As brokers quickly shift gears from open enrollment to selling season, now’s agreat time to take a step back and assess every client you met withto ensure your relationships are solid and none are at risk ofleaving. We all know that from now through late summer, producerswill be determined to acquire accounts from incumbents that didn’tdeliver great experiences during open enrollment.

Those that stand out will use technology as a lever and reallydifferentiate themselves by showing their compliance and human capital management (HCM) expertise.Nowadays, brokers are not only trusted advisors on all thingsHCM, but should also consider themselves the“hunter-gatherers” of resources, charged with bringing the bestsolutions to the table.

It’s more important than ever to provide your clients with thebest tools and resources to excel in HCM, while also managing yourown client acquisition costs. So how can you make sure you’rebringing clients the right mix of HCM technologies and expertisewhile keeping your costs in check?

The two most prominent ways benefits brokers expand their HCMofferings are:

1. Adding internal resources. This couldmean either hiring a producer with HCM knowledge, or partneringwith athird party to acquire their expertise.

2. Partnering with an organization.Specifically, one that brings HCM technology and expertise to thetable and provides revenue-sharing streams for your role in areferral.

Both options have pros and cons. Recommending a partner firm’stechnology adds an element of service and risk the broker wouldthen be responsible for taking on. Hiring producers can be toughwhen many firms are already struggling to find the right talent tobegin with. Further, hiring traditional producers from other firmsusually requires a minimum guaranteed salary before they’ll bringin a single piece of business. Then, you also need to consider thatthe average annual revenue per new client is usually low whencompared to the salary that new producer is paid.

According to business coach Kevin Trokey, when you consider the first-yearcosts associated with new business written by a typical producer,it can take anywhere from three-and-a-half to six years for atypical account to become profitable!

What’s the solution?

The traditional benefits broker may not be relevant for muchlonger. Firms that only focus on traditional benefits and don’ttouch on the broader technology conversation will be gobbled up byfirms that do. Brokers need to “un-think” their traditionalapproach to client acquisition. At the end of the day, it is theinnovative firms that will disrupt the market and the approach theytake around advising and consulting with clients in acost-effective way that will drive new revenue streams to help themgrow and evolve.

To continue to build trust and provide value for existingclients, be sure you’ve scheduled an open enrollment post-mortemmeeting to re-evaluate HCM strategies and discuss challenges andopportunities for growth. You want to get in front of your clientsquickly so you aren’t forgotten until next enrollment season.

Before that meeting, ask yourself if you can answer whether yourclients are dealing with any of the following situations:

• Key leadership changes in the C-suite

• Key personnel changes in HR, payroll, or benefits administration

• The potential of disruption through a merger oracquisition

• Looking for recommendations for an HR consultant

• Compliance concerns regarding FLSA, ACA reporting, audits

• Expansion to another state or international growth

• Big spike in hiring or recruiting

If you’re uncertain whether your clients are experiencing any ofthese situations, you may have been too caught up in the tacticalaspects of enrollment and failed to look at the broader businesslandscape that your clients are encountering. Mistakes like thatcan be costly.

A word to the wise: Always be on the look-out for triggers thatcan disrupt your client relationship and try to shake things up atyour next meeting. Instead of conducting a traditional debrief,discussing whether employees ID cards got there on time, make timefor conversations on overall strategy alignment and evolving clientneeds. Whether or not your firm currently has the capabilities toserve your clients’ growing needs, it’s better to identify thoseopportunities now than be caught off guard when your clientleaves.

Now’s the time that your clients are reevaluating yourperformance during open enrollment, so strike while the iron’shot! Quickly get in front of them to find ways to enhanceyour relationship and avoid being left behind.