Toot Your Own Horn!

Happy Monday!   A few weeks ago, I talked about the coming of fall.  Sun up slow...moon up quick.   Football season is in full swing and the Ryder Cup (that's golf for those of you that don't care about such things!) just finished.  Hey, this weekend, I had to hit golf balls in long pants and a sweater.   Fall is really here.   Fall reminds me of something else - harvest time.  After a season of prepping, planting, and tending to the fields, some crops are ready for gathering.   As I have now mentioned on several occassions, October 15th represents the beginning of the busiest time of year for Senior Insurance Advisors as the Annual Election Period (AEP) for Medicare begins.  For those of you that don't know what that is, think Affordable Care Act...Obamacare...on steroids!   Unlike Obamacare, instead of driving people to websites (I hope they have that fixed!), or making them wait hours on the phone, with Medicare, the agents go and visit the homes of the Medicare beneficiaries.   Yes, it is quite a busy time...for some.   The other day, I had a new agent on the phone asking me what the big deal was about the AEP.  I told him it was a harvest.  A veritable Cornucopia of opportunity.  A horn of plenty.   He said he didn't see what all the fuss was about and that the certifying and credentialing process was too time consuming and he would focus on life insurance instead of getting caught up in the fray.    Then I explained the commission opportunity...in detail.   In a flash of revelation, he "saw the light" and he wanted in.  He asked what he could do to get ready. I told him about the process to get certified and contracted with carriers.  I told him about American Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and how they govern the programs.  I told him the hot carriers in his market whose products he would need.   He was excited about all that I told him and eager to get started with only 3 weeks to go before the big dance.  He asked me where would he would get his clients.   Then I told him to get out his begging cup.    The phone went silent. I told him,   "Even though you are newly licensed, you have known about this opportunity for over 6 months.  At that time, I told you to prep, plant, and tend to the opportunity and then you would have people to harvest.   It is too late for that now.  Now, you will need leads.  Get in line.  Everyone that didn't prepare will be in that number."   Brandon the nurturer has left the building.  Brandon the optimist has turned into a realist. Brandon the encourager...you get the point.   Is this the first negative daily sales crumb?  No, and Brandon the nurturer, optimist and encourager is sending a positive message to those of you who have prepped, planted and tended to your business over the past year.   Your harvest is coming!   The good news is that all your labor has not been in vain and as you sow...you will reap.    That is the "justice" in the Law of Harvest - you can only take out what you put in.  If you have been sitting back, waiting on someone else, or if you have worked your butt off, when the harvest comes, everyone will have to...     Toot Your Own Horn! Until tomorrow, I wish you Money, Power, Success!