Like Bill Murray inGroundhog Day, we repeat the past as we plan enrollments, and it iseasy to fall into a rut. (Photo: Shutterstock)

The most memorable image from the movie ”Groundhog Day” is BillMurray waking up to his alarm every morning at 6:00, realizing thathe is to spend another day doing the same thing.

In the voluntary benefits world, we have our own Groundhog Day:fall enrollment. We repeat the past as we plan enrollments, and itis easy to fall into a rut. If that happens, we're unlikely to makethe most of our opportunities.

Like Bill Murray in the film, we need to think through how wecan improve each aspect of our planning to build greatersuccess.

Related: Applying Newton's laws of motion to annualenrollment

Marty Traynor is anOmaha-based consultant in the benefits field.

Let's walk through the steps it takes to plan appropriately forthe upcoming season. This will help you manage your resources inall areas: marketing communications, case management, systemsupport, training and enrollment.

1. Review your employer customers. For eachemployer, review whether locations have changed, any significantchanges in workplace demographics, and the number of employees bylocation. Make sure you allow for changes as you plan.

2. Review your experience from the prior year.Were there any problems during the enrollment that need to beaddressed? Make sure you review any post-enrollment surveys. Werethe results consistent with your expectations? If not, analyze thereasons for the shortfall.

3. Study the products to be enrolled. Are therenew products this year? Have the insurance companies' productschanged? Any changes in this area will require new enrollmentprocesses and additional pre-enrollment training.

4. Review the enrollment system. Has the systemchanged during the past year? Will your enrollment team needhardware?

5. Review the enrollment meetings your team willconduct. Make sure to conduct a dialogue with the employerif new products or systems are being introduced. An employer maywish to have only call center support from your team, while thebest enrollment scenario would be on-location meetings. Makerecommendations and don't settle. For example, in-person one-on-onemeetings may be appropriate for complicated products or newsystems, whereas simple products and minor changes may be besthandled through group meetings.

6. Plan your communication strategy. In aperfect world, you could create a communication strategy that wouldbe effective for all of your customers. Unfortunately, customerswill offer widely varying product mixes and will be using multiplesystems. During the summer, your marketing team will need to createcampaign material that is flexible enough to tailor thecommunication plan to the employer. You need to know how theemployer prefers to communicate with employees about benefits,using their systems and processes as much as possible.

Even though many employees prefer digital communications, it'salways a good idea to supplement with traditional paper. Employeedemographics also play a significant role. In many cases, multiplelanguages need to be supported.

The final item to consider is allocation of resources tomaximize results. Evaluate each opportunity for its probableprofitability, its future growth opportunity, and itscomplexity.

Unlike Bill Murray, we do not get to perfect our process throughunlimited chances. We need to use our time wisely this summer whileplanning for the fall enrollment season.