A progressive approach

From ERISA to Section 89, managed care, ACA,private exchanges, and now repeal and replace, the health and benefitsindustry is one with a history of constant yet unpredictablelegislative and product innovation.

An ability to provide clients with a long-term strategic visionwhile executing on their very real short-term business prioritiesis critical in earning the right to act as their trustedadvisor.

Work to differentiate yourself and your firm with a passion forcreativity and reinventing the traditional approach of theinsurance industry. A progressive approach to designing,communicating and delivering benefit programs will allow you todeliver next generation products, services, and technology to yourclients and their employees.

Hire highly experienced employee benefits consultants andsubject matter experts in both core health and welfare andvoluntary employee benefits. Provide a holistic, value-basedapproach to your delivery of voluntary benefit programs. Theresults are programs that are value-based and truly complementaryto a client's core program.

And it always comes down to service. Build an environment thatbrings an uncompromising level of commitment to your clients andtheir employees. By doing so you will earn the privilege of servingthem today and tomorrow.

Peter Marcia, CEO, YouDecide

Curiosity wins business

I think today's brokers need to be curious. Regulationsaside, new vendors are entering the industry every day, and it's abroker's job to make sure he or she knows the key players toposition with clients. This is especially important whenconsidering a benefits administration vendor, which I would argueis one of the most important areas for a broker to understand inorder to stay relevant.

The benefits administration space is vast and getting morecompetitive. This is why it's important for brokers to stay curiousand analyze benefits administration vendors to find partners thatbest align with customers' needs.

To do this, I recommend brokers get a sense of clients'administrative pain points. That way, when analyzing vendors towork with, brokers can ask the hard questions to see what a vendoris capable of. While many systems appear similar on the surface,there are usually bigger differences in account management, billingcapabilities, decision support tools and a la carte servicesavailable. More and more, this curiosity in benefits administrationis translating to brokers providing a new consulting service forclients.

Kevin McNamara, senior enrollment specialist, TheStandard