Medicare Sales Agency Doubles Contact Rates and Drives Year-Round Enrollment Records

Contact-rate collapse was starving the sales floor

With 110 agents dialing up to 1 million leads per day, efficiency is critical at Senior Healthcare Advisors, a Medicare sales agency.

But while using Five9, Operations Manager Ariel Ayalon said SHA’s outbound campaigns were being dragged down by two related problems: agents were getting flooded with answering machines, and prospects were seeing calls labeled as Spam Likely.

In a single day, agents were forced to disposition as many as 100,000 voicemails. At the same time, spam labels pushed contact rates down to just 6%.

That created a chain reaction across the sales floor. Agents spent too much time waiting through voicemails instead of speaking with prospects. Closing agents, who depended on live transfers, waited as long as 17 minutes between opportunities.

With the busy Annual Enrollment Period approaching, SHA knew it needed a better way to turn high-volume dialing into live conversations.

“We weren't connecting to people on the phone with Five9,” Ayalon says. “With Convoso, we're seeing a huge difference. It's the fact that more agents are talking on the phone rather than waiting and listening to answering machines.”

Nearly 200X fewer leaked voicemails helps agents reach more live prospects

After switching to Convoso, SHA saw improvement where it mattered most: more calls reaching real people.

Ayalon quickly saw how much accurate answering machine detection could change campaign performance. After working with other outbound solutions, he found that Convoso was far better at identifying voicemails before they reached agents, helping the team to reduce wasted time and focus on live conversations.

With Convoso, SHA can detect up to 97% of voicemails. Leaked voicemails dropped from as many as 100,000 per day to as few as 550, even while SHA continued dialing at high volume.

That meant agents could spend less time waiting through answering machines and more time speaking with prospects.

“The voicemails are nowhere near what we were experiencing with Five9,” Ayalon says. “It's night and day. All my agents now are actually getting connected to people.”

The gains were not only about filtering out voicemails. Convoso’s outbound sales platform also helps teams respond to new leads in under five seconds, giving agents a better chance to reach prospects while interest is still high.

For a high-volume sales operation, those seconds matter. Every leaked voicemail, delayed follow-up, or flagged caller ID can reduce the number of live conversations agents have in a day. 

By helping SHA reduce wasted dials, reach fresh leads quickly, and protect caller ID reputation, Convoso gave the team a stronger foundation for profitable outbound growth.

“It's an astronomical difference since we switched to Convoso,” Ayalon says. “I would say it's between 50-80% difference in productivity with you guys. It's that big of a number.”

Caller ID reputation management gives SHA visibility into another contact-rate killer

Answering machines weren’t the only issue hurting campaign performance. SHA also struggled with numbers being labeled as Spam or Scam Likely.

Before Convoso, Ayalon didn’t have a reliable way to know which numbers were being flagged unless a prospect told the team directly.

“[With Five9], I didn’t have a way to know what was being labeled spam and what was not,” Ayalon says.

Convoso gave SHA the visibility it was missing.

With comprehensive caller ID reputation management, Ayalon can monitor number health, identify flagged lines, and take action to protect the company’s caller reputation. 

Instead of relying on word-of-mouth to spot spam labels, SHA now has real-time intelligence in a customizable dashboard.

Together, Convoso’s answering machine detection and caller ID reputation management helped SHA solve two related problems that were limiting the same outcome: live conversations.

Since switching to Convoso, SHA has doubled its contact rates.

Related content: Survey: Missed conversations are one of the biggest sources of outbound friction | See how spam labels, low contact rates, and slow speed to lead limit revenue at scale.

More live conversations drive record-setting enrollment performance

The impact went beyond the front-line dialing team.

With more prospects answering and fewer calls stuck on voicemails, SHA’s closing agents started receiving transfers faster. Wait times for closers dropped from 17 minutes to just three.

That improvement helped SHA perform during its most important sales period, the Annual Enrollment Period. But the gains continued beyond peak season.

August and September are typically slow months for Medicare sales. Even then, SHA set a new post-OEP record with 275 enrollments in a single day.

“August and September are the slowest seasons when it comes to Medicare, and we just had our best day in the entire year,” Ayalon says. “I credit that to the [Convoso platform].”

For SHA, the difference was not simply more dialing capacity. It was more productive dialing capacity. Convoso helped the team turn more outbound activity into live conversations, giving agents and closers more opportunities to convert.

A high-stakes switch made easier by hands-on support

Making the switch to a new dialing platform just months before the Annual Enrollment Period felt like a risk. But looking back, Ayalon says there is “really nothing to be scared of” when switching to Convoso.

That confidence stems from Convoso’s hands-on implementation process.

“As long as you know what you’re doing as far as being confident in your sales process,” he says, “[Convoso] actually does all the work as far as integration.”

The support didn’t stop after implementation. More than a year later, SHA’s dedicated customer success team remains integral to the company’s progress.

“Everyone is answering at the drop of a hat,” Ayalon says.

For companies considering a switch, his advice is clear:

“There’s no reason not to pull the trigger and get ready for AEP with Convoso. I don’t know where we would be without this dialer.”

Ready to turn more outbound calls into live conversations?

Book a demo to see how Convoso helps sales teams reduce wasted dials, protect caller ID reputation, and improve contact rates.