
