Handling Open Enrollment

What Steps Should Insurance Agencies Take Before Q4?

Every agency is different. So this article won’t present a fixed timeline. Instead, it suggests a deadline: September 30. It doesn’t matter when you get to any specific steps, just that you get to all of them before the start of open enrollment.

1. Get your data right. 

Garbage in, garbage out is a cliché. It’s also true. Everything ultimately comes down to having accurate data. You’re going to be running reports, sending emails, gathering quotes, submitting applications, and following up on them. With the right information this work is straightforward. With inaccurate data you and your staff are spending time looking for the right email address instead of helping clients.

Insurance agency management systems like NextAgency enable you to run reports on contact information, policies, renewal dates, and much more. They make it easy to classify clients and coverage as current or terminated. If your data is messy, you want to find that out well before Q4. So run those reports now, and make sure they’re accurate and ready before open enrollment begins.

2. Identify who needs you. 

Many of your clients won’t be making much of a change during open enrollment. Some will. Do you know which is which? One way to find out is to ask them. Use a tool like NextAgency’s email campaign feature to send a short questionnaire to your clients. You know your clients and what information you need to help them make the right decision during open enrollment.

You will likely need more than one survey. Your group clients face different questions than your individual and family clients. And seniors have their own concerns. Draft as many as you need, then use NextAgency’s tools to create separate distribution lists for each one.

Sending out this survey will help you:

1. Surface clients likely to require above-average engagement. Start working on renewals for these clients sooner to give yourself more time to complete the process. Depending on what the survey discloses and when your carriers release their 2027 plans, you can begin working with these clients before their open enrollment officially starts.

2. Retain more clients. Studies show that clients don’t leave insurance agencies over price. Clients leave agencies because of poor service and failure to stay in touch. NextAgency’s insurance agency CRM tools make it simple to engage with your clients. This third-quarter survey is just one example.

3. Identify cross-selling opportunities. For example, use NextAgency to create a list of group clients that have medical but not dental coverage. Create a version of your survey that asks if your client wants information on dental plans. Then assign a checklist to ensure you follow-up with those who express an interest.

3. Write your messages now. 

Before there’s a movie, there’s a script. Before there’s a record, there’s a song. Before renewal communications, there should be drafted messages. During open enrollment you’ll make frequent use of email and drip marketing campaigns. Since you already know when you’ll be contacting clients and what you need to say, set these messages up now, when you have time to polish them. NextAgency’s optional NextAI Text Support tool can help with that polishing. But whether you use AI or polish the messages yourself, don’t wait for Q4.

Then take this a step further. NextAgency’s email campaign tools let you filter by renewal date, product type, carrier, or missing coverage and schedule the campaign now. So don’t just draft your messages before Q4; schedule them as well. That’s a lot of work you can transfer from the fourth quarter to a less stressful part of the year.

Don’t forget to create a thank-you email template for clients that renew. This is always a nice, professional touch. And it’s a great opportunity to ask them if they know of others who could use your services. Referrals are the most effective leads, so why not gather as many as you can when you’re renewing most of your book of business? And who knows, your clients may know someone whose agent didn’t read this article. They may be ready for a change.

4. Set up your automated workflows now, too. 

Insurance agency management systems like NextAgency enable you to automate your agency’s processes as workflows. Need compliance forms signed and filed? NextAgency has a workflow for that. Need to email clients 90 and 45 days before their renewal date? There’s a workflow for that, too. In NextAgency, workflows can send emails and texts as well as launch tasks and checklists. Set them up before you need them and it’s one less thing to deal with in Q4.

5. Create procedures and checklists to implement them. 

Experienced agencies have processes for doing various tasks. These usually live in people’s heads as standard operating procedures. But everyone’s memory might be slightly different. And new folks, especially those brought in to help with open enrollment, don’t possess this innate knowledge. NextAgency enables you to document these processes as checklists. When assigned to a client, checklists automatically generate a new task as each previous one is completed, including assigning them to the right staff members.

6. Assign someone to every client. 

When things get hectic, everyone on your team needs to know who is responsible for each client. If you’re a sole proprietor, congratulations. You own it all. If there’s more than one of you, assign a person or a team to each client.

NextAgency not only makes this easy with the flexibility to assign standardized teams or individual staff members to each case, but you can assign these teams and individuals in bulk. Better still, you can assign each team member a role, such as “Lead” or “Underwriting.” Whatever works for your agency. Assign responsibility to each client before open enrollment begins. Then run NextAgency’s built-in Team Report to confirm no client was overlooked.

7. Train your team now. 

New staff should be up-to-date on the processes you follow and the software you use. Even veterans can benefit from a refresher course. NextAgency adds dozens of new features and enhancements to the software each year. Other software you rely on may make changes, too. There are likely to be tools available to you that could save you time if only you knew about them. So ask for a training session. Many vendors, including NextAgency, offer free training. Take advantage of it.

8. Confirm your licensing and appointments are current. 

This one goes without saying, but we’ll say it for completeness: get any needed certifications done, and make sure your carrier appointments are active. You don’t want to find out in December that you let something slide.

9. Know the rules. 

Every year it seems federal and state regulators and carriers implement substantive changes. In 2026, for example, CMS eliminated the 48-hour Scope of Appointment waiting period effective October 1, so an agent can take a signed SOA and move to a marketing appointment the same day. Also in 2026, a rule shortening the ACA open enrollment window was vacated by a federal court in June and the appeal was still pending as of late July. These are illustrative of the kind of changes that can impact your fourth quarter workload. Staying current on the inevitable changes is a critical task. And since these changes impact how your open enrollment will play out, you’ll want to know about them as soon as possible.

This means finding trusted sources not only for federal regulations, but state rules as well. Your carrier, GA, and FMO reps should be eager to help and are well positioned to have the most recent information. Let them know you want to be informed as early as possible of changes. If you’re not a member of NABIP, join. Their compliance corner is worth the price of membership. There you’ll find a host of articles on what’s new. Better still, you can submit questions and have them answered by industry experts.