There have long been two general categories of brokers in thebenefits industry. Employee benefit brokers have traditionallyfocused on advising employers on their health care plan and otheremployer-paid programs, while voluntary brokers have focused onpayroll-deducted benefits. The product portfolio for these twobroker groups was once so distinct that they might both haveadvised the same client because of little to no competition betweenthem.

Over time, however, the increased demand for voluntary programsby employers and employees has blurred the lines between these twobroker groups, as employee benefit brokers expand their portfolioin response to the demand. In fact, more than three-quarters ofemployee benefit brokers participating in the 2017Eastbridge/BenefitsPRO Broker Survey rated competition forvoluntary offerings from “average” to “high.” This is in starkcontrast to the days when this group had little or no interest inselling voluntary.

Take the evolution in voluntary life insurance, for example. Fifteenyears ago, relatively few voluntary brokers sold term life, stayingtrue to their mainstay of selling whole/universal life programs.Employee benefit brokers, on the other hand, were making voluntaryterm their “go-to” product (as a buy-up) ahead of dental for notonly meeting employer demands, but as a way to gain experience inselling voluntary.

Today, employee benefit brokers and voluntary brokers list fourof the same products (critical illness, accident, term lifeand short-term disability) among their top fivemost commonly sold products, though in a slightly different order(see chart below). Term life now ranks even higher thanwhole/universal for voluntary brokers, and accident and criticalillness rank higher than term and dental for employee benefitbrokers.

With everyone's “bag” now filled with similar products, it ishard to find any meaningful differentiation among brokers usingtheir portfolio alone. So how can you stand out among current andprospective clients?

Consider focusing more on non-product issues like betteraligning client needs during carrier selection or helping designmore effective enrollment and/or administrative solutions. For manyproducers, this may mean breaking tradition, venturing outside thebox, and going beyond a one-carrier solution.