Employee Benefits Brokers Must Become More Consumer Oriented

To stay competitive, employee benefits brokers need to reinvent themselves.

In order to stay relevant, and thus, in business employee benefits brokers are being forced to change the way they do business. The way it used to work, employers would call up a benefits broker and ask what plans were available for their size and type of company.  The broker, being the middle man, would then submit 4 or 5 proposals from different insurance carriers to the employer. The employer would then choose a plan that worked best for his company.  The broker would write up the order and the insurer would cut a commission check to the broker. It worked that way for years.

However, things have changed since Obamacare (Affordable Care Act – ACA) came along.

Since the introduction of ACA we’ve seen the development of insurance exchanges. Employers now can cut out the middleman and access these exchanges themselves. It could be argued that insurance benefits brokers are out of a job. But we think they can still provide a valuable service if they are willing to keep up with the changing business climate.

Primarily, employee benefits brokers need to remain relevant by becoming more consumer-centric. They must prove themselves valuable to employers by helping them to interact with the insurance exchanges. They must become skilled at consultation and advising. They must be able to field questions and concerns such as: I had a baby, how does that affect my health plan?” or “I was just in an accident, I need to go on disability, what are my benefits?”  The insurance exchanges can’t answer those questions.

Insurance exchanges can’t give the personal assistance and customer service that an employee benefits broker can, and for that reason, the human reason, there will always be a place for the broker who can provide knowledge and exceptional service above and beyond just selling policies.

This consumer-centric model is actually going to be good for benefits brokers because it will create a “sticky” relationship with the employers they serve. If you provide exceptional service to a company, they will have no reason to look elsewhere. If you are being consultative and providing a service that employers need and employees benefit from, your clients will remain faithful. Your relationship will be based on customer service, not just on the lowest available price.

There is enough confusion around ACA without meployers having to go it alone and let computer algorithms work out what would be best for their company. Younger workers are more skilled and more conversant with online information, but there will always be a place for the value-added human touch.

AbleBridge and HR Technology Advisors have tools to help today’s employee benefits brokers to reinvent themselves to take advantage of this new customer-centric model. www.AbleBridge.com/insurance

Contact AbleBridge for more information. 877-600-2253

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