From Cold Call to Contract: A 5-Step Process for Landing Large Doctor Groups

Large doctor groups represent significant revenue opportunities. A single 30-doctor orthopedic practice can generate more commission than dozens of small accounts. Yet many brokers avoid them, assuming they’re locked up with incumbent brokers or too complex to pursue. 

The reality? Most large groups have coverage gaps they don’t even know about. Their current broker may have gotten complacent. And the doctors themselves—despite buying individual disability insurance early in their careers—often have woefully inadequate protection as their incomes have grown. 

The brokers who land these accounts understand two things: how to get in the door, and what to say once they’re there. This guide covers both—from the handwritten note that gets opened to the coverage gap that closes the deal. 

Step 1: Know Who Actually Decides 

Half of all doctors are now employees of health systems or hospitals. They don’t have purchasing authority like in the old days. Before you invest time chasing a group, find out who actually makes benefits decisions. 

Your real targets depend on the practice structure. For physician-owned groups, look for the practice manager, office administrator, or managing partner. For larger groups with 20+ doctors, there’s often a CFO, HR director, or benefits committee involved. For employed doctors in health systems, you’re selling to the system’s HR and benefits team—not the doctors themselves. 

Research before you reach out. Check LinkedIn, the practice website, or simply call the front desk and ask: “Who handles your employee benefits decisions?” Write down the name. That’s your target. 

Don’t skip this step. Nothing wastes more time than pitching someone who can’t say yes. 

Step 2: Get Past the Gatekeeper 

Cold calls to doctor groups die at the front desk. This is well-known. Cold emails to practice managers rarely work either—most don’t publish their addresses, and their personalities make them ignore unsolicited outreach. The typical broker approach fails before it starts. 

What works: pattern interrupts that feel personal and offer immediate value. 

The Handwritten Note + Gift Card Approach 

Send a handwritten envelope. It stands out from the pile of junk mail and vendor pitches. Inside, include a brief note and a $50 DoorDash, Starbucks, or Subway gift card. 

The ask: a 15-minute Zoom call. Frame it as low-commitment: “It’s like a rep visit, without the rep.” 

Expect roughly 10-15% of mailings to result in scheduled Zooms. That may sound low, but compare it to cold call or cold email conversion rates for this audience—which approach zero. 

If you need to scale, services like Handwrytten.com produce realistic handwritten notes at volume. The cost per piece is higher than printed mail, but the response rate justifies it. 

Why This Works 

Practice managers are buried. They ignore anything that looks like a sales pitch. A gift card signals you respect their time and gives them a tangible reason to engage. The low-commitment Zoom lets them vet you before involving doctors. 

Your note should include one specific question they probably can’t answer. This creates curiosity. For ideas on crafting these questions, see our guide on starting conversations with doctors about specialized disability insurance. Example: “I’d love to ask how your current disability policy handles partner income if an owner becomes disabled.” 

Don’t pitch your product in the note. Pitch the conversation. 

Step 3: Use the Virtual Call to Earn the In-Person 

The Zoom call isn’t where you close. It’s where you qualify and intrigue. 

Practice managers decide whether your topic deserves doctor attention. Your job in 15 minutes: surface one or two coverage gaps that make them say, “The doctors need to hear this.” 

What to Cover in 15 Minutes 

Start by asking about their current disability coverage. Do they have group LTD? Do the doctors carry individual policies? Most groups have some combination, but few have evaluated how these pieces work together. 

Then ask one pointed question about policy language. Choose based on the group’s structure: 

For groups with owner-doctors: “Does your LTD policy offset ownership income? Many policies reduce benefits by any income received while disabled—including K-1 distributions that partners receive whether they work or not. I’ve seen $15,000 monthly benefits reduced to $100.” 

For surgical or procedural specialties: “How does your policy define disability? ‘Own occupation’ sounds protective, but it lacks specificity. If a surgeon can’t operate but could theoretically work as a consultant, some policies consider that ‘not disabled.'” 

For any group: “Is there ‘maximum capacity’ language that lets the carrier assume a disabled doctor could work more hours and reduce benefits accordingly?” 

Briefly explain why this matters using real numbers. Then request an in-person follow-up to walk through their specific policy. 

The Conversion 

If you’ve surfaced a real problem on a virtual call, practice managers will typically want the doctors to hear about it. The key is demonstrating genuine risk—not making a sales pitch. 

Insist that doctors attend the in-person. This is where decisions happen. The practice manager can determine whether the topic is worth the doctors’ time—that’s what the Zoom accomplished. Now you need the decision-makers in the room. 

Critical: Don’t present your solution on the call. Create the problem; solve it in person. 

Step 4: Bring Lunch and Bring Proof 

The in-person meeting is your real sales call. And yes, you’re buying lunch. 

This is expected. Doctors and staff have almost no free time. Reimbursement pressures mean every minute is scheduled with patients. Lunch is the only opening. They’re not going to give up that time unless you feed them. It’s what they expect—treat it as a cost of doing business with this market. 

Request Documents in Advance 

Ask the practice manager to send you the current LTD certificate, summary plan description, and any riders before the meeting. Review them thoroughly. If they can’t provide documents ahead of time, bring a checklist of questions to gather the information live. 

The Gap Analysis: What to Look For 

Ownership income offsets. Many LTD policies reduce benefits by income received while disabled. For doctor-owners, this includes K-1 distributions and profit-sharing they receive regardless of whether they work. A partner expecting $15,000 per month could receive $100. 

Maximum capacity language. Some policies let the carrier assume the doctor could work more hours than they currently do and reduce benefits accordingly. This highly subjective standard puts the insurance company in control of determining disability. 

Definition of disability. “Own occupation” sounds protective but lacks specificity. A CPT-code based definition protects doctors who can’t perform their actual procedures—a surgeon who can’t operate is disabled, even if they could theoretically see patients in a clinic. 

Mental health and substance abuse limits. Most group contracts use lifetime limitations to control costs—24 months total, ever. Per-occurrence provisions are far more protective. If a doctor recovers from burnout but relapses a year later, a per-occurrence policy provides another 24 months of benefits. 

Self-reported symptom exclusions. Carpal tunnel, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, migraines—conditions common among doctors—are often excluded or limited because they rely on patient-reported symptoms. These exclusions can eliminate coverage for some of the most likely disability scenarios. 

Part-time work requirements. Some policies terminate benefits if the claimant refuses to work part-time or accept modified duties. This forces disabled doctors to choose between partial work they may not be able to sustain and losing benefits entirely. 

For a deeper dive on valuable policy features, see our overview of optional disability insurance benefits for doctors. 

Present Findings Visually 

Create a one-page summary: “Here’s what your policy says. Here’s what could happen.” Use a side-by-side comparison of their current policy versus your proposed solution. Translate policy language into dollar amounts. 

Doctors are skeptical of insurance carriers—they’ve been burned before. They also like to see fine print. Let the language in their own policy speak for itself. Show them the clause; explain the consequence. This builds credibility faster than any sales pitch. 

Step 5: Navigate the Committee and Close 

Large groups rarely decide on the spot. Expect a committee review or partnership vote. Your job now is to make that process as easy as possible while staying top-of-mind. 

Identify All Stakeholders 

Map out who influences the decision: managing partner, practice administrator, HR lead, CFO. Each has different concerns. Administrators care about cost and implementation simplicity. Doctor-owners care about personal protection, especially for ownership income. HR cares about employee communication and enrollment logistics. 

The managing partner often has informal veto power. Make sure they’re bought in before the formal vote. For high-earning specialists, you may also want to discuss high limits disability insurance as an additional layer of protection. 

Reduce Friction 

Offer to present directly to the full partnership or physician meeting. Provide ready-made enrollment materials and employee communications. Handle as much administrative work as possible. The easier you make implementation, the fewer objections you’ll face. 

Create Urgency Without Pressure 

Reference open enrollment windows, rate lock deadlines, or underwriting timelines. “If we start the process now, we can have this in place before Q1” gives them a reason to act without feeling pushed. 

Follow Up With Value 

Large groups move slowly. Stay visible between conversations—but don’t just ask “Any update?” Each touchpoint should add information: share a relevant article, benchmarking data, or a case study about a similar practice. Position yourself as a resource, not a pest. 

The Bigger Picture: Disability as a Door Opener 

Here’s something experienced brokers know: disability insurance is often the easiest way into a doctor group—and the hardest product for incumbent brokers to defend. 

Most benefits brokers treat LTD as a commodity. They don’t understand the nuances of doctor compensation, ownership structures, or procedural definitions of disability. When you walk in with specialized knowledge and uncover gaps they missed, you immediately differentiate yourself. 

Once you’ve earned trust by solving a real problem with disability coverage, you’re positioned to discuss the group’s entire benefits package. Think of specialized disability insurance as a “Trojan horse”—it gets you in the door, builds credibility, and opens conversations about medical, dental, life, and other lines. 

The practice manager who saw you expose a $150,000 coverage gap is far more likely to take your call when you want to discuss their health plan renewal. 

Start This Week 

Landing large doctor groups requires persistence, specificity, and a system. The brokers who win these accounts get in the door with pattern interrupts, earn in-person meetings by surfacing problems, and close by proving—with the group’s own policy language—that they can solve those problems. 

Pick one target group today. Research their structure and identify the decision-maker. Craft your opening question. Send the note. 

The groups with coverage gaps aren’t going to find themselves.