Michael Norman

Before You Contract

• Active resident license, plus non-resident licenses for every state you plan to work. Check them in NIPR.
• Errors and omissions (E&O) coverage. Carriers commonly require it before appointing you.
• AHIP Medicare and Fraud, Waste and Abuse training. It resets every plan year, and each carrier sets its own rules.
• Carrier product certifications on top of AHIP.
• Payment and banking details, ready to go.
• A compliance routine for Scope of Appointment (SOA) forms and call recording.

Your First 30 Days

1. Week 1: Contracting is submitted, you have your logins and you know who to call.
2. Week 2: Certifications are done and your CRM, quoting and enrollment tools are set up.
3. Week 3: Product and compliance training, plus a working SOA, disclaimer and recording workflow.
4. Week 4: First appointments with backup, then review what to tighten.

What You Own, and Where SLATE Can Help

• Always yours: your state license and renewals, annual AHIP and carrier exams, E&O coverage and following the rules on every appointment.
• SLATE can help with: contracting paperwork and status follow-up, reminders about what is due, stalled or rejected appointments and questions on compliance, carriers and products.

Choosing Which Carriers to Appoint With

More appointments are not automatically better. Each one adds a certification, a portal and a product set to learn.

• Which plans are offered where your clients live.
• Which products fit the clients you serve.
• Which carriers look stable in your market for the coming year.

Five Areas Real Training Covers

• Compliance and certification: annual certifications, SOA habits, disclaimer and recording rules.
• Product knowledge: what changed this year and how to explain it plainly.
• Sales skills: appointment flow, discovery, objections and follow-up, with role play and coaching.
• Technology: quoting, CRM, enrollment and document tools you can actually use.
• Case support: a real person who owns the problem when an application stalls.

Beyond the basics, a complete program also covers marketing, personal branding and retention and annual-review systems.

How Training Should Be Delivered

• Live sessions with time for questions.
• Recorded content you can revisit.
• In-person work for deeper skill building.
• One-on-one help when you are stuck.

Plans change every year, so product training has to be continuous.

Your First 90 Days

• Days 1 to 30: contracting, certifications, tools and a compliant appointment workflow.
• Days 31 to 60: weekly role play or call review, steady follow-up on every lead and your first annual-review conversations scheduled.
• Days 61 to 90: track results by lead source, add one owned marketing channel such as referrals and review what to tighten.

Questions to Ask Any Training Program

1. What does the first 30 days look like, and who runs it?
2. Is training live, recorded or both, and how often?
3. Is there help with AHIP and carrier certifications every plan year?
4. Which tools are included, and who trains you on them?
5. How do you reach case support, and who owns your issue?
6. Is there sales and objection training, or only product?
7. Are there events where you can learn from experienced agents?
8. Can you see the resource library before you commit?

Red Flags

• Training that stops after you are appointed.
• No named contacts, only a general inbox.
• Tools you pay for but never get trained on.

Channels You Own

• Referrals: ask at natural moments, make it easy, track it and say thank you.
• Turning-65 outreach: referrals, direct mail, social ads and community events. Track each one.
• Online presence: a Google Business Profile and reviews gathered the right way.
• Personal brand: a clear message about who you help, and helpful content.

Adjust to the Lead Source

• Trust: referrals arrive warm, cold leads need more rapport.
• Intent: some prospects are ready to decide, others are just learning.
• Timing: how far a prospect is from 65 changes the conversation.

Before You Buy Leads, Ask

• How are leads generated, and what did the prospect request?
• How was consent for calls and texts collected?
• Are leads exclusive or shared, and with how many agents?
• What is the return policy for bad leads?

Test with a budget you can afford to lose. Track every lead from contact to sale. Stop if the numbers do not work.

Follow-Up Beats Volume

Most leads are lost after they arrive. A CRM with reminders, text and email sequences and a simple booking process often does more than buying more leads.

Judging Any Tool Stack

• Ask for a live demo, not screenshots.
• Confirm what is included and what is a paid add-on.
• Make sure your tools connect so you do not enter data twice.
• Check that training on the tools is provided, not just access.
• Confirm you can export your own client data and recordings.

Core tools to look for: quoting, enrollment, CRM, compliance documentation, policy tracking and reporting.

The Three Rules

• Scope of Appointment (SOA): document the products the client agreed to discuss before any personal marketing appointment. The 48-hour wait no longer applies, but the SOA does.
• TPMO disclaimer: required if you do not offer every plan organization in the area. For 2027, deliver it before discussing benefits.
• Call recording: record marketing, sales and enrollment calls in full and keep them at least six years. Audio is kept for the first three years, and a complete transcript is acceptable for years four to six.

Build It Into Your Workflow

• Capture the SOA as part of booking.
• Put the disclaimer script at the top of your call guide.
• Use recording that starts automatically, with secure storage you can search.

Quick Checklist

• SOA documented every time, including inbound calls and walk-ins.
• Discussion kept to the products on the SOA.
• Marketing materials and ads reviewed against CMS rules before use.
• Consent for calls and texts collected properly, and Do Not Call respected.
• No cold calling or unsolicited contact.

Update Your Process Every Year

CMS changes the rules regularly. Before each Annual Enrollment Period (AEP), review what changed and what you need to update. Do not describe a proposed rule to clients as if it already applies. Be ready to retrieve a recording and its documentation quickly if a carrier asks.

What an FMO Does

A field marketing organization (FMO) sits between carriers and independent agents. It handles carrier contracting and appointments, passes along training and materials, and backs agents with tools, marketing help and service.

Ask for Answers in Writing

1. How am I paid, and by whom?
2. Does anything come out of my pay?
3. Are my renewals vested, and what happens if I leave?
4. What is your release policy?
5. Who sits at the top of my hierarchy?
6. What follows me if I leave?
7. Who owns my client data, and can I export it?
8. How do you support compliance?
9. How quickly do contracts get done?
10. Which tools do I get, and at what cost?
11. Who helps when something goes wrong?
12. What training do you offer?

Warning Signs

• Vague answers about releases.
• Leads that create debt you owe.
• No compliance backup.
• Pressure to sell certain products regardless of client fit.
• Silence during AEP.

Six Steps to a Clean Move

1. Review what you signed.
2. Inventory your carriers.
3. Learn each carrier's transfer rule. Many pause transfers in the fall.
4. Plan the order with your new upline.
5. Request releases in writing and file the paperwork.
6. Confirm each new hierarchy and keep writing.

Your license belongs to you. What changes is your position in each carrier's hierarchy.

How Carriers Let Agents Move

• Signed release: usually the fastest, often immediate.
• Period without production: commonly 3 or 6 months.
• Notice of intent: often about 90 days.

Policies vary by carrier and change often. Confirm the current rule before you ask.

Have These Ready

• Your NPN, resident and non-resident licenses and proof of E&O coverage.
• AHIP for the plan year plus each carrier's certification.
• Your current FMO agreement, carrier contracts and writing numbers.

What Changes When You Hire

• Team contracting: new agents appointed under your hierarchy quickly and correctly.
• Onboarding: training that gets producers certified and selling without you teaching every session.
• Visibility: reports on who is producing, who is certified and where applications are stuck.
• Retention systems: tools that help your service team keep clients after AEP.
• Clear ownership: a plain understanding of who owns the book and the data.

Escaping the Capacity Trap

Many successful agents get stuck with a strong book, a brutal AEP and no time left to grow. Scaling takes four things.

• Time back: service and admin help.
• People: recruiting, contracting and training producers.
• Marketing: channels that do not depend on you.
• Brand: a reputation that attracts clients and agents.

Score Any Partner From 1 to 5

Ask for demos and examples, not promises, and talk to agency owners who already work with them.

• Technology: quoting, CRM with automation, digital applications, compliance tools and reporting.
• Training: new-agent onboarding and ongoing sales and product training.
• Compliance: annual rule updates and marketing review.
• Operations: fast contracting, case help and clear terms on releases and book ownership.
• Culture: long-tenured people and how struggling agents are supported.
• Focus: depth of expertise in your products and markets.

Extra Questions for Agency Owners

1. How do you set up and manage an agency hierarchy?
2. How fast can new recruits be contracted and certified?
3. What training can my new hires join without me?
4. What reporting do I get on production and certifications?
5. How are book ownership, releases and client data handled?
6. How do you support agents who put client fit first?

Signs a Partner Values You

• Invests in your skills, not just your production.
• Tells you the truth, even when it is bad news.
• Supports doing right by the client.
• Respects your time with tools that cut busywork.