Marking a notable, new direction in its growth strategy, Senior Market Sales® (SMS), one of the industry’s premier insurance marketing organizations, has acquired Senior Savings Network, a rapidly growing national insurance agency and field marketing organization specializing in Medicare insurance.
“Founder and CEO Christopher Westfall has built Senior Savings Network into one of the most admired agencies in the industry for its revolutionary client acquisition strategies, demonstrating the power of marketing on social media and delivering insurance solutions to clients nationwide by phone, long before the pandemic forced agents to consider them,” said SMS President Jim Summers. “SMS is excited to welcome Chris and his team to the SMS family.”
Senior Savings Network includes a Medicare insurance agency based in South Carolina with dedicated employees and many external, independent agents serving thousands of clients nationwide with their Medicare needs. Inspired by his grandmother’s battle with an insurance company over hospital payments, Westfall, a law enforcement officer at the time, founded the company in 2008. His extensive library of direct-to-consumer educational videos on YouTube and word-of-mouth referrals have fueled explosive growth.
This partnership will increase Senior Savings Network’s capabilities by giving it direct access to the SMS platform, which includes propriety technology, proven marketing systems and a comprehensive product portfolio that includes health and asset preservation solutions from top insurance carriers. Combined with the increased back-end, logistical support, the acquisition also provides resources through SMS and its parent company, Alliant Insurance Services, ultimately leading to improved customer service and the ability to serve more seniors.
Westfall, who has partnered with SMS as an independent agent for more than five years, said that in looking for an acquisition partner, his primary goal was to align his company with an organization of the highest character that would help him grow his legacy of taking care of people and doing the right thing.
“Now I feel like we’ve finally found the right partner to grow and to take better care of our customers now and in the future,” said Westfall. “And it’s the company that supported us all along the way and that felt like family. I know without a shadow of doubt that being part of SMS will empower us to make an even greater impact on our employees’, our clients’ and our agents’ lives.”
Summers said the new partnership positions both companies to benefit from their collective expertise and resources, with Senior Savings Network continuing to operate under Westfall from its North Charleston, South Carolina, offices. Westfall also will continue to offer Medicare training to agents on how to sell Medicare Supplements by phone through MedicareAgentTraining.com.
SMS has more than 320 employees at its Omaha, Nebraska, headquarters, and its distribution network includes 65,000 independent insurance agents, 1,000 career agents, call centers, and a wholly owned Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) firm.