NASHVILLE, Tenn. –Keynote speaker Alan Katz opened this year's Benefits Selling Expo with a look at how brokers can be prepared for the shifting landscape and how they can improve their bottom line.

With health care reform looming, change in the benefits industry is inevitable, Katz says, and the most successful brokers are those who are ready. Sure, there's talk about repealing or cutting funds for the Affordable Care Act, but Katz doesn't expect either of those to happen. He instead called for brokers to be prepared, and that starts with looking at where you are and determining where you want to be.

Katz recently interviewed 200 insurance agents in six states who work with individual, small-group and senior medical to find out how they achieved success, specifically because products in those markets are so heavily regulated that brokers can't rely on promotions to close sales.