Being a new Healthcare Broker is both exciting and challenging – especially in this field! From meetings to paperwork to personal life matters, you might find it hard to find a moment to breathe. Putting these tips for new brokers into practice will help ensure you are successful from Day 1.

Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan

Make it a rule to end each day by planning tomorrow. This is one of the greatest success tips known to business.  By setting tomorrow's goals and prioritizing tasks the day before, two things happen:

• Each day you hit the ground running on Minute 1
• You can relax properly this evening while, somewhere in the back of your mind, your brain works on tomorrow without you even knowing

Set monthly, weekly and daily goals based on your annual goals. That means breaking down the year into sections, elements and individual actions so you complete them in a planned and intentional way – not in a haphazard or deadline-driven way.

Include, as part of your plan, learning goals - what do you want to know and what skills do you want to hone.

Effective Client Meetings

With your plan in place you can focus on your meetings. It is when you are in direct contact with clients and potential clients that you prove your value - contracts get signed and relationships get cemented into place.

Here are some pointers that will ensure you have really effective meetings.

• Have at least one goal for the meeting. What the goal (or goals) are depend on where you are in the sales process. But they include - make a good impression, learn specific things so you can make valuable suggestions and give good advice, agree on follow-up actions that will move the sale forward, close a sale or cement the business relationship. Each client and each situation is unique but they all have similarities. What really matters is that you are clear about the goals - and so is your client
• Share the meeting's goals with your client. You decide whether you send an email, a note or you establish the purpose of the meeting in the meeting itself. But you and your client must be on the same page - and on the same line of the page, to start with
• Go at your client's pace. Some people are naturally action-oriented and some are naturally reflective, some like to chat in order to get a feel for you and your style, and some are very detail oriented - facts matter to them, so make sure you know them. By going at your client's pace and "following their lead" you will bond. They will see you as someone they want to do business with or someone they respect and trust. Something as simple as this will pay huge dividends.
• Keep checking that you and your client are still in step. If they want to move forward, go with them. Don't insist on finishing your presentation, for example. If they want to dwell on a topic so they understand it better, stay with them. Give them time to think and ask you questions. You ask them questions to make sure they are comfortable with things - or that they understand and trust the detail (depending on their personality)
• Review topics and points so you and your client are clear about things. Remember, making a sound buying decision is based on the client knowing it is the right thing to do. If, after the meeting, they feel they were rushed, buyer's remorse kicks in
• Summarize the meeting's main points or, if it is a sales meeting, summarize the benefits of the plan they have signed up for. This reinforces they made a good decision
• Always send a follow-up note after every meeting

Good Customer Service Practices

We have already covered some of these but here are a few more to nail down your professionalism.

• Keep full and detailed records
• Keep your clients and prospective clients informed of progress on anything you are doing for them
• Tell your clients about problems you have solved for them, so they know you are right on top of their case
• Forward plan your meetings so the client stays with the progress you have both agreed
• Stay in touch with everyone - email, hand-written notes, reports and phone calls
• Under-promise and over-deliver
• Educate and entertain your clients and prospects by having them follow you on Facebook, Linkedin and your blog posts

We’re confident that as a new Broker in the field, these tips will make you stand out from your competition and establish you in your clients' minds as a true professional. Others will see you as someone who is a pleasure to work with - and someone they will be happy to refer their friends, associates and family to for new business.

As a final note, please remember we are always happy to answer questions and offer advice.