When Carrie Sansom reached her 10th Annual Enrollment Period (AEP), she began feeling the need for change.
As a successful Medicare agent with over a decade of experience, she had built a large and loyal client base in Texas. But what she didn’t realize was that the trust and relationships she had cultivated represented a valuable asset—a book of business she could sell.
In this interview, Carrie shares her journey of discovering this possibility, navigating the process, and handing over her business to our team.
John: Hi Carrie, how are you?
Carrie: I’m good.
John: So, Carrie reached out to us, and we’d never met before. She found us somehow and reached out to me, saying, “Hey, I’m ready to sell my book. What does this look like?” We had a lot to talk about, being fellow believers, besides just insurance. You might not think it happened fast, but it really did.
You’ve got a big book with a lot of customers, all in Texas. Not only do you have quite a number of customers, but you also have a lot of carriers. Some of those carriers—like one regional one in particular—weren’t even ones we were appointed with. So, for as big as your book is and with as many carriers as you had, making this happen quickly was a real challenge. But we did it. It’s been a work in progress, hasn’t it?
Carrie: Y’all did an awesome job.
John: Well, you too. You too. It took all of us—Shannon and Jenny, especially. Those two are great, but it really takes the whole team. Your book, in particular, was a big one with lots of carriers. Just to give people listening some context, we usually need to buy books by the middle of August because Luke’s team, who handles all the customers we bring in, starts panicking around that time. They’re thinking, “How are we going to take care of what we already have, all the ANOC letters, and manage an additional 800 customers like Carrie’s?” It’s a lot to juggle, but it’s working out fine.
So, Carrie, you’re not retiring. You’re young! Most of the people we buy books from are in their 60s or 70s and ready to retire. What led you to think, “I’m going to turn the page and go in another direction?"
Carrie: I have colleagues in their 80s who still love doing this. They don’t even need the money—they’ve just been in insurance for so long. I respect that, but I just knew. This would have been my 12th AEP. I still have a toe in it, though.
John: It’s a big toe, by the way!
Carrie: When it was my 10th AEP, I just knew. I felt the change coming, though I didn’t know when. It’s been a transition for me ever since, waiting on God’s timing. I had no idea I could sell my book of business. I’d never heard of that.
John: I’m glad you brought that up. When you first reached out, you didn’t realize you had this huge asset, did you? That you could sell it and someone would pay you a lot of money for it?
Carrie: I really didn’t. I thought I was just going to lay it down somehow, extract myself from it, and walk away. Then I grabbed my phone, started researching, and one thing led to another. I found New Horizons.
The cool thing about you guys is that once I was led to your page, I didn’t look anywhere else. I was reading, and I just had total peace about it. I knew this was the place.
Y’all have a process, and even the tedious parts—like giving you access to the portals—weren’t a big deal. Going through the offer was easy. The hardest part for me has been writing the letter to my clients, bracing myself for them to get it. Only about a third of them have received it so far. More might be arriving today or later this week.
Letting go has been the hardest part.
It’s not the people, necessarily, but sometimes when people reach out, I think, “Oh, I can let go. I’m so grateful to hand this case over to someone else.” But then with others, I catch myself wanting to stay involved. I have to remind myself I can’t do that—it defeats the purpose.
John: That’s understandable. Let me jump in here. This whole thing is a process. In Carrie’s case, it was a bit more involved because of the number of carriers, including a couple we weren’t already appointed with. But the most important part is the handoff—the transition of letting all of your customers know that you’re moving on to another chapter in your life and that you’ve picked us to serve them going forward.
We’re careful with that because, yes, we’re buying a book and commissions, but what we’re really buying is the trust you’ve built with your clients over the years. That trust is the real value. Your clients trust you, care about you, and know you care about them. Now you’re saying, “I’m handing this trust off to these guys.” We want to steward that investment well, to care for your clients and serve them to the best of our ability. That’s what this transition is all about—it’s not haphazard.
Carrie, thank you so much for taking the time.
Carrie: Of course! Thank you, John!
Carrie’s journey shows how selling a Medicare book of business doesn’t have to mean retirement—it can simply be a transition to a new chapter. Her experience highlights the importance of trust, stewardship, and finding the right partner to ensure clients are cared for.
If you’re considering selling your book of business, Carrie’s story is a testament to how seamless the process can be.
Other interviews in this series:
Selling Your Medicare Book of Business: An Interview with Steve Cooke