Jennifer Joye is a benefits producer at Watson Insurance Agency,which opened its doors in 1934. With offices in North and SouthCarolina, Watson employs over 70 associates who are committed tofurthering their education and continually adapting to new,innovative technologies.

Paul Wilson: How did you get your start inthe benefits industry?

I've know the family who owns Watson Insurance Agency for 20years now, and they said, “Come and work for us and see what youthink.”

I started just helping out and then grew into my current role.The end goal when they brought me on was always for me to become aproducer. They had a four- or five-year plan for me, but after theyhelped me learn a little bit, I was antsy to get out there andstart doing it on my own, so it only took me about two-and-a-halfyears to get fully on board with the job and start getting my bookof business built up.

PW: How can smaller brokers make it work inthe future?

I think smaller companies, especially in more rural areas, willsurvive. We've been lucky because we've figured out early thattechnology is something that we've got to embrace, if for no otherreason than that it makes everyone's lives easier at the end of theday. And we do anything we can to help make our clients' livesbetter. If you have a smaller client, there might not be an HRdepartment and they turn to you to do that. So if you can help givethem the tools they need, it makes it way easier on everybody.

PW: How do you keep up with the pace ofchange and help your clients do the same?

There's always a newer, better thing out there, but we say, “OK,what is the sweet spot for the size of companies we like to workwith?” We're not writing 1,000+ life companies, so some of thetools that they need are not the same as those needed by smallercompanies.

And we shop the market; I spent an entire year looking at asmany HR management systems, online enrollment options, and othertools as I could. The company we decided to work with is alsotrying to grow and change, so I tell them, “This is something I seethat's becoming a need. Let's try to implement this.” And they workwith us. Instead of constantly hopping around, we can grow with thecompany we picked.

PW: Your company recently moved into thewellness arena. How do you convince clients it's worth it and thenback it up with data and ROI?

It requires an investment to institute a wellness program, butwith small groups that can't afford to put a whole lot into it, welook at baby steps. Can they afford to pay for a gym membership?Little steps they can take until something actually locks in andthey say, “Hey, this is working for us, let's keep going.”

Depending on the group size, certain carriers or TPAs can alsohelp provide incentives. Because at the end of the day, you'regoing to have to incentivize employees to get them involved.

If you have a company that will give you claims data, then youcan say, “Look how many people are overweight, or are not gettingtheir annual physical. Unless you change the mentality of yourworkforce, this trend is going to continue.” You have to hit painpoints with the employer first.

The unfortunate thing on groups with less than 50 lives isyou're never going to get an ROI as long as you have guaranteedissue rates. But you can say, “How often are your employees out ofwork? How often are they taking PTO or sick days because they havea health issue?” You have to turn it around and say, “It's notgoing to save you dollars on your premium, but it might improveyour time and attendance.”

PW: Is it tougher in parts of the countrywhere obesity and smoking are more prevalent, or does it offer anopportunity?

It's all about education; you have to get in front of theemployees, and that's something we do with all of our clients. Wesay, “Look, this is your health and only you can make it better. Ifwe give you some things that will help, will you do it?” Andsometimes they say yes. Other times, there are people who justaren't going to change their mentality. And unfortunately, thereare a lot of those around here who just like their lifestyle theway it is … until something happens.

PW: What tools or strategies do you use toeffectively communicate with diverse workforces?

Unless the employer wants to force the employees to go a certainroute—everybody has to enroll online, or we're all going to dopaper—we give them options. I still run into people who have neverhad a computer and don't even have an email address. We still havethat in our area. So obviously, you can't say, “We're going to sendyou an email with your user name and a temporary password andyou're going to log in and elect your benefits.”

And to this day, some people just don't want to give up thatpiece of paper. So we say, “You know what? If that's what you want,then by all means. It's going to be a little bit different for youto keep track of everything, but if that's the way you want to go,then we can do that.” We try to make the HR person as comfortableas we can, because at the end of the day, they're the ones who aregoing to be chasing down the employees.

PW: Tell me about Lake Wylie Children'sCharity and your work there.

This is our 14th year and it all started when a local friend'sson was diagnosed with a brain tumor. We got together and raised$17,000 to help her pay her medical bills. We thought it was goingto be a one and done thing, but the community came back and say,“Hey, are y'all going to do this again?”

Over time, we've evolved. We started paying day-to-day livingexpenses for families whose income has been affected due to theirchild's critical illness or injury. Instead of picking one or twofamilies a year like we used to, we partner with Levin Children'sHospital here in Charlotte. They come to us and they say, “Thischild was recently in a car accident and she's paralyzed, but herroom is upstairs.” So we paid for a chair lift—an $11,000 expensethat family did not know they were going to be facing. That'ssomething that insurance isn't going to pay for. We try to helpwith those types of unexpected things.

PW: What are your favorite things aboutyour job?

I have met some of my best friends through this job. I've goneon vacation with them and attended their children's weddings.Working with people day to day, you learn about their families,about what goes on in their lives. It's a relationship business,and that's probably my favorite thing about this job: the peopleI've gained in my life.

PW: Finish this sentence: The key tosuccess in this industry going forward is…

Embracing change.