Ten years ago, if someone had asked Mike Ferry about his interest in becoming a Medicare sales specialist, he probably would’ve gotten a good laugh. After visiting a friend who was in the business, he was sure Medicare was not in his future.

“He had an entire room dedicated to paperwork from Medicare,” Mike recalled. “Ceiling to floor, there were four walls of books.”

At that time, Mike had an established career selling life insurance and mortgage protection products in central Florida. But then the housing market crashed, and the mortgage protection business dried up. In 2012, Mike responded to a Wellcare ad and decided to give Medicare products a try after all. He started working at a Wellcare call center in Winter Haven, Florida.

Mike credits the experience with teaching him the basics of selling Medicare Advantage and prescription drug plans. He received “awesome” and “very intensive” training.

“I learned how to look up doctors and medications in the call center. It was just a great foundation,” he said.

An Offer He Couldn’t Refuse
Mike wasn’t there long before a friend in Pennsylvania, who was working for Humana, called him and said, “Get up here now!” Humana had opened a new market and had more AEP leads than the captive agents could handle.

“I got in my car, and I was in a hotel in Philadelphia within two days,” Mike said.

Mike spent the entire AEP enrolling as many Pennsylvania Medicare beneficiaries as he could. And this system of “reverse snowbirding” would remain the bulk of his business for six consecutive years. Humana would soon open the New Jersey market also.

Now Mike was “crossing the bridge” and enrolling seniors in both states on the same day. He had the enviable task of trying to fit as many appointments as possible into any given day.

“When we first started, it was twenty (leads) per day. You picked where you wanted to go,” he said.

Mike enrolled ten beneficiaries on his most lucrative day, faxing paper enrollment forms at midnight from his hotel room. He sometimes had to complete enrollments in clients’ cars. Humana even loaded up an RV with marketing materials and WiFi access for Mike to use as a mobile office (see the picture below). You’d be hard-pressed to find a broker that has completed enrollments in more diverse surroundings than Mike.

Total Transformation
Last year, Mike decided it would be his last AEP as a Medicare legionnaire. His focus this AEP (and beyond) is on growing an agency of his own and developing brokers to be successful Medicare sales specialists. He linked up with a great agency leader in Florida, Michael Crotts of Best Plan Choice Insurance Agency, to learn about growing a successful agency.

Mike admits to being spoiled with leads over the years. He understands that one of his many new challenges will be learning the marketing techniques that other Florida agents utilize to be successful in such a competitive market. He doesn’t hesitate to ask agency leaders what techniques are working, and what their top producers are doing to succeed.

“Michael Crotts has taught me a lot about generating your own business,” he said.

Mike’s 2021 AEP strategy is vastly different from years past. Thanks to the advances in voice signature and e-apps available through most carriers, he has been entirely virtual and telephonic so far. He’s also spent a lot of time and energy protecting what he already has.

“My clients up north, they’re hunkered down…it’s been a lot of playing defense this year, because people were locked in their homes and listening to endless Medicare commercials on T.V.,” he said.

Mike looks forward to taking on more of an agency leader role in the future. His goal is to have ten brokers ready to sell a year from now.

“I love the teaching aspect of it,” he said. “I love the training and sharing of tips.”