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‍Roche and Ryan Peters run Phil-Am, out of Houston — the fourth largest city in the US, with a widely diverse clientele. In just one year, Phil-Am grew its downline agent count 9X. This last AEP, they increased enrollments by 570%. Our team at Spark sat down with the power couple to ask them how they achieved such rapid growth and what advice they’d offer to other APs. 

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The “all-in” mentality

‍Driven by a desire to help local seniors, Roche became an independent agent and eventually opened her own agency. Then, in May 2024, feeling unsatisfied with the status quo, Ryan left his successful corporate career and joined forces with Roche. He knew it was a risk — they didn’t know what CMS was going to do with admin fees and overrides in the field, or if they’d be able to grow agent count — but it was a risk he was willing to take for their family. Together, they sat down with their eight kids and set expectations. They wouldn’t be going on their annual family vacation — all of their extra time, money, and energy was going towards growing the business. They only had until August to recruit, and they were going to go all in. 

Here are some of the key tips Roche and Ryan shared for APs looking to grow fast. 

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Be available to your agents — but don’t do their jobs for them

‍Ryan and Roche are always accessible to their people. They move calendar appointments when someone needs support and are on-call for emergency meetings. 

“This industry is very hard, especially if you’re new to the business,” Roche explained. “Answer your phones because people are asking questions, and there are no dumb questions. Give them the support that they need.” 

At the same time, you can’t overcompensate. While they’re happy to be mentors and lend an ear, they treat their agents and partners like the business owners they are. “You don’t just give and give and give,” Roche said. “You’ve got to teach them how to do things on their own.” 

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Get out into your community to lend a helping hand ‍

Phil-Am didn’t do any formal recruitment last year. By simply showing up — at clinics, community centers, restaurants, etc. — they established a reputation, and people came to them. In an industry with a lot of politics and a lot of people who don’t care, “if you can have that mentality that you’re truly here to help people, that that is really what you’re about, you’re guaranteed to succeed,” Ryan explained.  

Staffing clinics and hosting senior center activities like bingo help Roche create genuine connections while showing her team how it’s done. “Be an example and people will follow you,” she said. “I tell them they’re there for people and the sales will follow, their enrollment will follow. And I see that happening with a lot of them.” 

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Automate what you can to increase productivity and broaden your reach

‍Spark helps Phil-Am “work smarter, not harder,” Roche said. “It’s very smart. It makes our life easier. It makes our enrollment faster, and it increases our productivity.” Over the last year, Phil-Am started automating text messages, emails, RSVPs, and reminders. Before these things were automated, they might have 10-15 attendees. Now, with automation, they host events as big as 50 people.

Know your strengths and weaknesses

‍The Phil-Am team stays productive by leaning into their strengths, and having clear roles and responsibilities. Roche works out in the field, helping brokers navigate their first Medicare 101s and enrollments. When agents shadow her, she makes it a priority to “understand what motivates them and understand their strengths and weaknesses.” 

Ryan uses his corporate background to focus on goal planning, meet with agency owners, and build partnerships. He’s also good with the technical stuff. Last year, he won over an agent simply because he took the time to set her up with some programming automations. She was so impressed with his generosity that she decided to make the switch that same day.

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Focus on building genuine relationships and opportunities will follow

‍For this duo, success starts and ends with building relationships. “People will come to you when they see that you’re genuine and you’re real.” Ryan said. With Phil-Am, “What you see, is what you get.” 

Roche and Ryan are genuine, no-BS leaders who encourage their teams, but aren’t afraid to have tough conversations. This methodology enabled them to build the trusted agency partnerships they have today. As Ryan said: “It is not the Ryan and Roche show. It is not the Phil-Am show. It is a team effort and we couldn’t have done this without the agency leaders that we have. These are partnerships that we couldn’t live without.” 

Learn more about the Spark Platform that Phil-Am uses to grow their business. Follow Spark on LinkedIn to hear more success stories from the industry’s top agents and principals.