Medicare AEP CRM Strategy — How to Maximize Annual Enrollment Period

AEP by the numbers

The Medicare Annual Enrollment Period (AEP) runs October 15 through December 7 every year. For Medicare Supplement and Medicare Advantage agents, this is the most important 53 days of the year.

During AEP:

Clients can switch between Medicare Advantage plans
Clients can change Part D drug plans
Clients can add or drop Medicare Advantage

For Medicare Supplement agents, AEP is also the season when clients are most receptive to reviewing their coverage, comparing rates, and making changes — even though Medigap can technically be written year-round.

Start preparing August 1, not October 1

The agents who struggle during AEP are the ones who wait until October to start preparing. By then, competitors have already reached your clients, carriers have already called them, and the inbox is already full.

Start your CRM preparation August 1:

1. Audit your client list — In SonicCRM, pull all active Medicare clients. Check: when did you last contact them? Are their email and phone current? Have there been any major life changes (moved states, changed medications) that affect their plan selection?

2. Segment by plan type — Medicare Advantage clients need a different conversation than Medicare Supplement clients. Create two segments in your CRM with appropriate tags.

3. Set up your AEP campaign sequences — SonicCRM includes pre-built AEP campaign templates. Customize them with your name and agency. Schedule them to start October 15.

The AEP campaign timeline

October 1 (2 weeks pre-AEP): Send a preview SMS: "AEP starts October 15 and I want to make sure you have the best plan for 2027. I will reach out then to schedule a quick review. — [YourName]"

This primes clients for your AEP outreach and dramatically improves response rates when you follow up.

October 15 (AEP Day 1): Send your AEP kickoff SMS: "Hi [FirstName], AEP is officially open. Let's schedule 20 minutes to review your Medicare plan for next year and make sure you have the right coverage at the best rate. What time works for you this week?"

Week 1 of AEP: Call every non-respondent. Make notes in the CRM on every conversation.

Week 2: Focus on appointments set in week 1. Handle plan comparisons and new applications.

November 15 (Halfway point): Send a mid-AEP reminder to any client you have not yet connected with: "AEP is halfway done. I want to make sure you don't miss the window to review your 2027 coverage. Do you have 20 minutes this week?"

December 1: Final urgency message: "AEP closes December 7. After that, you will need to wait until next October to make changes to your Medicare coverage. Can we connect this week?"

December 7 (AEP close): Send thank-you messages to all clients you served. Log outcomes in the CRM. Set January tasks for any clients who could not be reached.

Tracking turning-65 clients year-round

AEP is for plan changes. Initial Medicare enrollment happens at 65, and that is a year-round opportunity.

SonicCRM's turning-65 pipeline tracks contacts by date of birth. Contacts approaching 65 automatically surface in your dashboard. Set automated outreach sequences to trigger at:

3 months before 65th birthday: "Medicare is coming up soon..."
6 weeks before 65th birthday: "Your Medicare window opens soon..."
1 week before 65th birthday: "Your Medicare begins next week..."

This ensures every turning-65 prospect in your CRM gets timely, relevant outreach without you manually tracking birthdays.

The AEP metric that actually matters

Most agents track how many policies they wrote during AEP. The better metric is client retention rate — what percentage of your existing book renewed through you.

Target: 90%+ retention. If you are losing more than 10% of your book to competitors during AEP, your year-round communication and relationship-building needs work. Use your CRM's activity log to identify which clients had the least touchpoints throughout the year — those are your highest flight risks.