A Conversation with Amanda Brewton

In this episode, Cory Schmidt interviews Amanda Brewton, an expert in the Medicare field for nearly 20 years. Amanda is the owner of Medicare Answers Now, a Field Marketing Organization in Cleveland, Ohio supporting agents in over 40 states and specializing in Medicare Advantage, Medicare Supplements, Part D Plans, and more.  She continues teaching numerous courses across the country on Ethics, Business Development, Sales, Marketing, and many Continuing Education courses. Amanda is the creator of the Ms. Medicare Conference, Medicare and Margaritas conference, and was awarded “Educator of the Year” by her local state NABIP Chapter.

Learn more about Amanda:
Medicare Answers Now
Amanda Brewton on LinkedIn
Amanda Brewton on Facebook
Ms. Medicare Facebook Group
Ms. Medicare Conference
Medicare & Margaritas Conference
Medicare, Marketing, and Motivation Facebook Group

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Transcript

Cory Schmidt: Welcome back to another episode of the Insurtech Building Blocs podcast. My name is Corey Schmidt. I'm here today without my fearless co host, Tim Robinson, but I have a really awesome guest today and I'm excited about that.

Cory Schmidt: We'll talk about like usual, industry happenings and trends in the health benefits and senior market space. Definitely senior market heavy today because of because of our guest. And so before we dig in, just a quick comment. Just wanted to say a big shout out to all the listeners who reached out after the launch of our podcast.

Cory Schmidt: We got a lot of really great feedback. Words of [00:01:00] encouragement, which are always good for me to, you know, boost my ego and keep me, keep me going on this train. But please keep the feedback coming. And specifically, if there are topics of interest that listeners are, are wanting to hear about certain guests I would love to, to hear more about, you know, what, what folks are wanting to hear on the podcast.

Cory Schmidt: Obviously this is, this is something that's, more of a learning experience and, and discovery for us as much as it is for the folks listening. So keep the feedback coming and and really appreciate it. So, so as I mentioned, I'm flying solo today without my cohost, but have a fantastic guest joining me.

Cory Schmidt: And this is actually our. first official guest on the podcast. So that's exciting too and I have no doubt there'll be plenty of great conversations. So today I'm joined by Amanda Brewton and Amanda has been working in the Medicare field for nearly two decades. I hope I can. Amanda confidently.

Cory Schmidt: All right. And so Amanda founded and owns an FMO that serves [00:02:00] customers in over 40 States. She's also founded and started a couple of conferences really at the forefront of educating and coaching brokers in the industry, which is. Near and dear to my heart. It's a, it's a really important thing that I think a lot of folks miss out on when they're trying to build distribution networks.

Cory Schmidt: So really excited to talk about those things. Amanda is also a very active member in NABIP holding several seats, including advisory level seats that helps form opinions and feedback for CMS as it relates to their work and, and determining kind of the parameters under which agents operate in this industry.

Cory Schmidt: So with all that said. Welcome to the podcast, Amanda. Thanks for being here. It is 

Amanda Brewton: great to be here. Thank you for inviting me. And I did not know that I was your first speaker, your first formal speaker. So that's super cool. Yes. 

Cory Schmidt: We're starting off with a bang, so really appreciate 

Amanda Brewton: it. Awesome. That's fantastic.

Cory Schmidt: So, obviously I tried to give a bit of [00:03:00] a recap of who Amanda Brewton is, but I'm sure I barely touched the surface. What would you like to share with the listeners in regards to your background and things that you think are important to help understand who Amanda is as a person? 

Amanda Brewton: So you actually did really well with your intro.

Amanda Brewton: You're right. I have been in the industry for 20 years. And I've shaken the industry quite a bit throughout my career. Most of my colleagues would tell you that, so I started on the carrier side. I actually started in PNC working for progressive initially, and I hated every minute of working in a call center.

Amanda Brewton: So when I started I moved to four tens overnight over the weekends. And that way I could go ahead and get off work at 6 a. m. in the morning and go play at the Cleveland Museum of Art to during my week. And I didn't have to be back to work until 10 o'clock. And one, when you don't have a [00:04:00] whole lot of money and you're in your late twenties, you know, and you want to do all of those high roller things like red carpet events and things.

Amanda Brewton: What do you do? You volunteer. So I had been volunteering for. Well, years at the Cleveland Museum of Art. And I went to one of these ritzy parties and one of the ladies says, Oh, honey, when I used to work, I used to work for a company called Aetna. And I had no idea of who Aetna was. No clue. And she says, you should go try that.

Amanda Brewton: You should go, you should go apply. So I did, had no idea what I was getting myself into. And I applied for a captive agent position as they were rolling out their products in the state of Ohio. And the hiring manager called and said, Hey, you know what? You'd be better off doing this position, which was working with brokers.

Amanda Brewton: And he says, are you interested? And I said, okay. He sent me this back and [00:05:00] it was all the things that I love to do. I love to teach. I'm really good at the strategic management side of it and I love to throw a good party. So I went ahead and I did the interview and he says, we'll pay for your health and life license.

Amanda Brewton: You're going to be on the road for six months, but if you do this right, you will have a career and you will have this future. And I went. Okay, I'm game. Let's do this. So that's how my career started. I went from there to working with back then. This is pre ACA. I went to working with Shannon Carmona with their AARP under 65 product at the time.

Amanda Brewton: And at one point I managed the broker distribution for 18 states for that particular product. And then in 2014, I went ahead and I started with Anthem. And Anthem is where I really got known for the training and the development that I do. Because back then, the carriers didn't do the levels of [00:06:00] training that they do now.

Amanda Brewton: And I went to my management and I said, The brokers need this. And they said, nobody's going to come, but old people that want to eat the donuts and that don't sell. And I said, no, I think you're wrong. And they're like, no, you're going to get people that don't sell and that just want donuts, which by the way, you will never see a donut at one of my events ever.

Amanda Brewton: So I went ahead and he says, you have 5, 000. That's it for 1500 plus brokers. You have 5, 000 in co op to spread across, across eight months. For all of those brokers. And he says, you can use that money for co op for marketing for them, or you can do this hair brand idea that you're going to fail it. And I said, well, we're going to do this.

Amanda Brewton: And four months, four cities, four topics is what it was supposed to be. By the time I got done, it was seven [00:07:00] cities, six months and over 72 classes. And he came back and he said. Well, we can't quantitatively show the correlation between what you were teaching and the sales effect. And me being me, I went, hold my beer, went and pulled a sprite sheet and listed all of those agents that had RSVP'd to all of those events.

Amanda Brewton: And then I started tracking their sales. That AAUP, we blew the number out of the park. And he goes, huh, wonder what happened there? And I said, well, cause, effect. So, and then of course all the carriers are looking at this, all the other competitors. And they go ahead and And he says, well, I think we need to go ahead and launch this nationally.

Amanda Brewton: And I went, you think? So that was the first time that they asked me to go and speak at one of their, [00:08:00] at Anthem's national sales conference. And then fast forward six plus years. I had started to create a following, but it wasn't just in the state of Ohio. It was multi, multi state. Then I got sick.

Amanda Brewton: And my doctor said, slow your roll. And I said, like hell. And he said, no, really, you need to slow your roll. And I went, I have things to do. No. So I went for the next 10 days. And I pushed myself a little bit too hard. And by that Friday, which we're almost coming up on five years now scared out of my mind, 730 in the morning, I turned in my notice and said, I can't do this anymore.

Amanda Brewton: So I had no idea what I was going to do. And but I knew that I couldn't live the way that I was because I had not been taking care of myself like most agents do and had no clue. And what I wasn't prepared for was having 14 [00:09:00] different job offers. With various people that I respected all over the, all over the country saying, we know what you can do.

Amanda Brewton: We want to see it at the table and we don't care what that looks like. Name your price, name your job, name your opportunity. And I was totally overwhelmed. So, TLC ended up was one of those 14, Craig and Chris Vilwock. They are a NMA out of Warren, Ohio. They're twins and Craig is absolutely brilliant.

Amanda Brewton: So is Chris on the well side. And he said, Hey, kid, what do you want to be when you grow up? Now, mind you, there's six months in between the two of us, that's it. But I'm the kid. And he says what do you want to be when you're up? And I said, you know what? I want to go back to doing what I love, which is training the brokers and developing them.

Amanda Brewton: I want to go back to teaching because I had gone more into all of the operational stuff at [00:10:00] that point. In addition to the teaching, he says, okay, let's do this. So after some careful thought I did and he says a hundred agents in, Two years and we'll start your agent after your agency after that and off to the races will set you up with an office and all of this stuff and without even trying I did a hundred agents.

Amanda Brewton: I got a hundred agents to work with us in eight months just by word of mouth. We didn't formally start recruiting until. Six weeks ago. So right now I have a little over 400 agents that are underneath us from all over the country that just come by word of mouth. And I've been, I went from just me to now I now have a staff at 12 and we've got a massive office at 3, 700 square feet in Cleveland, Ohio.

Amanda Brewton: And two conferences and a third one that I'm creative director on. And it's like, Oh my God. I mean, it's just [00:11:00] never in a million years did I ever figure out that I would be here. And that This would evolve to what it is. And people approach all the time and say, okay, well, you know, do you want to sell your business or this, that, and the other thing?

Amanda Brewton: And my answer is my business is like a Ferrari right now. And I want to test this baby out and see what it can do. No, I'm not ready to sell it yet. Not anytime soon. So yeah, that's me. 

Cory Schmidt: That that's, I love that story, Amanda. I think it just shows your passion for the industry and how you ended up here.

Cory Schmidt: Not, not as a result of like having some, you know necessarily brilliant business idea, but it seems like you just really leaned in on educating, coaching, you know, wanting those around you to be successful. And I think that it seems to me that that's, that's really what resulted in your success was just, you know, wanting others to be successful and to build a, to build a community really of, of [00:12:00] brokers.

Cory Schmidt: Really, really interesting 

Amanda Brewton: story. Without a doubt. For me, the money's going to come along the way. If I do the right things. It's going to come along the way. It's one where there's nothing better to me than taking somebody that when they first start out, they're like, I don't know that I can do this.

Amanda Brewton: I don't know. You know, I'm scared out of my mind. My wife says, you know, you're going to fail. Or my husband, you know, is looking at me going, what are you crazy? But then. I get the call, Oh my God, I got my first sale. Or, Oh my God, you know what? I just did it, man. Holy hell. Did you see that AEP check that I just did?

Amanda Brewton: I've got one. Her goal is that she wants a Ford Mustang convertible. That's her dream car, you know? And every year she gets closer to that. I've got another one who I've been watching this kid, literally, he started at age 19 [00:13:00] with me. And when I was back with Anthem and, or yeah, with Anthem and he walked into one of my training classes and says, I was told I have to listen to everything you have to say.

Amanda Brewton: And you're going to help me build my business. And of course he's a young kid. So I'm harassing the hell out of him and he's taken every minute of it. And I'm going to cry again because he goes ahead and I couldn't be prouder of him. He goes ahead and he took everything that I said to heart. He actually did it all.

Amanda Brewton: He is a fabulous mentor. And he went from not do it, not knowing anything to being one of the top producers, not only in the country for the last five years, he lives in the sticks. And he does this mad amounts of business. He just recently had got married and had a baby. So I talked to his mentor and I'm like, we need to get him in my office.

Amanda Brewton: [00:14:00] And she's like, looking at me like, Oh God, Oh God, what did he do now? And I said, no, no, no, no. I said, I need to talk to him. And I, his, his. Whole priorities have changed and she like looked at me and said, just wait a minute. He said, so I got Zach into the office and I said he goes, what I do. I said, nothing.

Amanda Brewton: I said, but, but we got some changes here. So I need to go ahead and I need to ask you, what is it that you, what are your, where's your goals? I mean, cause you're married and you have a baby now and he goes. I want to rule the world. And I said, okay, I said, game on. I said, game on, we'll do this. So I've been coaching him to develop a downline and to go on steroids, but I couldn't be more prouder of him.

Amanda Brewton: And it's those types of success stories that motivate me, whether the agent's working with me or whether they're a part of one of my Facebook groups, or they're a part of one of my conferences or [00:15:00] whatever it is that in it. Self is what motivates me every day is those success stories. And Watching people's light shine that does it for me all day long.

Cory Schmidt: That's great. I, I love again, love the passion, love the interest in making those around you, you know, more successful Amanda. Yeah, I have to admit, I actually had heard about. You're two of your conferences, the Miss Medicare and Medicare Margaritas. And then even I think the Facebook groups before I knew about the woman behind all of these things.

Cory Schmidt: And then our team actually reached out and, you know, mentioned you know, this is a Amanda Brewton. She's the one who started, you know, all of these things. And this is where this community It's kind of the, the genesis of the communities that are, that are out there. And so I know you and I had a chance to connect last week, just ad hoc and another topic, and it was our first first chance to meet, but just really appreciated the time.

Cory Schmidt: And again, I really love your story. And so I'm excited to spend a little more [00:16:00] time understanding kind of how you, how you make the, those around you successful, what, what you think. Defined success at the broker level. And and so we'll get, we'll get into that a little bit today as well, but I'm sure we could spend hours on that topic alone.

Cory Schmidt: Yes. So I guess one thing I did want to talk about, you know, we're coming off the heels of AEP just finishing up, you know, 2023 AEP you know, always, you know, We call it go time at AgencyBloc, right? It's, it's all about making sure it's all systems go. Everything is, is at the ready for our brokers to use because we know that it's just, you know, everything they can do in that, in that timeframe to, to run as much business and be as productive as possible.

Cory Schmidt: Any early insights from what you're seeing around how AEP went, any highlights low lights just really any, any shares that you would have as it relates to how you felt like the AEP season went overall. 

Amanda Brewton: So the, the industry leader as far as carriers went Aetna blew it out of the park as [00:17:00] far as the, the go, the go to carrier.

Amanda Brewton: As far as production went Devoted had some really good traction this year, which was also they're a new newer company that has been out and has been slowly expanding. throughout the country with their products and their reach, which has been good. You know, as far as AEP went I think the stat that I saw through a desk research was that you had about 13, 17% of Medicare eligibles ended up switching plans this year, which was one of the highest numbers that they've had in a while.

Amanda Brewton: And that was all with The noise that you had going on with the incessant phone calls that are happening. And some of the bad actor practices, which are making everybody's life a living hell right now. And leading to some legislative. Issues that are a very real [00:18:00] concern right now in our industry which has given me a lot of extra homework, but it is one where you know, from an AE perspective I do a top 20 debrief with all of my agents.

Amanda Brewton: So usually about the middle of January after I've run, run my numbers and everything else, I do an invite and we invite. All of the carrier reps in our area locally, because for those that don't know, and I usually teach this that a agent should keep a best practice notebook with them at all times and that notebook should have in it what went well and what didn't.

Amanda Brewton: But come January, that's your time to actually take that notebook and use it. So what we do is we get all of the carrier reps, Anthem, Aetna, United, Humana Devoted, and WellCare primarily, those, you know, the big six, and [00:19:00] Medical Mutual of Ohio, which is our regional bigger one in the state, and We ask the care, we ask the, all of the top agents to come with a debrief and it's what went well, what didn't, what is your wishlist for product wise for AEP?

Amanda Brewton: What is what do you need from a marketing perspective? And then what do you need from me from coaching perspective as well as systems wise? What are you on your wishlist? And this meeting lasts three hours and we bring in lunch and we go through all, each carrier has that answer. And then there's a massive dialogue that happens.

Amanda Brewton: So the carriers are learning what their competitors are doing. They're learning what the top brokers are. My top brokers did almost of the, that top 20 did almost 2000 applications themselves. [00:20:00] So it's not like they're not doing some production and that's just for AEP, not to mention what they're not, they're, they're yearly numbers are.

Amanda Brewton: So it gives them the credibility, but the reason why we do it at the beginning of January or the middle of January is because Each one of those carrier reps typically has meetings with their management and their product, their product people and their marketing people. I used to have to do that when I was on the carrier side.

Amanda Brewton: Which is why we do this and it gives them the ammo because when I used to have to attend those meetings, I would say, I want this, this, this, this, and this. I need this, this, and this. And we did these things. Great. We totally missed the mark on these things. And anytime that you have sales and operations in a room, operations is gonna go prove it.

Amanda Brewton: Prove to me and justify to me that [00:21:00] there's a business need for what you're telling me that I need, that you're saying that you want. And if you can't prove it, they aren't going to give it to you. So, to be able to have My courier reps go into those meetings fully armed and go, listen, here's what we did.

Amanda Brewton: And here's what we were, where this information is coming from and then back it up more than likely I'm going to get what we need. And that allows us to move forward. And that's really how we conduct AEP debrief. It also allows the, the agents to hear that they weren't the only ones having the same problems.

Amanda Brewton: They weren't the only ones that were having other, you know, business needs or whatever it is. And then there's that sense of relief that almost comes that it's like, okay, well this isn't just me. So then they're able to go ahead and have their voice heard and then they start focusing on it. It also gives me line of [00:22:00] sight to be able to go, okay, I have common threads here.

Amanda Brewton: I need to coach on, or I need to do training on this, this and this. I need to source this type of service that they're looking for whatever that may be. And then that allows me to be better as an upline and, and I, I look at myself more as a business coach than an upline. And that's really how I earmark my year.

Amanda Brewton: I already have my business plan built, but I spend the next 60 days building each one of those agents, individual business plans. And then they implement it. And being able to have some direction helps. 

Cory Schmidt: That's great. I really love the idea of a, I guess in like the software world, which I'm more familiar with.

Cory Schmidt: It's like a retrospective. It's really looking at how things went, you know, what went well, what we can improve, what, you know, what those common needs are, you know, amongst the brokers. When you think about [00:23:00] 2024, obviously a lot, a lot of, a lot is changing. We've got, you know, some pending CMS rulings, right.

Cory Schmidt: That That could potentially affect, you know, pretty, I think, pretty dramatically the way the industry operates. But when you think about kind of the the common threads coming out of your retrospective, if you will, what are maybe the, the top one or two things that, that you think that agents are going to need in the year ahead to be successful?

Amanda Brewton: Most agents are older and they're still resistant to the internet and social media, and they're still resistant to getting on board with technology, which it's coming, it's not going away. It's only going to get bigger. Embrace it. But what I'm finding is the majority of them are so afraid because they're, it's new.

Amanda Brewton: And it's [00:24:00] something that now they know that they should have done it on the uptick, but because they haven't now they're afraid to look like an idiot and they're afraid to say, well, I'm not really good at this. And one of my agents a couple of years ago, she's like, I need a Facebook for dummies class. So I did them and you know, and there's no judgment there.

Amanda Brewton: There's a right now. When it comes to social media, you have two camps. You have a camp, which is my camp, which is, this is about education. This is about teaching people to be better and to raise them up. This is about giving them the information and teaching them versus making them feel like an idiot because they don't know something and making them feel lesser because they're not.

Amanda Brewton: Selling as much, or, you know, there's that ego that is involved there. And I'm not on [00:25:00] that. I don't do mean girl. I will not tolerate it whatsoever. Which allows for a space for agents to go, you know, I, I don't even know how to set up a business page. I don't know how to set up business Google. I don't know how to use workflows or automations.

Amanda Brewton: Hell, I don't even have a, I don't even have a CRM. What does CRM even stand for? You know, I use a spreadsheet or I use old school files. I still have piles of files all over my floor. I can't tell you how many agents I've gone into their homes and during AEP there are files literally down the steps on the pool table around the side of, of the family room.

Amanda Brewton: And that's all of their clients and they're all broken up into different things rather than using a digital option and getting agents out of their comfort zone because they know that that works. Moving to something else. scares the hell out of them. [00:26:00] So teaching and I have told this to carrier reps and management and whoever else comes into my office that when you look to change agent behavior, you have a window and that window is January to June and it starts right after AEP because they are all sorts of pissed off and overtired.

Amanda Brewton: And what I mean by that is, is that they're looking at, Well, I work 16 hour days, seven days a week. And Oh my God, you know what? I'm super tired. I'm never doing that again. Or I had to manually check medicare. gov for drugless and hand key every single one in every year, multiple times because I didn't go ahead and put them into some kind of electronic system or I took meetings and I visited six cities in a day rather than put them all in one city and batch them and say, I'm going to be here as an effective management tool, but [00:27:00] looking at all of those go back to the best practice notebook when you're doing that year in review and you're looking at all of the things that could have been better.

Amanda Brewton: Then it's how do I get better for the next year? What do I do to get sharper? And that includes changing the agent's behavior, looking at installing back office systems that make sense, learning new software, learning new protocol, picking up new staff, and they then have six full months. To test it out in a slower season to where now not everything is riding on it where their, their anxiety is through the roof.

Amanda Brewton: And what I've learned over the course of my career is, is that come July, everything is all about time management. The person that wins in their mind with hitting their goals and being successful in their mind, because that's all the [00:28:00] race is. It's against yourself. It's all about the time management. Are you effective with what you're doing?

Amanda Brewton: And do you have a plan or did you take the summer off, decide I have until October, so I won't even start certification until the end of September. You have no marketing plan. And then in the middle of October, you're like. Well, I think I should do some advertising and then in November, you're flipping out because you can't get your sales goals to where they need to be.

Amanda Brewton: And then you're mad at the upline because the upline has been yelling at you since July to go ahead and actually get your stuff done. Like a mom go and get your homework and get your room clean. But then at the same time you're going, I don't want to do it. And then coming back going, well, I wonder why I have bugs in my bedroom.

Amanda Brewton: Well, you didn't clean your room. It's the same analogy when it comes to when you're looking at having a business [00:29:00] that hits where it needs to be. If your numbers are off pace in November, it is absolutely no one's fault but your own. And that's where the tough love comes in. And that's one where So I have a little bit of a direct personality that's a little bit harsh.

Amanda Brewton: So most people it scares the hell out of them. But those softy and I cry at the whim, but I'm direct. I'm going to go ahead and show, tell you what I see and whether I, whether it's good or whether it's bad. And if it's bad, it's a, okay, here's where it is. It's part of being accountable. And with being accountable, you're coming to me in November, going, my numbers are off.

Amanda Brewton: I'm going to look at it and go, okay, we may need to adjust some things for the short term, but you and I need to talk in January. And guess what that conversation is going to be in January. You will learn, you will learn that lesson once. [00:30:00] And then you'll actually realize it. If you're dumb enough to repeat that process twice, odds are you're out of the business by year three.

Amanda Brewton: But those are things that as, and I'm having fun with it with the analogies, but it's true. I watch agents do this all day, every day. I have agents that I tell do a spreadsheet for their products. And in November, they're caught, they're doing spread. They're doing posts going, well, what's the best product in.

Amanda Brewton: Virginia for this. And I'm like, how do you not know you live in Virginia? This is in your market. How do you not know your Intel for your cut for your products? Well, the spreadsheet seemed like it was going to be too much work and I really didn't feel like wanting to go ahead and spend all of that time doing a spreadsheet.

Amanda Brewton: So I just didn't. And I watched TV instead, but it's easier just to ask everybody else to do my homework for me. And well, I just want to go ahead and do that instead. [00:31:00] Well, guess what? When you don't do your homework, your grades aren't going to be there. It's the same thing. And those are all learning curves that most of my group.

Amanda Brewton: You learn. And then I get the, okay, I guess mommy was right on that one too. I got an email in December from an agent who didn't do the homework and she came back and she said, I've never in my life, and she was newer into my upline. And she says, I've never had somebody tell me to do that. And so I didn't do it because I didn't believe that it needed to be done.

Amanda Brewton: I've never done it before. So why would I do it? When nobody else has asked me, you don't know what you're talking about. You're right. I know nothing, know nothing. I'm the dumb girl have no idea of what I do in this business. I'm not good at it whatsoever. You're right. I have no idea. And which I don't say that I usually just, or I do if it's a tongue and cheek joke, but in this particular one, I let it ride.

Amanda Brewton: And I let it ride some more and I let it [00:32:00] ride some more until we got to December and she hit that pain point and I got an email or I got an email from her at six in the morning. This will be the last time I ever doubt you with what it is that you tell me to do. Now I understand why you said to do this.

Amanda Brewton: Bingo. There we go. And it's not about me being right. It's about me steering you to be successful and doing this for 20 some odd years. And. Being able to, I win awards all the time. They're right behind me. I go ahead and I, you know, I get the trips. I do all of these things. I don't flaunt them because I don't need to.

Amanda Brewton: But it is one where eventually you'll learn that this is, I'm going to give you the path of least resistance to get you to where you want to be in the fastest way that I know that is compliant. And there's the thing, I am stickler for being compliant. [00:33:00] And that's what makes me different than everybody else.

Amanda Brewton: I think 

Cory Schmidt: it just, you know, it further, I, I appreciate the analogies, I actually enjoy the analogies. I think it just shows the importance of the agents getting their house in order, if you will, during, you know, Q1, Q2, so they're, they're really ready to hit the ground running in Q3. You know, obviously as someone who founded a software company that's trying to solve some of the problems that you explained so well, Amanda we understand the importance and the value of it.

Cory Schmidt: And, you know, when we think about the, the value of an agent's book, you know, book a business, it's really their, their biggest asset. And if they're not taking the time to organize it, you know, refine it clean it up, you know, nurture it. Then they're really not doing the things they need to be doing.

Cory Schmidt: And to your point, you can't be doing those things in Q3 when you need to be out, you know, having conversations and helping folks pick the best [00:34:00] product, which frankly, as someone even in this industry, like Medicare is complex. Like I listened to a recent podcast you did actually around, you know, understanding the difference between the Medicare supplement, you know, options versus Medicare advantage.

Cory Schmidt: I learned something every time that I hear about the explanation that I didn't fully appreciate. And so I think that to your point, this is not simple products that are being sold in the market. Like it's complex. You need to spend time. You need to understand the options so that you can provide the best possible option for your end customers.

Cory Schmidt: And I know you're a big proponent of that, which I also appreciate is you seem to actually find. Energy and enjoyment and knowing that you're helping people with something that affects their financial and their health well being and you understand how important it is to make sure folks get the right, right 

Amanda Brewton: product.

Amanda Brewton: I like taking complex things and breaking them down so that they're easier for other people. It's, it's a train the trainer [00:35:00] mentality, right? So being able to put things into what's referred to as plain language is huge. And most agents overlook that right now, everybody's asking and looking for that silver bullet about, okay, well, how do I retain my block of business because of these incessant calls, which, oh, by the way, I'm trying to fix.

Amanda Brewton: And yes, I do did say, I am trying to fix because I launched last year, a. Stop the madness campaign that actually teaches agents to go out into their community to educate about the do not call list and filing complaints with the FCC, which imagine that magically there's a whole bunch of news FCC regulation that came out in the last 12 months cause fact, right?

Amanda Brewton: So when we, and that one in itself is a good story because it's It's what I refer to as the power of my big mouth. In that there are a lot of things [00:36:00] where somebody has said, you know, you need to be focusing on this, or this is a massive problem in the industry. Why isn't anybody doing that? And I'll start looking at it.

Amanda Brewton: It'll catch my attention and specific to this one. It was, you know, you'll never get the, you'll never get the agents to adopt teaching this out in the community and you'll never get the senior to go ahead and make the complaint to the FCC. And my response to that was. The agent's going to do it because it gives them new, new discussions to have in their communities where they're a solution, not part of the problem.

Amanda Brewton: And it's something other than a Medicare one on one that they can do. The senior is going to do it because I don't know if you know, but if you've ever seen a really pissed off senior that feels victimized, They're going to pick up a phone. They're going to want to call and complain and fight fire with fire.

Amanda Brewton: Tell an old man that you can get his phone. That's ringing 40 times a [00:37:00] day that he can hit that company. That's calling him 40 times a day with a 10, 000 fine for every one of those phone calls. Bet you money. That guy goes ahead and picks up the phone and makes the complaint all day and every day, just because now it gives him the power back for something that is happening to him.

Amanda Brewton: You have You have auto dialers as a technology. You have life insurance people that are promoting rapid firing three to six times in a row until somebody answers just to say, hi, do you need life insurance? Which I think is a piss poor type of sales tactic, which I'm pretty outspoken about too, but going ahead and Doing those types of things with the Medicare agent.

Amanda Brewton: The Medicare agent is now worried about these call centers and everybody else going and peeling their agent, their seniors off because the [00:38:00] senior doesn't know, thinks that it's Medicare, and does an enrollment so magically they're falling off. Retention is huge. Where retention used to be Touch in with a holiday card in September doing, Hey, it's annual enrollment.

Amanda Brewton: You actually have to do regular touches with your clients. So now we have an issue with, okay, well you need to set up. Emails to your clients, you need to do mailers to your clients as a retention effort. You have to do outbound calls to them. Did they get their ID cards? Are they using their OTC? Did they use their, their grocery benefits?

Amanda Brewton: All of those things are things, some of those can be automated. So then it's not something that you're reinventing the wheel. But the number one thing that the agent comes back with is, well, I don't have time for that. Okay, well, think smarter with what you're doing. So now we go back to the initial thing that I talked about at the beginning of this conversation, which is that [00:39:00] agents that are afraid, that are used to using old school files and Excel spreadsheets, if you talk to them about automation and workflows, You're speaking French or Russian, or what, pick a name, you know, Chinese.

Amanda Brewton: It's so intimidating to them. So breaking down those con those concepts. Hell, I'll be the first one to say, you know, I have had workflows and automations on my target list. For a while. Problem is, is that one, I don't have the time to do it. I don't have somebody in my staff that has the time to be able to allocate to it.

Amanda Brewton: Even though I'm fully aware that it's a set it and forget it, and as soon as I get it done, it's ten minutes worth of work, but I don't have the time to take the ten minutes to learn it, to then set it up. Most agents are in that spot. So, and I don't like watching videos. Yeah. So, for me, I have to learn it through a web based something.

Amanda Brewton: I have to see somebody do it and then I have to go in and play with it [00:40:00] because the way that my mind works is, is that if I see it and hear it, I'll memorize it. I don't have to take the notes and I'll be able to copy that. So that's on my initiative for the first quarter of this year to get those things set up.

Amanda Brewton: And I know many agents are the same way and they need to trend towards. What makes you more efficient and what's going to, there's nothing better than a referral while going ahead and handing a stack of kids, putting five business cards in a thank you note, or shoving five business cards in somebody's hand when you shake it or sitting across the table right after you saw they signed an application where the ink is a wet and going.

Amanda Brewton: Who do you know that I can call or contact so that I can give them the same service that you are? Hi, Mr. Use car salesman. Cheesy person. No, find a better way of doing this. And I have agents that [00:41:00] they get up to 40 referrals from one eight one app. And that's ideally what should be happening because that's where the money and the time should be spent.

Amanda Brewton: It shouldn't be on generic leads or live transfer crap. It should be on building within your community where you are, what I refer to as the, I got a guy. You want to be the, I got a guy at Medicare. And if you don't know what I mean by that, if I tell you, if I ask you, I need a, a, a landscaper, you're going to go, I know a guy who will call sale.

Amanda Brewton: I need a plant painter to come paint my house, or I need a, a construct, you know, somebody to do my concrete for my driveway, or you know, I need a place to shop for formal gowns for a wedding that I have. I got a place for that. I got a guy for that. You want to have that happen. Yeah. And [00:42:00] these are all things that I could talk for days on.

Amanda Brewton: And I do. Lots of classes on all each one of these different topics. The where I go into far more detail, but. I am a big proponent of bullseye marketing and it works, it works really well. And that is part of what makes me, me. Yeah. 

Cory Schmidt: Well, and I think the, the more they, the brokers can. You know, spend time nurturing those relationships throughout the year that the more that mitigates the concerns around bad actors, you know, popping up and, and sweat, you know, and, and that person not realizing that they should go back to the person that's now their expert or their guy, if you will, right.

Cory Schmidt: Or their gal around how, how can I navigate this, this inbound phone call, you know, trying to sell me these products that I don't understand. You now have a name. Oh, I need to go back to Sally, John, whomever my agent is, right, and have that conversation. [00:43:00] So I think. Yeah, I think the importance of nurturing, you know, is, is multifaceted, but I a hundred percent agree.

Cory Schmidt: And to your point, obviously there's many products and solutions out there, software products that help with that so that you can just set it and forget it and not have to spend, you know, an immense amount of time trying to manage 

Amanda Brewton: that process. Even that is one where it's okay. So you have. MailChimp and you've got constant contact and you've got your CRM tool and then you've got your connection based quoting tool and you know, your Sunfire and you're, you know, I have agents that they have access to all of these different things and they're paying for, you know, six or seven different subscriptions that are all a hundred dollars a piece depending on what they do.

Amanda Brewton: And they don't know how the functionality works and they don't know, you don't know what you don't know. Right. And initially when you buy it, it's like, okay, well it's like a gym membership. [00:44:00] It's like, Ooh, those things sound real great. But then you get to it and you're like, okay, now I'm totally overwhelmed and I don't want to do anything.

Amanda Brewton: So I'm going to stay with what I know because, well, that makes sense. Yeah. And that right now is where a lot of agents are and it's getting them out of there. And that's the norm more than the exception. So getting more and more agents to adopt technology is a, is a big one. And then now add on top of the, the AI side of that, which freaks everybody out and where those trends are.

Amanda Brewton: But, right now when it comes to marketing with the agents you know, there's more and more restrictions and NABIT, which is one of our professional organizations, which stands for National Association of Benefit and Insurance Professionals Next this weekend, I fly to DC. We, they have their annual capital conference where we are on Capitol Hill.

Amanda Brewton: We [00:45:00] are talking with various levels of legislation. I have meetings with the ways and means committee. I have all, I have personally outside of NABIP taken meetings with, the chairman of the, the, the finance committee Senate finance committee Senator Ron Wyden's office. I have taken a meeting with him.

Amanda Brewton: I have been in contact with Senator Warren, who is also both of which are really big. And very active about what is happening in the Medicare side of things and the marketing with two seniors within the Medicare field, both Advantage and MedSupp. And the reason why I got involved in this, I never in a million years figured that I would get into the, into politics or legislation, but I do that.

Amanda Brewton: Because I kind of like my money and if somebody has control over my money, which the government and the carriers do, I want to see it at the table. [00:46:00] I want to see it at the table to be able to explain why something works or why something doesn't. We've got quite a few bad actors out in the air and in the community and several of them feel as though, well, until somebody stops me, I'm going to take the money to the bank and I don't care.

Amanda Brewton: And they're bleat, they're blatant about it. They'll put that on Facebook. They'll talk about the illegal activity that they're doing. And it's awful, which then gives good agents a bad name. And it's a stereotype that candidly, I want to change. That's my goal. It isn't to make millions and millions of dollars.

Amanda Brewton: Hell, I make millions of dollars. I did that after year two. So, going ahead and having it where I can change the stereotype of what a good agent is and all the services that we do, that's what I want to make visible. [00:47:00] Because right now, everybody's wondering why it is that, that the legislation and the regulation is coming down as harsh as it is.

Amanda Brewton: Squeaky wheel gets the oil. The only thing that is being brought to light are all the bad actors and the bad things that are happening. No one is shining a light on all the good that is done in the community. Which is part of why I got so loud in November about agents submitting their comments to CMS and sharing the stories that they have about the good that they do in the community.

Amanda Brewton: So that they can understand that. The system is broken. The way that CMS has chosen to have it where the enforcement on regulation is done at the carrier level, it is not done at the agent level. So an agent who gets appointed with multiple carriers [00:48:00] can do bad behavior, get termed with one carrier, and because I've done this side of the job also, when I've termed bad actors, they've gone well fine.

Amanda Brewton: F you, I'm going to go sell another carrier and there's nothing you can do to stop me. Oh, but I can, but they keep doing that. And then eventually it takes them getting termed from all of their carriers and eventually losing their insurance license, which can take a massive amount of time. And that is what the bad actor is banking on.

Amanda Brewton: CMS has to understand and legislation has to understand that it is broken because carrier can only have so much teeth. CMS carries out what is actually mandated in the various laws and acts that Congress does. So, what CMS is going [00:49:00] off of right now is the 2008 MIPA. And the Inflation Reduction Act, which was just passed, that is primarily where most of their rules are coming from.

Amanda Brewton: It's going to literally take an act of Congress for them to step back, overhaul it, and go, Okay, I think there's, there's bigger problem here. And we have to adjust how things are enforced. Right now, they're putting a band aid on a waterfall. And that is part of the discussion that I'm having with various levels of legislation on various topics to be able to get them to see that.

Amanda Brewton: I don't want a ton of roulette rules. I don't like, I think it's absolutely insane the amount of rules that we have, but they're put in place because bad actor agents are idiots. And they need to be stopped. And I don't want, I don't have the time to be, to be good cop, bad cop, pick your, pick your flavor.[00:50:00] 

Amanda Brewton: But at the end of the day, the complacency that the agent community has about watching the bad behavior and not saying something and saying that's wrong and turning those people in is part of this problem. That and so many agents are not educated about, they think that these things are happening to them.

Amanda Brewton: They feel victimized. They don't know that they have a seat at the table, just like I do. They don't know that they can share their story and get involved. Get involved with NIFA, get involved with NABIP. They don't even know what the professional organizations are. Mm hmm. And that's why at Medicarians, which is coming up in April, Medicarians is is the largest Medicare insurance industry conference in the country.

Amanda Brewton: There will be 000 of the who's who that will be there. I have [00:51:00] Done the creative design on all of the different panels and the topics of things that will be discussed for the agent specific to Medicare in that. And you can get a free hosted ticket, just put my name as the referral on it, Amanda, and they'll go ahead and they'll give you the free ticket.

Amanda Brewton: So all you got to do is travel there to get there. And then you'll be able to learn all of this. But one of the, the no, I put two panels specifically. One, which is the very first one that starts on Monday the 8th, which will be the 2025 proposed rule, probably the final rule at that point. Discussion so that you can learn and do a what's now about what's going to happen.

Amanda Brewton: And then I also put a panel together where for the first time ever, you have NABIP, NAIFA, which is National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors. And I believe AHIP is the other one where you have all three of the major professional organizations all on [00:52:00] a stage explaining what we do and how we do it.

Amanda Brewton: This isn't a hobby. This is a profession. You carry E& O because it is a profession. Which means that you should, you should be involved in your professional organizations. Just like you wouldn't hire a lawyer that wasn't part of the American Bar Association. You wouldn't hire a doctor that wasn't part of the American Medical Association, right?

Amanda Brewton: Why in God's name wouldn't you go ahead and be a part of the professional organization that makes us? And has it where you now have a spokesperson or spokespeople like the subgroup that I'm on, which is the Medicare advisor group and the FMO council that we speak on your behalf. I'm listening very carefully all day, every day.

Amanda Brewton: about what the agent's concerns are, what their needs are, how do I help agents get better at [00:53:00] what they're doing and remove the, the, the roadblocks out from that. And that is really where my purpose is. Awesome. 

Cory Schmidt: Well, I feel like that last topic around impending CMS rulings and the impacts of, of that is a topic in and of itself, we could probably spend the entire episode just tackling.

Cory Schmidt: So certainly we'll, we'll look to maybe, you know, do a follow up on that, but I was about to ask as we close things out, you know, what, what step. steps brokers could take to get more education, more involvement in the industry to better understand how to be successful. And obviously you kind of, you kind of went there, Amanda, with, you know, getting involved in a BIP potentially attending Medicarians.

Cory Schmidt: That's a really great show. I'm, I'm excited to go for the first time myself this April. So I've, I've never been, but. I'm looking forward to that in any other suggestions for how agents could get more information about training and education on topics that really matter for them to be successful.

Amanda Brewton: Follow me on [00:54:00] Facebook. Follow me on LinkedIn. I produce a ton of content. I usually cite my sources so that you know that the information is legit. And you know, on LinkedIn is more of my. Industry based, more technical type of content it's geared specifically to the agent and to the carrier reps and to anybody that is in our industry and the various vendors that we use so that you get the in the weeds type of content about stars, ratings, and trends and things like that.

Amanda Brewton: The Facebook side of it. That side is more on a transparent side, so you're going to see, I want you to see the good, the bad, the ugly, the ups and downs of the rollercoaster of the journey of what it means to be a business owner. I have two Facebook groups, Ms. Medicare and which is my girls only group, and then I have Medicare Marketing and Motivation, which is my co ed [00:55:00] group.

Amanda Brewton: Both of them have over 3, 000 people in them each. And again, they're learning environments there. I do a ton of webinar based training as well as in person training. And then of course I've got my two conferences, one which is in actually two weeks, which is down in Orange Beach, Alabama, Gulf Shores area, which is Medicare Margaritas we will actually open up 2020.

Amanda Brewton: Five tickets at the close of this one in two weeks. And it sells out. So it is definitely one that you got to get your tickets quick. And then Ms. Medicare is in the end of July this year. Normally it's at the beginning of July but they've got a, an event here, but that one is all about showing other women in the industry, other women role models in our industry so that you can learn from them.

Amanda Brewton: But there is a ton of content. You just got to look for it. My only caution is this, be very careful about who you're listening to. [00:56:00] Is it coming from a place of ego? Is there, is it coming from a place of education? And then listen to how they talk. Are they citing their source? Are they using terms as I think, I guess, I believe.

Amanda Brewton: If you hear any of those three, they have no idea of what they're talking about. Hands down, they have no idea of what they're talking about. They just want to sound important. And there's so much misinformation out there. Be very careful when you hear those things. But there's a bunch of it out there and I'm always looking to go ahead and add other content.

Amanda Brewton: So if there's topics that people have, or if there's topics that you want me to come back in and talk about, I kind of like to talk because we're over time at this point. But I would love to go ahead and connect again. And, you know, as I've said before, whatever it takes to go ahead and help the agents get their goal.[00:57:00] 

Amanda Brewton: You asked a question and I'm going to end with this. You asked what success means. Success is subjective. My version of success versus yours are two totally different things. My version of success is to be able to take a really good trip each year and not get into debt and to have a really good time at that.

Amanda Brewton: I have people that their version of success is knowing that their children Don't have to watch for anything. And then I have other people that they want the Lamborghini and the, and the house and the boat and the car and all of those other things, success is, is a personal. A very personal definition and it should be.

Amanda Brewton: And as long as you're getting to your definition of what success is, then you win. Doesn't matter what somebody else is flashing because if that makes [00:58:00] them feel good, great. The only time that it matters is if somebody makes you feel like hell because you don't want the same thing that they do. One, they're a crappy person for that, and it's all out of ego.

Amanda Brewton: And two, that's when you find the strength to go, that may be good for you. Salute that that's what you want. I'm in my lane. This is what I'm going after, and I'm happy right here. And that's what you have to hold dear when you get inside your head on the hard days and go, I don't know that I'm successful at this.

Amanda Brewton: Step back and look at your goal. Look at what you want. Are you getting there each day? Are you getting towards it? If you are, you're on your track and you have your success. And that's what it's about. Great 

Cory Schmidt: advice. Really appreciate the time, Amanda. It was truly a pleasure getting to speak with you. I know folks will follow Amanda on [00:59:00] LinkedIn, Facebook.

Cory Schmidt: Sounds like there's a couple of different groups. We definitely hear about those and we know that they are. Well trafficked and, and lots of good communication. As you mentioned, a lot of transparent communication happening in those forums, which I think the more transparent we can be in, in terms of challenges, opportunities in this in this space, the better.

Cory Schmidt: So really appreciate you creating communities where, where that kind of communication can happen. So again, thanks, Amanda. Really appreciated you taking the time today. And, and for all the listeners who tuned in, we will see you next time on the Insurtech Building Blocs Podcast. Thanks so much.

Cory Schmidt: Thank you. [01:00:00]