All market segments have room to grow, both in terms of account-level penetration, aswell as additional products and increased participation at theemployee level. Unless you are one of the largest nationalbrokerage/consulting houses, any segment can provide opportunityfar into the future. Still, that doesn't mean that each segmentwill be equally easy to exploit and master. Look at the chart belowto see a few key characteristics by account size.

The markets in the middle (100 to 2,500 lives)

These segments are the most heavily sold, comparing thepercentage of overall sales to the percentage of people employed.They also employ fewer people than either of the other groups(smaller or larger markets). On an employer basis, they representless than 2 percent of all U.S. businesses. The market is small (interms of accounts), but sales have been much stronger than in theother two groups (compared to the number of employees). One shouldexpect competition at the account level to be robust, withsignificant capabilities at the employee-engagement level.Brokers in this space need to be excellent at both business- andconsumer-level selling.

The smaller markets (1 through 99 lives)

These segments are very different than the middle group.Under-penetration is the key from these statistics, while theability to serve this market profitably is the largest obstacle.For those who can attack this market, account-level penetration isstrikingly low, and employee sales are the lowest in comparison tothe number of employees in that group. These numbers aredrastically different than the other two groups, making the keyshere very distinct. This group is not highly competitive either atthe account or individual employee level. Of course, this massiveopportunity is tempered by the difficulty in reaching these massesin a cost-effective way.

The larger market (2,501 and over)

The jumbo cases represent 39 percent of all employees and 40percent of all 2014 sales. In other words, employee-level sales areat least average for the industry. Most striking is that there areso few employers in the space, and each one represents greatpotential. The account-level competition should be expected to befierce.

Again, all segments still have room for growth. The middlemarket is characterized by strong business and consumer-levelselling challenges, whereas the small market is known for thedifficulty posed by the financial constraints of serving smallemployers. The large market is defined by fierce accountcompetition. Know your segment, know the numbers, and hone yourskills accordingly.