You’ve heard it before: The benefits broker’s role is goingextinct. From the health insurance marketplace to evolvingcompliance mandates, employers are looking not only for benefitsadministration, but for strategic guidance and more comprehensivebusiness solutions.

I see it differently. Where there is change, there isopportunity.

The small to mid-size businesses we talk to admit that they arestruggling to keep up with the broadening workload of benefitsenrollment and admin, payroll, and PPACA measurement. So perhaps morethan any other type of consultant, benefits brokers are in aposition to effect positive change for their clients — if they canchange their approach.

How do you do that? It requires thinking strategically about howto address three key pain points for all businesses: controllingcosts, creating efficiency, and mitigating compliancerisk.

The benefits broker’s role is not going extinct. Your clientsneed you more than ever. It’s time to capitalize on thatopportunity to help their businesses and yours.

Controlling costs goes beyond narrowing thenetwork

Historically, brokers have primarily focused on benefits.They’re conscientious of the plan components, the plan design, thecost of that design — and they excel in that area. But asbusinesses face mounting pressure to maximize profits, brokers canexpand their role by helping employers find options to controlcosts.

Brokers regularly suggest certain short-term fixes to employers’group health plans; self-funding techniques, telemedicineoptions, and narrowing the network certainly have their place. Butthere’s a big opportunity to go beyond business-as-usual and adviseemployers on how to reduce overall business costs.

Wages are one of the largest costs for employers, so payroll isa logical place to initiate long-term change. Taking action now toupdate benefits eligibility, improve labor costs with time andlabor management systems, and offer wellness programs could allhelp control costs down the road.

Dig deeper to find more room for improvement. Has the businessmaximized its pre-tax benefits accounts? Simple flexible spendingplans can offer savings for owners and employees. Is there anopportunity for commuter accounts? That could save an employer ontaxes. Pairing health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) with healthplans is a good option to control overall costs, as well.

Although the Cadillac tax was delayed, identifying a remediationstrategy should still be an immediate priority. Brokers can assesscurrent trends, make predictions and gradually enact multi-yearplans now to accommodate the changes coming in 2020.

For a broker, there is no barrier of entry to makerecommendations. Your clients look to you as the expert; it’smutually beneficial for you to act accordingly. And while yourprimary expertise may be HR, don’t be afraid to extend your huntfor savings to financial and retirement planning.

Creating efficiency with simple and inexpensivetechnology

When Zenefits burst on to the broker scene last year, it was amajor industry disruption. But it was also a much-needed wake-upcall, pushing agencies to do more.

Employers don’t just want benefits; they want technology thatmodernizes the HR function to the standard to which we’ve grownaccustomed in our personal lives. That means delivering easilyaccessible data, access to carriers, and a simple interface tomanage payroll, PPACA compliance, shifts and scheduling, and COBRA.

Brokers need to think outside the box — outside the benefits —about all the ways their agencies can facilitate data to driveclient efficiency. The good news is a plethora of options exists todo that.

A simple HR and benefits admin platform is an exampleof relatively inexpensive software that can elevate and automateday-to-day employee management functions. For example, given abroker’s involvement with new employees and program enrollment,this software could easily tie in to applicant tracking andincrease efficiency in the hiring process. When a candidate ishired, his benefits elections can be entered into the payrollsystem. If he were ever terminated, his coverage would endautomatically when his payroll check was canceled.

Why does that matter? Recently, I spoke with an HR manager whowas new to her company and auditing the benefits and HR processesfor its 1,000 employees. Her audit found more than $250,000 inoverpaid insurance premiums! That never would have happened with anHR platform, because the benefits payments would have instantlyended with payroll termination.

Besides preventing egregious errors, adopting HR and benefitsadministration software can save upwards of $11.50 per employee,per month. An employer’s cost for a basic system could run between$3 and $10 per employee, per month. Some brokers even carry thatcost for their clients, making it a true value-add solution.

HR departments are lean. If you have technology to manage andmaintain your processes, it makes a world of difference. Brokerscan create “stickiness” with clients outside of regular benefitsadmin if they focus on creating efficiencies or at least pointingtoward a platform to help clients help themselves.

Confronting compliance head-on adds value to a broker’sbusiness

Compliance concerns continue to mount for businesses. BetweenPPACA; ERISA and HIPAA for benefits; and the IRS, HHS, CMS, andpayroll taxes, maintaining compliance is becoming more difficultand more frustrating.

Again, although this is outside a broker’s typical “scope ofwork,” opportunity for leadership abounds. Here, an agency canbecome the compliance officer for its clients. Some agencies haveeven hired compliance attorneys to handle benefits questions andrelated issues.

Of course, hiring comes with a price, and not all agencies areequipped to take on that expense. But think creatively about how tobroaden your specialty. Perhaps there’s an option to partner withsomeone who could facilitate compliance management at a fraction ofthe cost.

One particular area of risk is employee classification. Misstepsin classifying 1099 versus W-2 personnel can be extremely costlyfor businesses, especially during incidents of workers’compensation claims. Brokers, with deep access to employee data andpolicies, can really make a difference in helping employersidentify and correct errors.

Ultimately, employers are longing for correct information.Brokers have become the most trusted advisor for compliance issues,even if they haven’t claimed that position. But if a broker willtake a stand and conquer compliance head-on, he can create greaterclient dependency on his agency.

The sky is the limit for the modern brokeragebusiness

You’ve heard it before: The benefits broker’s role is changing.That’s true, but more than ever, the broker is sitting at thecenter of the conversation. That should feel empowering. If you canopen your mind and your agency to the possibilities of the newmarket, you can expand your knowledge base and your serviceofferings. And you can prove your clients right when they refer toyou as a trusted business advisor.