Jeff Pitta is establishing himself as a front runner in the modern healthcare space. Medicare Plan Finder is a part of one of the fastest-growing companies in Nashville. Its sister brand, Senior Market Advisors, was awarded as one of Inc 5000’s fastest-growing companies in 2017 and again in 2018. Pitta has a desire to “disrupt” wherever he goes. He’s changing the healthcare industry by introducing new models in Medicare sales, provider/patient relations, and provider/health plan relations.
I was an insurance agent selling Medicare plans myself, and I realized there was something wrong with the sales model. Agents were not getting the support they needed, and clients were finding themselves in the wrong plans. Something needed to change. There are plenty of insurance agencies out there, but not many of them provide full marketing support for their agents, and not many of them encourage agents to do their best to find the best possible plans for their clients and encourage them to contract to be able to sell as many different plans as possible. The business has since expanded into the provider marketing/communications space and continues to grow every day.
I saw the problem in the market and I knew that I could fix it. As stated in #1, I noticed that agents were not getting the support they needed, and clients weren’t getting the best possible service. Something needed to change, and I knew I could change it.
It’s about prioritizing. I have a million things thrown at me every day, but they can’t all be priorities. Sometimes I have to take five minutes to look at everything on my plate and figure out what’s most important. I also have to remember to delegate - there is a reason that I hired so many amazing people. They can handle anything I throw at them.
I have a social media team, a digital marketing team, an email marketing team, a print shop team, etc. Our print shop is huge - we mail millions of pieces every year. Some people think that direct mail is a dying form of advertising, but it works for us...especially because our target audience [seniors] still uses it.
SMS marketing is important for [insurance] agents because they’re on the road all day. Some of them don’t even get emails to their phone, so texts and calls are the only way to reach them. We knew that we could reach thousands of more people by texting them instead of getting lost in their inboxes.
We use SMS to inform our agents of new sales incentives, invite them to trainings, remind them when things are due, etc. It gets both the agents and us what we need much faster.
SMS is just quicker. People are ALWAYS on their phones these days, and they are much more likely to check an unread text than an unread email. It’s also quicker for our team to send out an SMS instead of designing a whole email campaign.
We’re all about technology right now. We’re finding new ways to adapt to changing technology. We’re still using old methods that work, like direct mail, but we’re also investing in Facebook ads and other digital marketing efforts. The key developing factor is the need in the market. More people are turning 65 than ever before (Baby Boomers are reaching that age), and more doctors are feeling overwhelmed and feeling like they need additional support. Plus, with all of the politics surrounding healthcare right now, people are incredibly confused about what they need to do and when.
My father. He taught me how to say “yes” to opportunities. He’s still working hard every day and is even helping us build our new office building. Also, I’ve recently begun working with Ben Newman. He has met with me and my leadership team a few times now and has been an incredible coach and mentor for us all.
Trust your team. As an owner, it’s easy to get swept away in everything and feel like you have to have your feet in everything, but you don’t. Instead, learn how to hire the best people and how to delegate. Trust in your abilities as a leader and trust in your employee's abilities to get the work done.