§ Coaching Guide · Companion to the Script Card
The why behind the script.
How to read prospect responses. How to handle objections. How to know when you are winning, and when to change course. Studied between calls — not opened mid-conversation.
One you read during the call. One you read between them.
| Script Card | Coaching Guide | |
|---|---|---|
| Says | What you say. | Why it works. |
| Length | Three pages. Every line is either spoken or read verbatim. | Five pages. Technique, nuance, objection handling. |
| When | During the call. Keep it open on a second monitor or your phone. | Between calls. Studied before your first call, revisited after tough ones. |
| Mode | In-call · verbatim | Reflective · between calls |
- Calls 1–10
- Read the Coaching Guide cover to cover before you dial. Have both documents open during every call. Do not improvise.
- Calls 11–25
- Script Card only during the call. Re-read the Coaching Guide once a week to sharpen weak spots.
- Calls 26+
- The Script Card becomes a reference you glance at, not a document you read. Open the Coaching Guide when something didn't go how you wanted and figure out why.
The first 90 seconds decide the call.
Your opener establishes you are a real person who belongs in their day. Your discovery question reveals exactly where to take the conversation. Nail these two and the rest of the call has a pulse. Miss them and you are pushing uphill for thirty minutes.
The opener on the Script Card does five things in one sentence: names you, names your role as their local Medicare Advisor, discloses the recording, reminds them they asked to be called, and ties you geographically to where they live. That last part is the most important. You are not a cold-call salesperson from somewhere far away. You are local, and they raised their hand. Your tone should match that reality — warm, unhurried, assuming welcome.
On the [City / State / your area] placeholder, read the room. If you are calling a lead in Las Vegas, say "right here in Las Vegas." If you are calling a lead in a small Kentucky town, "right here in Kentucky" or "right here in your area" sounds more natural than an obscure city name. Pick whichever feels most neighborly for the specific lead in front of you.
Read the opener naturally, not robotically. Practice it until it sounds like you are saying it for the first time every time. If you rush through the "on a recorded line" phrase or mumble it, compliance becomes the tone instead of the content. Say it clearly and keep moving.
"Medicare Advisor" positions you as someone who helps, not someone who sells. "Local" cuts through the robocall noise — beneficiaries are bombarded by out-of-state call centers, and naming the city or state where they live tells them instantly that you are different. Those two words earn you the next thirty seconds.
Before you adopt this opener, confirm that "local Medicare Advisor" is acceptable to your upline and complies with state title regulations in every state you sell. Some states have specific rules about insurance professionals using "advisor" or "consultant" titles. CMS does not mandate a specific phrasing for self-introduction, but your carrier contracts may. When in doubt, fall back to "licensed insurance agent."
Every lead clicked an ad before they opted in. The ad showed a specific benefit — grocery, Part B giveback, dental, OTC. The discovery question surfaces which one. Once you know, you know where to take the conversation.
Never skip this question. Never assume. An agent who jumps straight into plan discussion without discovery is presenting in the dark. The discovery answer tells you which plan family to lead with, which benefits to emphasize in the needs section, and what the close looks like.
If they say something not on the list ("I was just curious" or "my friend told me to call"), use the Not Sure branch on the Script Card. Move to coverage confirmation. Build the trigger later through wants-and-needs prompts.
Reading the answer
- GroceryAlmost always a dual-eligible candidate. Focus the plan review on grocery and OTC if they confirm Medicaid.
- Part B givebackMost likely not on Medicaid, paying the standard premium. Strong candidate for a giveback plan.
- DentalUncovered need. Lead with dental in your presentation.
- OTCOften already on MA. Confirm and compare.
- Not sureBrowse mode. Use the coverage check to find a foothold, then build the trigger through needs prompts.
Compliance is not a speed bump.
Skip the disclosures and the enrollment is legally at risk — and so is your license. Read them like they matter, because they do.
Two disclosures are read verbatim. The TPMO disclaimer (we do not offer every plan available in your area) and the Scope of Appointment (we offer Medicare Advantage plans, Medicare Supplement plans, and Prescription Drug plans). Both are CMS-mandated. Both must be read word for word. Skipping or paraphrasing is a regulatory violation that can cost you your license.
The pre-frame on the Script Card — "Before we get into the specifics, I need to read you two quick disclosures. It takes less than a minute and then we can focus on finding you the best plan." — is not optional. Reading the disclosures cold makes them feel like a legal speed bump and breaks rapport. The pre-frame keeps the warmth.
Read the disclosures naturally. Practice them out loud until you can read them in one breath without sounding like you are reading. The TPMO disclaimer in particular is long. The first time you read it on a call, you will sound like a robot. The hundredth time, it will sound like normal speech with the same words in it.
Sandwiched between the bridge and the verbatim disclosures is the value statement — three versions on the Script Card depending on the enrollment period. This is where you remind them what they are about to get. By the time you start reading the TPMO disclaimer, they should be looking forward to the conversation, not bracing for it.
Outside of AEP, every enrollment requires a Special Enrollment Period. The platform will block you if there is no SEP, but the time to know is before you have spent twenty minutes building rapport and presenting a plan. Verify SEP early in the call.
The three SEP questions on the Script Card cover the most common qualifiers: Medicaid or Extra Help, recent plan changes, and recent address changes. The 5-star plan lookup catches the fourth: a 5-star plan in the prospect's service area is a year-round SEP all by itself.
Before you show any plan, state the SEP type — for example, "Medicaid SEP" or "Plan Change SEP" — and the proposed effective date. This is both a compliance step and a rapport step. The prospect feels you are being thorough, not pushy.
Build the reasons, then land the plane.
The middle of the call is where amateurs lose the sale. Pros build three to four buying reasons before they ever mention a plan name. They get medications before doctors. They present two plans, not five. And when they ask the enrollment question, they stop talking.
The discovery question surfaced their trigger. One benefit. That alone will not close them. People buy on three to four buying reasons, not one. Your job in this section is to stack additional reasons on top of the original trigger.
The six prompts on the Script Card (dental, vision, hearing, transportation, OTC, lower copays) are designed to build that stack. Do not read all six like a checklist. Read the ones that fit. If they mentioned grocery benefit in discovery, ask about OTC. If they mentioned Part B giveback, ask about dental and copays. Build intelligently.
End the section with "I will make sure to find a plan that gives you the most [list the benefits they chose]." Saying the benefits back to them does two things: it shows you listened, and it creates the mental commitment. When you present the plan five minutes later, every one of those benefits you said you would find becomes a checkbox they have already signed up for.
This order is not optional. Medications dictate the plan more aggressively than doctors do — a plan that covers all their doctors but misses a medication will cost them hundreds per month out of pocket.
Capture all four fields: drug name, form (tablet or liquid), strength, quantity per month. Incomplete entries cause formulary misses — and a formulary miss after the sale is a cancellation and a chargeback.
If they say they take no medications, do not skip the prompt. Asking them to think once more sometimes surfaces the one they forgot.
Never present more than two plans. Three is confusion. Four is chaos. Lead with the plan that best matches their trigger plus their buying reasons.
Use hold time wisely. Do not come back uncertain. Have your recommendation ready. "I am looking at a few options" damages trust. "I found a strong fit, let me walk you through it" lands.
The recap uses real dollar amounts — "$0 copay for primary care," "$45 quarterly OTC," "$127 Part B giveback." Numbers are trust. Vague recaps lose sales.
When you read the enrollment confirmation line, stop talking. Do not fill the silence. Do not clarify. Do not soften. Whoever speaks first either buys or does not — if you speak, you are walking the sale backwards.
Objections are questions in disguise.
Every objection is a prospect saying "give me a reason." Your job is not to argue. It is to acknowledge what they said, translate what they actually mean, and redirect back to value. Never push. Never defend. Listen, reframe, proceed.
Objection vs brush-off. An objection is a real concern — they see some value but something is holding them back. Handle it with patience and evidence. A brush-off is a dismissal — "not a good time," "just send me something." Handle it with a short permission-based response and either secure a callback or let them go. Trying to argue a brush-off into an objection wastes both of your time.
Six cards. Each follows the same three-part pattern: Acknowledge → Translate → Redirect. The redirect is what you actually say.
These plans change every year — copays, benefits, drug lists, all of it. Since we are already on the phone, let me just double-check that nothing has slipped that you care about. If you are still happy, no harm done.
Of course. Let me tee up the specifics so you have everything you need for that conversation. What questions do you think they will want answered? I can put the answers in writing for you.
The mail packet is generic. To get you something useful, I just need to know what matters most to you — better dental coverage, lower copays, prescription savings? Two minutes and I will know exactly what to send.
You filled out a form online recently asking for information about Medicare benefits. That is what brought your information to me. Does that ring a bell?
Let me make this simple. There are three things that matter for you right now: your doctors, your medications, and the benefits you actually use. I am going to walk you through one plan that fits all three. If it is not a fit, we stop.
Every plan has a tradeoff. This one has a lower out-of-pocket maximum and great extra benefits, but it is an HMO, so you stay in network. If your doctors are in network — and we will check — it is a strong fit. If not, we look at something else.