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"Many years into this, there are still sleepless nights and where all I do is think about the business and then all I do is wonder, is this thing going to be around
Key Takeaways
- ◆David spent 20 years in group health insurance before pivoting to Medicare seven years ago, building his book while still working full-time until his employer was sold.
- ◆He opened his own practice in Hanover, Massachusetts, three doors down from Social Security, and saw 160, 180 walk-ins in his first year because people still want a human to sit down and explain Medicare in person.
- ◆Most of his clients come from group health plans and many have no idea they could get better coverage for less money by switching to Medicare, so he starts every conversation by asking what they've already heard, then correcting preconceived notions.
- ◆He built his sales presentation over hundreds of meetings by listening for repeated questions, then adding a slide or explanation every time he got the same question three times, so now the first 30, 40 minutes is nearly word-for-word the same every time.
- ◆The hardest part of owning the business is that the job never ends, he can take a vacation whenever he wants, but he still works a couple of hours every day because he hasn't yet mastered the ability to step away.
- ◆He's licensed in 19 states and serves clients from New England to the South and West Coast, all at no cost to the client because carriers pay his fee, and he uses AI internally for compliance and process work but still relies on the human element for client-facing work.
- ◆Rising costs and benefit cutbacks mean more clients face prior authorizations and quantity limits, so his job has shifted toward coaching people through processes they don't like but need to follow to keep their costs down.
Full transcript
Show
Chad
There are a lot of ways to build a career. Most people find a a signal startup. It moved on me here. All right, here we go. There are a lot of ways to build a career. Most people find something that works and stays inside it. That's not a criticism. It takes a certain kind of courage just to stay, do the work, and get really good at something over decades. Today's guest is someone who did that. 20 years in group health insurance. Seven years ago, he made the deliberate bet. Medicare was the space he wanted to own. He was right. He spent several years running both building a book of business inside a company he'd given two decades of his career to. Then that company got sold. Instead of finding another corporate home, he stood on his own two feet, opened his own practice in Massachusetts, three doors down from Social Security, which I love. Built a team of downline agents and has been running his own thing ever since. He serves people navigating some of the most critical and crucial times in their lives. What their healthcare looks like in retirement. In an industry where most people hear the word insurance, they hang the phone up. He shows up every day anyway. That's the story we're going to dig in today. Please welcome David Dupuy Jr. to process over pressure. Welcome, David.
David Dupuy Jr
Thank you for having me, Chad. I appreciate it.
Chad
It is, it is really an honor. know, most people, when they hear the word, insurance or, or, you know, medical insurance or any type of insurance, people climb up, right? They don't want to talk about it. Make very nervous. they get to a place where, know, it's a, it's a, it's a scary, it's a scary subject. So, you know, you've been doing this most of your life. So what, what is, what is it that, that you find is most relative in this that, that you kind of maybe. approach or comfort people when you're opening up that conversation.
David Dupuy Jr
So where I'm at and the position that I'm in, my approach is we are heavily, heavily reliant on education first. So we want all our clients to know what Medicare is, how it works, what their options are. We try and do that in a way that's digestible. My philosophy is this.
Chad
nice.
David Dupuy Jr
an unlimited amount of information out there, but a very small amount actually gets distilled to wisdom so that people can walk away and say, all right, I think I get the basic concepts and I know what my my choices are and I know what the pros and cons of those choices are. So that's kind of what we we do is we educate. And then what we're trying to do is make sure that everybody knows the pros and cons of what their choices are. And quite honestly, there's no silver bullet here. You know, there is solutions that are a good fit for people's specific needs.
Chad
Yeah.
Chad
So what does that, when you, you know, when you talk about that in a kind of the over, over broad of that, what, what, what, I mean, there's a lot of people who honestly, I just be honest. I don't think a lot of people know what senior health insurance is. Like, what is that? Like, you know, they know insurance, what, but for those out there listening, that's like, you know, that maybe don't want to admit it, but probably like, Hey, I don't even know what senior health insurance is. What, what, what is that? Maybe you can give us an overview of just kind of a little bit about. What is that? What is it that you specifically, I guess, that's different than any other insurance, I guess is what I'm saying.
David Dupuy Jr
Yeah, so our insurance actually starts for most people when they're leaving group health. I mean, that's 90 % of our clients. So it's their first time off a group health plan. And quite honestly, it can be overwhelming and scary for people because most people live in a world where they have a group health plan and that group health plan distills their choices to like two, maybe three choices tops.
Chad
Yeah.
David Dupuy Jr
there's a different cost and then there's kind of a different benefit structure and they get maybe two bullets and they say, I want to go with option one, two, or maybe even three. Okay. And that's it. That's the limit of what they have to know and the choices they have to make. That's why we're so heavily reliant on education. Number one, gathering the correct data from the prospective clients. Number two, and just making sure we kind of distill it to something that's digestible and easy to understand. So for us, it's important to educate. what senior health insurance is, is hey, as you get older, A, you're eligible for Medicare. You can go on Medicare at any point, even if you have group health. We actually surprise a lot of people by offering better options. And then B, now that you're
Chad
wow.
David Dupuy Jr
retiring, gonna retire, something's happened with the group health plan. Now we take you on and we're able to educate you on what your next steps are. then our goal obviously is to maintain the relationship for as long as that we possibly can. Because we get paid a small amount of money for a lot of people and we need to meet, we wanna maintain those relationships over a long period of
Chad
Yeah.
David Dupuy Jr
So that's kind of what we are. We have added stuff now in the last few years. So we do service. There's a demographic that's between 58 and 64 that wants to retire and doesn't want to wait to 65. And they don't know what the insurance world looks like. So we service them as well.
Chad
Yeah. that's interesting. think, you know, that, that, GINX maybe area where they're like, Hey, you know what? I'm going to retire a little early. want to, I want to, I want to 58. Yeah. That's a great point. Never thought about that. It's like, you try to navigate leaving work insurance into the Medicare or those types of interests. That's a, that's interesting. So, you know, David, when we talked earlier, we kind of had a little pre podcast and just kind of get to know you a little bit.
David Dupuy Jr
Ugh.
Chad
You one of the things that stood out to me was here's a guy who, who for 20 years worked in insurance, like, like for somebody. And, and after, know, that's a long time. I mean, that's a, that's a good chunk of time being in an industry. then, you know, what was it like when you decided, when you said, you know what, I'm, I'm, I'm doing this on my own. Like, like what, what made you kind of. finally decide to do that and what was that feeling like when you walked out of that? We got a lot of listeners that are probably in your shoes. I've been in your shoes. I know exactly how you feel it. Like, I stay in corporate America? Do I stay, keep doing this or, you know, it's comfortable over here and then step out and do your own thing. What was that like for you?
David Dupuy Jr
Yeah, so for me, I was able to ease into it. I was very blessed to come into a situation where I started with my employer, like you mentioned, 20 years ago. But I was like employee number seven, I believe, or eight with them. And they grew tremendously. By the time the owner sold the company 20 years later, we had like 170 employees. So I was very blessed, number one, to have a long-term relationship with the CEO and the head of benefits at that time for an extended period of time, 20 years. They knew everything that I was capable of and worked with me and allowed me to touch every part of their business and train me on it and learn on it. So it was a little easier when that time finally came. We didn't do Medicare there, I had suggested we do it. The head of benefits said, we're not doing that. But if you want to do it, we'd be happy to use you as a resource. So I was blessed that they used me as a resource. They actually helped me along the path. that's a very rare situation. Obviously, when you do finally make the choice that you're going to make the jump, it's always a little scary. But I've had enough ramp up time.
Chad
Now that's nice.
Chad
Yeah.
David Dupuy Jr
with my company to generate revenue that I was like, okay, I've generated some revenue. I can offset my losses from leaving full-time employment and rely on that. And then to go along with that, I've seen the growth in how the industry I'm in can compound and can compound pretty quickly. So I figured once I did do this,
Chad
Yeah.
David Dupuy Jr
100 % full-time, it would grow quicker by like 5x than it was growing at the time, which is incrementally. And that's exactly what happened. So for me, I was very blessed to be in a wonderful situation with wonderful people who to this day, I'm grateful for and maintain relationships with. But it's scary, you And it's like, you got to trust yourself. You to make the dive.
Chad
Yeah.
Chad
Yeah.
David Dupuy Jr
I listen to enough stuff that I'm like, got to do this sometime, you know? And there is some relief when you pull the trigger and then you, you you're so focused on making it work that you don't really look back and say, you know, what if it doesn't work? You can't really afford to do that, you know? You got to take your life vest off and just jump in and learn how to swim as good as you can. And as long as you stay afloat, then...
Chad
Yeah.
David Dupuy Jr
Eventually you're gonna be swimming just fine without your life vest.
Chad
Yeah. I always tell people it's like standing on that high dive and you're right at the edge of it. And you're like, I want to go. no, I'm going to go. No, you know, it's like, do I do it? Do I not? And eventually, you know, those either come back down the ladder or they jump, right? That's the options you have you to climb back down or jump. And, know, it is a lot like that. And, and you either, you either just continuously, you know, I can tell you from me, I probably walked up to the ladder, looked at the edge 10 times and came back down. But finally taking that jump, it's like, have moments where, and I'm sure you do too, where I'm like, what did I just do? And, and, and, so, so, so think about that moment, maybe where there was a time that you were like, okay, it's me now. What do I, what did I just do? Did you ever have that moment got in your head? Like, may, you may not remember what time, but.
David Dupuy Jr
Yeah.
David Dupuy Jr
So no, no. Well, personally, I think that that you get that time. Let's put it this way. Many years into this, there are still sleepless nights and where all I do is think about the business and then all I do is wonder, is this thing going to be around? You know, like what's going to happen like that? I don't know that that ever goes away no matter no matter what.
Chad
Yeah.
Chad
Yeah.
David Dupuy Jr
The other thing is you talked about taking that jump and making that decision. And when you have your own thing and the buck stops with you, you have to climb that ladder and make that decision similar to that pretty much every day or at least many times. So you get a little calloused from it and you can get up there and be like, well, I got to jump. So, boom, jump.
Chad
Yeah.
David Dupuy Jr
do it without thinking, but I do have my sleepless nights. It just depends on where I am or where the business is and trying to fix it. But you know, gotta have faith, quite honestly. You gotta have faith in yourself, you know?
Chad
Yeah. That's good.
Chad
You do. I think that's, you know, when you, when it comes down to the end of the day, you either have enough confidence in yourself that you're going to take the gamble on yourself or you're not right. You know, and, and, and only people who know that are you individually, like am I worth, you know, I always tell people, are you worth to take the gamble on? Would you bet on yourself? And if the answer is yes, then you should try it, right? It's not for everybody. I get that. And that's okay. It's not a knock if you're not, but At some point you have to say, you know, you have to say, am I going to do this or am I not going do this? Because you can't complain if you don't try, right? You can never go back and go, well, I could have done this. You got to either do it or don't, right? Just really wait and go. So David, you know, one thing I do want to talk about in this, cause I think, I think this is a great platform to be able to talk a little bit about Medicare. And if that's okay with you, because look, let's be honest, Medicare has a reputation. We all know that it does. You hear it out there. Every time you turn the news on, there's always negative things about it. There's this negative thought. so, I am pretty sure, I don't do your job, but I'm pretty sure people hear insurance and especially Medicare and insurance, they kind of put a wall up. How do you break through that? Does that ever get to you a little bit? Like that constant trying to ease people's minds? that ever kind of, tell me your experience on that.
David Dupuy Jr
So in terms of there is a perception, you're absolutely right. So what I try and break is when I first started engaging with people, I must ask them, all right, so what have you know, what have you heard about Medicare? Because everybody comes to me with...
Chad
that's good.
David Dupuy Jr
preconceived notions. Their neighbor told them, their doctor told them, their nurse told them, their cousin told them, and they have preconceived notions. And all I'm trying to do is vet whether their preconceived notions are actually accurate or inaccurate, you know? And many times it's inaccurate, and it's inaccurate because unfortunately they get in one person's view of the world and their own experience and their own, you know,
Chad
Yeah.
Chad
That's good.
David Dupuy Jr
little micro bubble, you know, as it pertains to them. And that doesn't mean that that's how it pertains to everybody. And, you know, it's like, you don't want to do this. So you want to do that. And that's what a lot of people say. But the reality is, it depends on that person's situation in a number of factors. What's their health? What's their financial situation? Where do they live? What doctors do they have? Like, it's so many different... What's their risk tolerance?
Chad
Yeah.
Chad
Yeah.
David Dupuy Jr
You know, there's so many different factors that go into it that breaking those preconceived notions is absolutely one of my top priorities or the number one thing that I have to do because everybody's got thoughts about it and you're right, most of the thoughts are... Negative in certain situations. I heard this I heard that about this plan or that plan or not to do this So so I I gotta break a lot of that off There is also the preconceived notion that you know a lot of people remain on a group health plan That don't necessarily need to remain on a group health plan They might be able to get better coverage for less money by going to Medicare and like I said, I do 90 % of my clients are that so
Chad
Yeah.
David Dupuy Jr
We kind of break down those walls as well. Like, Hey, do you want to take a look at this and, you know, let us explain exactly what your out of pocket cost is going to be and what benefits you're going to get in return. And Hey, you know, let's compare it to what you got now. All right. And a lot of people are surprised when we take them through the process. They're like, I didn't think it'd be.
Chad
Yeah.
David Dupuy Jr
this good or this price. And many times we do hear, I wish I had done this earlier, you know, I should have done this a couple years ago, but you know, that's water under the bridge at that point. But yeah, there's a lot of preconceived notions. There's a lot of things that they hear and see on TV, hear from neighbors, hear from friends, hear from doctors. And a lot of it's either not true or doesn't fit in the context that is appropriate to them.
Chad
I think that's so good and I hope our listeners, what I'm hearing is, and I'll be honest with you, I'm probably one of those that had the pre perceived notion and stuff like that. But listening to you and trying to talk about it, and I can tell just by my opportunity being with you is that you take the time to really walk people through and kind of answer questions. I think that's probably the biggest, I would think you would say is. Answering the questions and giving them a chance to ask anything they want and process through that to kind of understand what they're really getting is important. And I'm sure that's, I know that's your approach because I've met you and know you like really bringing them alongside and giving them the opportunity to talk about it and understand the pros and cons of each scenario. That's what I hear kind of pulls that anxiety down a little bit, I bet.
David Dupuy Jr
Yeah, absolutely. And then the other thing that I'll make a point to do too is when they say, my neighbor told me, my doctor told me, or I saw it on TV, we break that down too. All right. So that doesn't fit you. Here's why. They may have said it because in their situation, here's what they may be going through too. Because you just don't want to completely dismiss people and say, yeah, well, that's just...
Chad
Yeah.
David Dupuy Jr
wrong. You it's like you want to explain this is what their thought process probably is, you know, but here's why it doesn't pertain to you. So yeah, education's huge and I'm not the world's most patient person in the world, but it has taught me a great deal of patience to stop and listen and then take your time and explain. And if it means explaining
Chad
Yeah.
Chad
Yeah, man.
David Dupuy Jr
multiple times, then so be it because it's a complex, it can be a complex product in insurance to understand how it works.
Chad
Yeah. No, that's so good. so, so David, you, know, you own your own business and, so, you know, you have to be the, you have to be the sales guy. You have to be the janitor. You have to be the HR. You have to be the problem solver. You have to do a lot of, you wear a lot of hats, right? You a lot of things like it all, you know, the word they say, the buck stops with you, right? Like it's, it's, you're the guy. What? What's probably the hardest part of being in charge that nobody ever really talks about?
David Dupuy Jr
The hardest part about being in charge is your job never ends. So it's like, that's the toughest part is there is no downtime. And part of that is on me. You have to be consciously building the ability to step away. And I haven't been in business long enough to have mastered that skill set yet.
Chad
Yeah.
David Dupuy Jr
Even though I try and can step away for a while, it's just you're always got your hands in it. And I'm slowly learning how to pull my hands out of it.
Chad
Yeah.
David Dupuy Jr
You know, because I wanted to be able to run without me having to be so heavily involved. You know, I joked with another guy that owned a business. like, Hey, the great thing about owning a business is I can take a vacation if I want at any time. And when I'm on vacation, I only have to work a couple of hours every day, but it is some truth to that, right? Like when you own your own business, it's like, I can go away whenever I want, but I got to work.
Chad
and
David Dupuy Jr
Anyway, so I just kind of mix it in and what I got to do is build a better model that I can step away and then I can jump back in. And that's the biggest challenge, quite honestly.
Chad
Yeah. Yeah, I mean that's Yeah. No, I appreciate you being honest. I think you're absolutely correct. know, when we own something, it's ours. There's a tendency to, especially if you're like me, I like to be in control. I have that problem of wanting to be in control. So, you you constantly have your hands in it. I think you said something there that I think is so powerful is learning to... Relieve some of that to some other people and giving them a chance because it does two things, right? One, it gives you some of that mind space to be able to enjoy some things, but also gives us an opportunity to our employees to grow and have an opportunity to get better and maybe rise to the occasion. And I think a lot of people forget that. Like they forget that those people that work under you that are wanting an opportunity to learn and kind of rise to the occasion that otherwise, if you don't allow them, they're just going to be. You know, they may not be there. get bored, right? So giving them that opportunity to do that is, is, is rewarding to you as well, to see them do that, to grow and be like, that's the, that's the next me right there. You know, that, that stepped in and is learning and doing those things. So that's good. so I'm sure with your business, this has never happened where a deal went sideways or, fell apart or, you know, kept you up all night.
Chad
We've all had those. was, you know, know, being funny, but what, what in, what in that moment did you learn about, you know, what, what, what did you take away from that after all that did fall sideways or that client or whatever? Like what, what was it that you learned to walk away with from that experience?
David Dupuy Jr
So so yes, and it hasn't happened just once, but I think in every one of those experiences, you walk away with at least one, and usually multiple things that you say, I will never do that again. I'm never gonna do that again. I'm not gonna fall into that trap again or make that mistake again.
Chad
yeah.
Chad
Yeah, that's good. That's good.
David Dupuy Jr
And then sometimes you're mad at yourself or, you know, exposing yourself or, you know, it's just sometimes they're easily preventable things and it may be said something the wrong way and then they misunderstood it. And then it's, it went from, we're going to do it to, no, we're not going to do it. And,
Chad
Yeah.
David Dupuy Jr
You know, it happens. so I think the lesson varies each time because it's not like it's happened and now we're never going to have that experience again. I mean, we are. But the goal is not to repeat that same experience ever again, you know, have it be a different learning lesson. So I think the lesson is different every time and it varies on what the problem of the situation is.
Chad
Yeah.
David Dupuy Jr
Does that make sense?
Chad
Yeah. Yeah, no, I totally get it. I think you're absolutely right. think you, you know, you should, I always say this, tell people all the time, like, I don't think you're ever an age where you stop learning or you stop adapting and stop evolving because, know, even in, your own business, there's things that happen that you like, like you said, okay, that happened. How do we correct that? Or how do we fix that? Or how we, how we, it doesn't need to be fixed. Not all the times is something broken. It's just, you know, sometimes things just go sideways and it's just not, it's out of control. That's not a reflection on you. That's just a reflection that maybe, you know, you got to kind of evaluate it from a lens, I think as an owner is, is that a process problem? If it is a process problem, can we, can we get better at that process problem, make it better? Because if it is that that's solvable, right? you, you just kind of learn from them. I think that's the key is like you said, just learning and being able to adapt and get better. That's, we're always gonna be doing that, right? I mean, you don't ever stop doing that.
David Dupuy Jr
Yep. Yeah. And quite honestly, I mean, this sounds terrible, but I mean, sometimes it's like if you feel like you're engaged with a person and you're not comfortable with that person becoming a potential client and then you keep pursuing it, sometimes the mistake is I'm never going to engage in somebody with that type of personality again. You know, I just don't want to go through the trouble. So sometimes it's that.
Chad
Yeah.
David Dupuy Jr
Other times it's process driven or it's just, you know, steps driven or, you know, one thing I will say about like my presentation and people say, your presentation's good. Well, it, it better be good. I mean, I've have hundreds of clients and I've done that presentation thousands of times. And when I first started doing it, I would get the same question, like, what about this? And if I got that question three times. I would be like, clearly I'm not doing a good job addressing that question. Let me build into my presentation that question being addressed. now my present in my presentation, quite honestly, it varies at the end when we talk about the individual, but the beginning 30, 40 minutes is the same exact presentation every time I'm almost word for word, the same.
Chad
That's good.
Chad
Yeah.
David Dupuy Jr
on every single presentation because I know it's stuff that needs to get covered and I know that I can cover in a way that they take away, okay, he said this. So you're right, it's constantly learning and it's constantly adjusting. And just by the presentation, I've learned that over time. I'm like, oh wow, there's a gap here. And then maybe I throw on an extra slide. I only use like...
Chad
Yeah.
David Dupuy Jr
half the slides on my slide deck because I don't want to overwhelm people. But I adjust it all the time.
Chad
Yeah. Yeah, it's probably so much information like you don't have, you know, and listen, people, spans not, you know, two hours to sit there. They want to know and they want want to, they want to know all the information in the shortest amount of time that they can get it. And it's sometimes as a presenter, it's hard to do, right? To try to get all that into a little bundle. Not always easy to do. And because then they start asking questions and they move into a different direction. And then next thing you know, you're down in a rabbit
David Dupuy Jr
Even to do it in 30 to 40 minutes for me is, I know I'm hitting people with a lot of info and I'm talking fast as I do it to get it done in that timeframe. But there is also stuff in my industry that I'm required to cover. So I do have to make it part of my presentation.
Chad
Yeah.
Chad
So we're getting, you know, we're kind of moving on through this podcast. It's been fantastic. I guess I want to transition just to ask a question or so a little bit about, you know, what is one thing now that, where you set out today as a company owner and with insurance, like what is something that you're noticing out there in this, you know, that's different than it was five or six years ago? Maybe just one thing that you're like, you this is change and you're seeing some changes in maybe a way it's approached or how things are done or even the people that you're reaching out to.
David Dupuy Jr
Well, number one is the cost is obviously much different than it was five years ago. And because of that, there are cost pressures, you know? And so the insurance companies can't just continue to raise costs. I mean, they do have to raise costs to meet their own inflationary needs that they're facing. But what you notice a lot more is that there are other tools that they utilize that they can put in place. prior authorizations, stuff like that to limit how many times somebody or quantity limits with their prescription. So there's a lot more of causing people to kind of engage and do things that they don't like to do. So there's a lot more of coaching that process and having people understand that climate that they have to do things to maintain. I mean, it helps their cost if they can do those things. But yeah, that's the biggest change, but that's probably never gonna go away. you know, the biggest positive change I will say from literally five years ago, maybe six years ago, or even I'd call it pre-COVID, is the amount of technology we have at our hands that we're able to expedite and...
Chad
Yeah.
David Dupuy Jr
do all these things and record everything much easier. So that's been, you know, fantastic. And it makes it much more efficient. And it gives us the ability to get information in people's hands. And even though my age demographic stays the same, you know, 65 and older, the 65 year olds from five years ago versus the 65 year olds from now are much more adapt at
Chad
Yeah.
David Dupuy Jr
learning and being able to utilize technology. So a lot of that's made my life easier. The rising cost of benefits and then the scaling back of benefits, that's been challenging, but I don't anticipate that will ever go away.
Chad
Yeah.
Chad
Yeah. Are you seeing in your profession and where you are, know, AI is a big word out there, right? A lot of people talk about AI, it's kind of out there. Are you seeing that in your industry? If so, you know, what have you experienced?
David Dupuy Jr
you
David Dupuy Jr
No, yeah, absolutely. As a business owner, will utilize it a lot for your processes and procedures and compliance, all that stuff. It helps solve problems and gives us some advice and you can build in models to kind of deploy that keeps the ability to have to hire a bunch of people to do something down. people look up info on AI. AI isn't quite there with the nuance of Medicare yet. Cause sometimes they'll say, well, chat GPT said this, whatever it may be. Well, that's great. And that would be right in certain circumstances, but it's not necessarily right in this circumstance. I'm sure it'll get better and get there eventually. but yeah, that's how I kinda see it both on the end user side and then kind of internally.
Chad
Yeah.
David Dupuy Jr
side. It's certainly something that's not going away, obviously.
Chad
No, I don't, I certainly don't think it's going away. think it's going to do no, it's evolving so fast, you know, and I talk to people, I talk the same questions I ask on every podcast with people because it is something that's relevant in our world today, especially if you're a business owner, got to be, you got to be a little understanding of AI because it's here. guess not going, you're right. It's not going away. It's just getting better and better and better and better. Right? I find more people now. It is, and it's, you know, it's all about.
David Dupuy Jr
Yeah, and it's great tool. Great tool.
Chad
you know, perspective and how you're using it. And, you know, I'm a firm believer, listen, uh, you know, this is, I do this, I do AI automation process for people all the time. And I tell people all the time, I love it. It's a great tool, but there's also a greatness in the human element too. And I think you have to take both into consideration and be able to use them together. Uh, because there are certain things that AI can help with. And then there's that human element that you just, you're never going to change that, that, that, that, you know, uh, connection with people that. And I don't think we should. think human element is big. mean, I think we, you know, COVID, we all hibernated or we all went to our own space and we closed up and we got to a place where we quit talking to people. And I don't want AI, my fear is I don't want AI to create that too, so that we're all, we're just back into that bubble again and we're not having that human element. And so I think it's important that we use the tool and we use it in an effective way, but we also have that human element. I don't know how you felt about that, but that's my belief.
David Dupuy Jr
Well, listen, you're talking to someone that in an industry that there isn't many physical locations has a physical location. So I am totally on board with that. And my, as you mentioned earlier, my physical location is three doors down from social security. So for us, the people that walk in and I think we've been, we're at a year at our location. And in terms of walk-ins, you're talking about
Chad
Yeah.
David Dupuy Jr
160 to 180 people have walked in over the course of that 12 months. yeah, people are dying to sit down and have somebody explain stuff to them. And in quite honestly, the feedback we get is, this is great. I'm so glad you guys are here. I'm so glad we talked to you. So yeah, to me that human element's a big deal. And quite honestly, a lot of the stuff that we were able to solve with the person with us.
Chad
Wow.
Chad
That's cool. That's cool.
David Dupuy Jr
So that helps too. So yeah, we invest heavily in the human element by just having a location.
Chad
Yeah. And I think that's so good that you've had that people come in there because, we have to understand that in the demographics of where we are, the age of people and all that is, you know, we have a older generation that still is very much, you know, didn't grow up on the technology like it is today. And like, when our kids start, when they get 65, it's going to be a different game because they grew up with it, right? But that human element is so, I think it's something that I hope that we just keep because there's nothing more that can light people up when they start having human interaction. There's just something in the brain that just lights people up. And so I think it's important that we do that. And I think it's important that we continue to have that. So it's really good to hear that you do that and have that office where people can come in and they're not going to get an operator or a clone. They're going to get a human being. I think that's cool.
David Dupuy Jr
Yeah, exactly. Yep.
Chad
Well, David, is, uh, it is really, we're coming to the end. It's been such a pleasure having you, uh, on my podcast and, know, my podcast is called process over pressure. And for a reason is I think that the things that we talked about, the processes, these things allows us to have less pressure if we have the right processes. So that's why it's important. So if people are out there and they want to talk to you and find out more and learn more and maybe come visit you. Would you share maybe your location and how they can connect with you and how they can reach you?
David Dupuy Jr
Yeah, our physical location is in Massachusetts, right in Hanover. Like I had mentioned, we're three doors down from Social Security. So our address is 198 Columbia Road in Hanover. We're right off one of the main roads there, right up the street from the Hanover Mall and off the exit for exit three in two different places. We're kind of in between the two exits. So people can come in at any time. We're there from nine to five. And then in terms of getting in touch with me, my website is S is in senior, H is in health, I is in insurance, S-H-I advisors, A-D-V-I-S-O-R-S dot com. And they can make appointments with me there. They can set up calls. They can see all the different services that we offer. There's a little piece about me and all the products. There's an education piece on Medicare and Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplement and prescription drug plans. So my contact info is there, emails, phone numbers, contact us. So that's the best way to get in touch with us. we're always looking to talk to people. Even though we have the location in Hanover, Mass, and Mass is our home state, we have 19 different states that we're licensed in and that we have clients in. So this is something that we can do way outside Massachusetts. We're in pretty much every New England state. lot of the Southern states where there's warm weather and older people migrate to, and then on the West Coast as well, we're... It's warmer in this nice weather. So yeah, we're always looking to assist people in any way that we can. There is no cost to our services. We get paid by the carriers. So, you know, there's no fee. So if they have questions, concerns, they need some help. You know, we're always there and available to help people.
Chad
David, that's great guys. heard it. If you're out there and you're listening and you're trying to, trying to think about, know, you have questions, you just, you know, no obligation. You just want to kind of go through some questions with David and his team and really understand, Medicare and your options and this, you know, what a great resource to have to be able to call and set appointment up and, and, and, go through and, and ask the questions you have a real life person that you can talk to. So. David, thank you so much for being on the show today. You're great. You've been great, and I've really enjoyed our time together. So thank you very much.
David Dupuy Jr
My pleasure and thank you for having me. I really appreciate the opportunity to kind of talk a little bit about our industry and our business. So thank you for having me and I hope people find some value in it.
Chad
Great. Thanks guys. I'm Chad Paris with Process Over Pressure, stoneflyconsulting.com. Thank you. That was good, David. That was great. No, was awesome. Yeah, good. And so when we get done, you'll get, I'll give you the raw footage and you can use it however you want to, advertisement, things like that in your area. I always try to make these where they're like a nice gift to you to be able to use. I think there's some content that...
David Dupuy Jr
Thanks. Yeah, nice easy conversation. I appreciate it.
Chad
You know, we talked about how the ease to getting to you and leverage some of that as we were listening. thought, that's just be great for you to, use up there to, leverage people to hear like, you know, they just don't know, right? For advertisement, things like that. hopefully, hopefully it'll drive some more traffic in your doors and people to come. So.
David Dupuy Jr
Yeah.
David Dupuy Jr
No, I appreciate it. I hope it will too. I think it will. And it's always good to put the info out. I'm going to have a media page. I've been on the radio a couple of times. This will be like my fifth of six podcasts. So just getting all the media out there is something that I'm going to make sure that I'm doing more consciously. I don't do a lot of content or posting on the social media sites.
Chad
Absolutely.
Chad
Yeah.
David Dupuy Jr
Only because I've been so busy I haven't had A, the time and then, you know, and like you and I had talked about, like I'm still trying to build all my back office processes just to make sure it's smooth. My 20 years of sales has me strong at sales and presentations and relationships, but I'm not the world's best CRM guy and never have been.
Chad
Yeah.
David Dupuy Jr
tracking everything, so definitely need to get that just a little tighter.
Chad
Yeah, understood. Did you, I sent over, did I send you, I sent you over some things you had asked about. Did you get that from me?
David Dupuy Jr
I don't know, only because I've been...
Chad
This was the communi... I sent over, you had asked when we first talked about some communication command center.
David Dupuy Jr
busy this week.
David Dupuy Jr
Yeah. Yeah, let me see.
Chad
And I sent you an email kind of what some things that you're dealing with.
David Dupuy Jr
When'd you when'd you sell the send the information like I got a bunch of reminders Here's what snacks
Chad
You know what, I'll, let me see here. If not, I'll send it to you again.
David Dupuy Jr
Yeah, that'd be great.
Chad
We talked. Let's see here. David, I'm going to send it to you right now. When you and I talked first time, you had said you were looking like running multiple brands. Your inbox doesn't know that. And so you were wanting some way to organize and that kind of stuff. That was one of the things that I think you had. It's kind of a, and so what I did is I just created a little proposal to you.
David Dupuy Jr
Yep.
David Dupuy Jr
Yes, send it to me. I don't know why I can't see it on or at least I see I have your email plugged in process over podcast, Riverside link, your book 24 hours away. Great connection. Here's what's next.
Chad
me see if I can pull off this.
David Dupuy Jr
I don't see...
Chad
I this is the one right here. gonna send it to you. I don't, maybe, I thought I sent it, but I could have, maybe I didn't.
Chad
I'm going send it to you now so you have it. But take a look at it. It basically was just based off of what you had told me. What I did is I just tried to just took what you said and kind of created a mapping of some things that you could look at. Like one of the things that I had on here was, you said, you know, like here's what you're dealing with today. Inbound across multiple emails, phones, and texts. That was one of the things you said that you were dealing with.
David Dupuy Jr
All right, cool.
Chad
And so what does it cost you? You said brain space, loss of sorting, not selling. You're spending time doing that. No reliable way to separate prospects from service. New leads treated the same existing clients, downline agents working without visibility, and then manual flow up. That depends on memory. And so I just, I worked it around that to create something for you to look at, to ponder on.
David Dupuy Jr
All right. No, this is good.
Chad
And then you, you look at it and if, you know, if I could ever help you, David, I certainly want to, um, if there's something on here that's like, Hey, I don't like this, but can you change this or what about this? This is, this is a working document. It does not have to be written install. I want to make sure that it's a process that works for you and in your, in your, in what you're trying to do. And so if you see something there, you may have, don't want to start with this, but I want to start with this. Let me know. And I can always put together some. some tools or whatever to help with that.
David Dupuy Jr
No, this is good stuff. I appreciate it. I will take a look at it because I did get it. I just got it now. I hadn't seen it before. That's not to say you didn't send it, but I will take a look at it as well. And if I have any questions, then I will absolutely.
Chad
Did you get it?
Chad
Okay.
Chad
Yeah. Look at it. See if it's a, you know, if there's some things, if this even addresses the needs, if it doesn't say, you missed this on the mark. This is not right. I need this, this, this. I'm happy to, to, get on a call or whatever, just to say, Hey, here's what you got this right. But I'm dealing with this, like whatever the pain point is, that's what we want to make sure we address. want to, I want to, we want to give you more time back to do the things. Not having to spend all time doing all that stuff.
David Dupuy Jr
Yeah.
David Dupuy Jr
Yeah, no, I appreciate it. that's exactly, well, since the last time we talked, you know, I might have an opportunity to expand the business through acquisition and do double it or triple it even. So this stuff now becomes more of a priority. So let me take a look at it and...
Chad
Yeah.
David Dupuy Jr
Yeah, if I have any questions, I'll let you know.
Chad
Yeah, David, that's great, man. Appreciate you. Thank you so much and you have a great week.
David Dupuy Jr
All right. You as well, Chad, and I appreciate the opportunity, and we'll talk to you later. All right. Thanks for your time. Take care. Bye.
Chad
Okay, thank you. Bye bye.
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