With the landscape of the benefits world constantly shifting,brokers need a competitive advantage to secure a solid financialfuture. There are many new challenges faced by brokers, which canbe addressed by employing innovative strategies that will enablethem to remain competitive, to differentiate themselves, and tothrive.

The first step in overcoming barriers is identifying the mostpressing challenges facing brokers today. Traditional brokersexperience increased competition on multiple fronts. Theimplementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Acthas presented challenges and new companies such as Zenefits, whoare redefining what it means to broker benefits, are also athreat.

Brokers face time constraints. It's difficult to balanceenrollment support for existing clients with attracting additionalclients. However, in order to become broker of record, clientsexpect a high level of support. In fact, according to a 2014 BrokerServices Survey, the top factor leading an employer to switchbrokers is failure to “provide prompt and effective service oranswer questions in a timely fashion.” Nearly all employers (95percent) expect brokers to provide communication to help employeesmake benefit decisions and understand the benefits provided, yet 40percent of employers are unsatisfied with their broker when itcomes to meeting this expectation.