What should health insurance agents look for in a Field Marketing Organization (FMO)?

It's difficult to find success in the health insurance industry. That’s why many independent insurance agents turn to Field Marketing Organizations to support their growing business. But what is an FMO? And more importantly, how do you pick one to work with?

What is a field marketing organization?

At their core, FMOs should provide support services to insurance agents. And, we should point out that these organizations can go by other names: Insurance Marketing Organizations and Independent Marketing Organizations. We'll use the term FMO throughout this article, though.

No matter what they call themselves, the organization generally provides marketing assistance, industry training, sales and service support, and access to multiple carriers and products. But, the scope and quality of support can vary from FMO to FMO. So, here are some parameters to keep in mind.

What marketing assistance does an FMO provide?

At the absolute minimum, your prospective health insurance FMO should be able to direct you to all the carrier-produced marketing materials on offer. That’s not a bad thing, necessarily – these materials have passed muster with the carriers and relevant regulatory bodies. But, if the assistance stops there, you need to look further.

Each insurance market has its own regulations  FMOs are bound to work within. FMOs can’t pay you anything above and beyond the fair market value in the Medicare market, for example. However, they may be able to fund or reimburse specific marketing expenses for working in the individual under 65 or group markets. 

On top of that, they should have their own library of marketing content you can beg, borrow, and steal from. And, that should come with training on how to make the most of those assets. Speaking of training…

What training support does an FMO provide?

Any FMO worth its salt will schedule training with its carrier partners. Typically those trainings occur in mid-to-late summer as new products are rolled out. You might also see refreshers throughout the year. But, unfortunately, many FMOs think their obligation to your business ends there.

What about training in sales techniques? Marketing strategies? Quoting and presenting plans? Federal, state, and local compliance updates? Your FMO should address those needs, too. Aside from those formal sessions, you should also have access to ad hoc, one-on-one support from industry experts. And if you have none of those things, it’s time to expand your search.

What sales and service support does an FMO provide?

Every FMO will promise you sales and service support. But, when they do, you’ll need to ask a key question: Who will provide this support? If they fumble for an answer or insist they can single-handedly address each concern their downlines have – be careful.

From time to time, agents need office support with a variety of things: processing applications, handling policy problems, ordering new ID cards, or even escalating customer service issues with the carrier. This is where the wheat separates from the chaff. You’ll want to make sure you have a team of trusted experts who can take on this work,  keeping you off the phone with carriers and in front of clients.

How do FMOs provide access to carriers?

Some carriers, especially local or regional ones, allow agents to contract directly with them. But, the majority of larger, national carriers require independent agents to align with an FMO to offer their products. This is a win-win-win for all three parties; the carriers outsource some of the intensive training, marketing, and support to the FMO; and the FMO provides all these services to agents. 

That probably leaves you with a burning question – how do FMOs get paid? Contracts vary, but in general, the money flows like this:

Carriers pay an administrative fee – or override – to FMOs. That override is a unique payment that does not impact premiums or agent commissions. Instead, that money is earmarked solely for the FMO to continue providing support to agents in the field.

Insurance companies also pay commissions to independent agents. But, beware: some FMOs will insert themselves into the process – and they’ll either pay you commissions as earned or take a cut to fund their operations. 

How can Action Benefits help me grow my health insurance business?

We’ll give you a head start in your search for a field marketing organization: Here is how we’d tackle each of those questions:

When it comes to marketing, we provide everything you need, and then some. In the group and individual under 65 segments, we often wholly reimburse or split qualifying marketing expenses with our agents. Need leads? We got ‘em. Tablecloths and giveaways for a community event? We can do that. We’ll even help you design and print your business cards, flyers, and other promotional material. All this, in addition to a wide selection of customizable templates located in Ensurability, our 1600+ article database on all things insurance. In the Medicare market, we’re honor-bound to follow all CMS guidelines. But, our training team has tons of insight to help you earn your next sale.

All the marketing material in the world isn’t very helpful if you don’t know how to use it. That’s why our training team puts on weekly webinars covering marketing strategies, compliance updates, sales tactics, and service reminders. Can’t make it live? Tune in on YouTube. And, Ensurability also holds over 50 on-demand courses to help you supercharge your sales.

Every Medicare FMO under the sun will promise you service. Not many dedicate an entire team to it. We boast a nine-person (and counting!) team to help you process applications, solve claim issues, and take on your other back-office tasks. Our mission is to make selling easier – and the best way to do that is to lighten your load, so you can stay in front of clients and prospects.

Our carrier portfolio may not be as broad as others, but that’s because we only accept top-line contracts with each carrier. That means there’s never any question about who owns your book of business, nor are there any high hurdles to clear if you choose to move on. We make it as easy to do business with us as we make it to leave – not that we ever think you’d want to.