This poses a problem to the insurance industry. To meet MLR, commissions have been cut, leaving the future of the health insurance agent in question. Agents play a very critical role in helping consumers find the best priced quality coverage that fits the consumer’s individual need. Because there are many choices when looking at insurance, it is hard for the consumer to pick a plan that suits them best. Agents are able to listen to the clients, understand their situation, tolerance for risk, expected claims, and find the policy that would best cover the client. When they evaluate the situation, they help the client save money by understanding their out-of-pocket costs and premiums. Agents also help clients at claim time, assisting in communications with the insurance carrier. If the role of the insurance agent is phased out, the client would have no one on their side helping them find the best product for their needs.

Senate Bill 2068 would remove agent commission from administrative cost, ensuring that the role of the insurance agent stays intact. This would be a great benefit to consumers as it will ensure they have access to professional and knowledgeable guidance from a health insurance agent.

MIBS supports Senate Bill 2068. We believe the agent plays a critical role in the insurance and health industries and want that to continue into the future.

To find out more about the bill or contact your Senators you can visit the NAIFA website.

What does this mean for you?  Traditionally, to get a contract with an agency, you would have to present a business plan with guaranteed production requirements to the carrier.  Once approved, you would be given a contract.  You then would have the responsibility of meeting those production goals each year.  This would enable a growing agency to put their business with one or two carriers to satisfy that requirement.  This often left minimal options for the client.  It was hard to find an agency that represented all carriers.

Writing with MIBS offers…..

• Access to A Rated carriers
• The ability to place one piece of business with us, and then never write again (although we would like you to write more, there’s no requirement!).
• 100% ownership of your client.  We don’t do anything with your clients info but help you write the case.
• The freedom to place business wherever you would like.  If you are a captive agent and just want a carrier to take a client your captive carrier won’t write, we will help you!
• A competitive edge, you always have an array of A Rated carriers to place your business with.

We have worked hard to create a unique opportunity for you to be successful.  We would love to answer any questions you have and help you build a strong, successful agency!

For more info, you can visit our website, or call us at 847-427-8000.

To solve this problem, he starts cooking meth with a local drug dealer to make money.  While this makes for a great television show, the premise bothers me.  Often times I am yelling at the TV, noting that a PPO plan and some term life could have solved this problem!  Given that Walt works for a school district, the PPO option was most likely available.  In order to save a few bucks a month, he chose the HMO, leaving him in his current situation.  A term life policy for around $800,000 runs him just over $100/month at his current age.

In what many would just see as another scene in the show, Walt does a quick equation to see how much money his family would need if and when he dies.  He is actually calculating how much life insurance he should have purchased.  You can see it below at 4:30 in the video.

Obviously this is an extreme example of what happens when someone doesn’t insure themselves and their families properly, but it’s a very vivid example that really drives the point home.

Now I know only I can take a TV Show and turn it into an insurance example, but this is how we need to assess our client’s situation when determining their insurance needs.  What is best for them?  Would your client and their families be covered if the worst would happen?  Unfortunately, too many people fall into the same situation as Walt.  Fortunately, cooking meth doesn’t seem to be the solution, but avoiding this situation all together could really make a huge difference at a very low point in your client’s lives.

There are a few things that I really like about this kind of marketing strategy.

1)  It Invokes a Positive Emotional Response.   As a consumer, you can usually tell when you are being marketed and it can feel obtrusive.  As agents, we all struggle to balance our marketing campaigns to find that right balance of good communication versus bothering your client.  Marketing usually entails some trial and error, and during that time, we can often become a pest to our client.  That obviously creates a negative feeling or emotion.  With this type of marketing, it’s all positive emotions, and that’s the best kind of association to create!

2) People will talk about you, in a good way!  Because this is a creative and fun idea, people will tell their friends and family.  The reach of this type of marketing idea is really impressive and your prospective clients also turn into part of your marketing strategy without even knowing it!

3) It’s fun!  This is not some routine direct mail campaign or cold calling program.  This program will make you smile and hopefully your prospective clients smile as well!  Take a hint from the guy in the video and have fun with this.  People like to be around other happy and funny people.  Embrace this idea and enjoy marketing!

4) It’s unique!  You don’t hear about this often.  Actually, outside of this commercial, I’ve heard of someone doing this one other time with coffee at Home Depot instead of gas.  It will make you stand out from your competitors, which is our goal.

What’s really great is you can control your budget.  Depending on your market, gas most likely won’t give you the best return on investment.  Change this idea and make it work for you.  Coffee at Starbucks, breakfast at McDonald’s, lunch at Chipotle, etc.  If you are targeting families, hand out food or drinks to the moms and dads waiting to pick their kids up for school.  Figure out your target market, where they are, what they would want and go for it.

It’s a good idea to make a postcard or flyer to hand out with your gift.  Have links to your website, Facebook Fan Page, or Blog so they can research you. I would suggest giving each person more than one, so when they tell their friends and family about you, they have an extra postcard to hand on.  They become a part of your marketing technique and a prospective customer.  It doesn’t get much better than that!

This idea is central to Progressive’s new advertising campaign, you can check out some of their other ideas here….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1dAcqy997A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0cmzedNewM

Good luck and have fun!

I just got home from the Camodeca Christmas and it’s 1:45 in the morning.  After a day with my family, what seems most important is in clear view to me.  It’s family.  That family doesn’t have to be by blood, but a family type unit.  It’s a place I know everyone has my back, and I have theirs.  We love each other unconditionally.  We fight sometimes and some of them can annoy me (no names now), but at the end of the day, we know we are there for each other.

Every year we take a family picture.  This is from 2009, the last Christmas before my Grandma passed on.  It was very special to us all!

With the pace of life getting faster everyday, it’s important to have your priorities straight.  Business is very important, but a life that is all work is not fun and most likely will not be successful.  I hope you are able to take time everyday and during this holiday season to spend time and love your family or friends.

1.  An accurate and up to date website:  I know most agents have some sort of website launched, and that is a great start!  What you need to ask is, “Does this website reflect my brand and agency?  Is it up to date with correct information?  Would someone know all of my product offerings by visiting my site?”  If you have incorrect or outdated info, you could actually be doing more harm than good to your customer.  A recent personal experience showed me this very clearly.  I needed a present for my sister’s dog.  (Yes, I buy presents for the dogs, they actually get the more presents than the humans in our family.)  I found a great jacket to keep him warm for his winter walks at a local dog boutique and asked my Dad to run over to the store to pick it up for me.  I looked online, got the hours of the store, and my Dad was there at 10:00 am when the store was supposed to open.  Problem was, the store had “Holiday Hours” posted on the door; they opened at 10:30.  My Dad patiently waited in the car for 30 minutes until the store opened.  He said he saw at least six customers come to the store, find it closed, only to get in their cars and leave.  If the store would have posted the correct hours on the door, my Dad and those other customers could have simply adjusted their day to the store hours and avoided the frustration.  Now, I don’t trust the information on the website and remember how they cause my Dad to have to wait.   Now hours on their website might not seem like a big deal from the surface, and I know no one is perfect and mistakes are made (as I’m sure our website has an error even though I do my best to keep it up to date).  The point is to try your best to make the information on your site be accurate and up to date so you are able to provide the best service clients

2.  A social media presence:  I know I have probably heard this from me before, but social media is such a great, inexpensive form of marketing that I can’t help but shout about it from the rooftops (or at least my blog).  Facebook & LinkedIn offer so many ways for you to connect with your customers in a different way than traditional marketing allows.  They help you build the relationship, which is the most important part of the sales process.  If you haven’t launched your business Facebook Fan page yet, take a look at ours to get some ideas.     It doesn’t have to be fancy or high-tech, just being there, show your agency’s personality, help your clients with some product information and answer their questions.  This will go a long way for your brand and agency’s image.   For your agency’s Facebook presence, I would suggest creating a Fan Page as opposed to using your personal Facebook profile for a few reasons.  First, Fan Pages have unlimited amount of fans, personal pages are limited to 5,000 friends.  I know this amount of fans might seem like a stretch, but you would hate to put a ceiling on your marketing potential right off the bat.  Second, I think it is good to keep your personal and professional online profiles segmented.  The two pages should have totally different goals.  You personal page is just that, personal, and should be shared with your friends and family.  You business Fan Page should have a marketing strategy behind it, with certain goals you are wanting to achieve.  It can get messy when you combine the two pages into one.  

If you have any questions or need advice on your website or agency’s social media presence for 2012, please don’t hesitate to contact me.  I love helping agents build their business with marketing, it’s one of my crazy passions in life.  Tomorrow is our last blog for the season.  I hope you are enjoying a wonderful Holiday with your family and are planning for a great 2012!

1.  Largest single health carrier in the country:

2.  UHC offers different networks for your clients different needs.  Their largest network is the Choice Plus network, their traditional PPO network.  The other network offered is the Core network, which is a smaller network of doctors and often competes with other carrier’s HMO product.  If you have questions about the Core network, please contact your marketing rep at 847-427-8000 and they would be happy to give you more details!

3.  UHC offers great bundling discounts!  When you sell ancillary products such as dental, vision, life, or short or long term disability, UHC will discount a certain dollar amount of the medical rates.  To see a list of the combinations and dollar discounts, please click here.

1.   Discount Programs:  

2.  Daily Wellness Tips:  These daily wellness tips are great to keep your client’s mind thinking healthy!   Everyday a new article is released that shows some activity or idea that can increase your client’s health.  Check out this Great link here.

3.  Personal Nurse:  This program enables your client to call a nurse who will develop a great understanding of your client’s situation, and can offer information, develop a relationship, work with your client’s doctor and listen to your clients needs and concerns. You can view the Personal Nurse Page here.

4.    HumanaVitality: This new wellness program is available to group health policies at renewal time.  It is a wellness system where members receive points for doing certain activities.  The points can be rewarded for items offered on Humana Vitality’s website.  For more information you can visit the Humana Vitality Website here.

1.  Non-for-Profit Mutual Company:

2.  Outreach Activities:   BCBS of IL has great outreach activities within our community including, Health Kids, Healthy Families , grant programs,  childhood health and wellness initiative, and the CareVan Program, just to name a few.

3.  Largest PPO Network in the state of Illinois:  You can view more information about the network here.  The network consists of 90% of doctors in the state of Illinois.  This includes downstate, so when looking at the metro area, it’s a little more than 90% of doctors and hospitals.  The network also contains over 200 hospitals in the state.

4.  Personal Health Manager:  This is an online health and wellness tool available to all members.  It includes links to learn how to eat right, get fit, how to stop smoking and many other things.  When a member completes certain tasks, they earn points that can be redeemed for popular health and wellness products and services.  You can see a demo here.

5.  Mobile Applications: BCBS of IL has a mobile application for your smart phone that enables you to view their website, find a doctor, shop for insurance, view claim details, and much more.  You can view a demo here.

These are great tools to have ready for your clients at enrollment time, or to send to them with their policy!

Happy Selling!

6 Things to Know About MIBS

Today, I want to give you some information that will help you get to know our company better.  In business, as in my personal life, I think it is very important to be associated with honest and ethical people and businesses.  We strive to provide great product offerings and exceptional customer service to our agents while never compromising our integrity.  Check out “6 Things to Know about MIBS”!

1.  Only Full Lines General Agency in the Country:  We are one of, if not the only, full lines general agency/brokerage in the country.  Many GA’s focus on health or life, but here at MIBS, we want to be your one stop shop.  As you know, we offer group and individual health, life, long term care, and annuities.  What makes MIBS special is that we also broker standard personal and commercial lines Property and Casualty.  This is a rare find in the brokerage community.  By coming through MIBS you are able to access the top P&C carriers, such as Travelers, Hartford, Safeco, Encompass, CNA and more, with no production requirements.

2.  MIBS has been family owned and operated since 1989:  I am the first of the third generation of the Camodeca family to work at MIBS.  (My mom is a Camodeca and married, hence the “Thies” last name.)  My Grandfather started the business and passed it down to my three uncles; Jeff Camodeca, who runs the health and life department, Perry Camodeca, who runs the Property & Casualty arm, Tony Camodeca, who runs the marketing department, and Kris Thies, who heads up HR & Accounting.  They have worked very hard to make MIBS what it is today.

3.  All About Ethics:  It is very important to us as a family and a business to conduct business in a professional, honest, and ethical manner.  Without our honor and honesty behind our name, our business means nothing.  If something is not good for the client, or you as the agent, we don’t do it.  You can view “Our Beliefs” on our website here.

4.  Dedicated to customer service: Our service to you as the agent is our number one goal.  We want to provide you with a great customer service experience every time you call or visit.  MIBS has knowledgeable customer service staff members in every division of our company to help you with product knowledge and service.

5.  Our goal is for you to be successful:  We have a lot of great tools for you to be successful and help your agency grow.  One of those tools is our HR Buddy website service.  You can check it out here.  This is something only very large agencies are able to offer their clients, which gives you a step up against your competition.  We also offer Agency Building seminars.  You can read about this seminar in my past blog here.  This is our most popular seminar and covers only marketing and sales, no product information.

6.  Unique marketing department:  MIBS marketing department is unique as we offer in the field assistance on any size group health plan.  You will have a dedicated marketing rep that will assist you in the field for group health, on conference calls for individual health, and conduct all training seminars.  This department is a great resource so definitely take advantage of it!

I hope you know a little more about us now!  We are always looking for new ways to help our agents, so if you have any ideas, please let us know!