Planning for the future in the voluntary benefits area is more complicated than ever due to a confusing multiplicity of forces driving change—one of which is the movement toward customer-centric product delivery.

Think of how many products are now researched, purchased and even serviced via online customer-initiated transactions. Cars are now researched online and much of the mystery surrounding their pricing is gone. And many have observed that insurance and voluntary benefits lag this trend.

We fall back on shopworn statements like "we provide products that have to be sold; they're not bought." Yet more and more employers want a single enrollment platform for core benefits as well as voluntary options.

What do we do now to achieve the results both we and our underwriters want from voluntary? We must be proactive about enrollment conditions, analyze the employees as potential customers and plan communications.

Accenture tells us to move away from a product-centered model. They see products as being commodities from the customer's viewpoint, with service and personalized focus on the customer being much more important.

Think of how we structure enrollments. We target messages aimed at employees in a hierarchy based on general needs to specific. We make the enrollment process as simple as possible so employees can sign up in a matter of minutes. We center the enrollment discussion and educational tools on the employee and their needs.

Based on this, we don't seem to be as far behind the curve in the voluntary world as might be perceived. But we still have work to do. We'll continue to fine-tune our use of enrollment data to make our offers more relevant at the individual employee level. We'll find ways to use social media more effectively. We'll continue to focus on making the enrollment experience more engaging. In brief, our 2015 planning will succeed if we keep centered on the consumer and continue to touch the central needs of as many eligible employees as possible.

Instant Insights /

The age of the voluntary benefits customer

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