A Competitive Edge Gets Your Foot
In The Worksite Door
BY
How can voluntary benefits advisors give themselves an edge that sets them apart from the competition and gets their foot in the worksite door?
Its not as easy as it used to be, professionals in the field acknowledge, but they say the basic principles are the same as for any sales rep: being a good listener and learning your products well.
"When I started in the 1970s, there were only one or two worksite carriers," says Warren Benoit, president, Benoit & Associates, New Orleans. "Now with long term care, critical illness, Medigap coverage and so on, a good agent who is not on top of the game will be passed by."
Top producers in worksites have taken a niche based on a few solid products they know thoroughly and then expanded on, according to Benoit.
Also, they have learned the worksite business thoroughly. They know "every company, every competitor and every product," he says.
Debra Waldman, president of Waldman Insurance Services, San Clemente, Calif., says competing for worksite business can be a challenge. "Basically, there are a few major carriers, and we all have the same ones," she notes.
She believes the key to standing out is for producers to be deeply involved with their accounts by offering outstanding service.
"When someone pays a premium for a year and all of a sudden has a claim, you dont ignore them," Waldman says. "Take care of that claim."
When a check to pay an insurance claim arrives, the producer should deliver it personallyand promptly, she says.
Staying competitive also means being sure employees stick with the products you sell them, Waldman adds. With that in mind, she always makes sure she doesnt oversell an employee. As a rule of thumb, an employees weekly premiums shouldnt exceed an hours pay, she advises.
"If you sell them too much insurance, theyll cancel. And they wont cancel just one policy; theyll cancel the whole batch," she warns.
To keep a competitive edge, "do something that will set you apart," advises Heather Minkler, chief executive and chief operating officer of Clark-Mortenson Agency, Keene, N.H.
She thinks the best way to do that is through the advice you give to clients and your willingness to spend time with them.
"Become a business advisor and partner who is helping them to help themselves," Minkler advises.
For instance, as an extra service to employers, Minklers company offers compliance advice to small employers human resources departments. The advisors help the companies develop policies for their employment manuals to help them meet regulations governing equal employment, occupational safety, disabilities or family leave.
When selling to larger employers, technology can give an agent an edge.
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, Springfield, Mass., provides its worksite disability insurance agents with a completely paperless enrollment system. That dramatically has increased its agents closing rates, says John Brady, general sales manager of the companys disability sales office.
"Human resources managers and their companies dont have a lot of time for enrollments," Brady says.
