This month's topic is the life of the enroller.

For those of us who sit in nice offices, even those of us who travel much of the time, our world is reasonably predictable. We spend our time in familiar office environments. When we travel, we visit people who escort us into well-appointed offices or conference rooms where we often know the people we are meeting.

The life of the enroller is very different. One of our enrollment team members, Ralph Jenkins, was new to both our team and to full-time enrolling in 2016. At year-end, he sent a note to our enrollment manager saying his biggest challenge was that “you are a stranger in every city and with every employer location you visit.”

Enrollers travel constantly, and demand for their expertise is especially high during the fourth quarter. Traveling to unknown cities to meet with strangers nearly every day for almost three months was difficult for Ralph.

Back in our comfortable offices, it's pretty easy for us to plan our travel. Most of us outside the enrollment teams can carefully schedule our travel plans. But Ralph found that he could be in an airport on the way to, say, Charleston, when he'd get a call telling him the Charleston meetings were being rescheduled and we were sending him to Little Rock instead. From the enroller's perspective, this is common in the fourth quarter.

The enroller's life is a constant challenge. First, they travel to cities and towns they've never visited. Then, they have to trust map apps to find their way to employer locations. Then they must introduce themselves to strangers and are escorted into rooms where enrollments will be conducted.

Then their real work begins, creating their enrollment environment by making sure any enrollment materials, audio visuals and other facility arrangements are ready. They have to stick to a rigid schedule that's often out of their control. If the employer wants group meetings, for example, they are often conducting enrollments alongside medical benefit enrollments led by others who may or may not stick to their time schedule.

They have to figure out how to dress appropriately for each employer's situation. While business or business casual dress is nearly always appropriate, in some environments, the enroller must dress for the occasion. For example, I attended enrollments in a North Carolina furniture factory where the enroller was in a work area that required safety gear, including a dust mask. On another occasion, our enrollers were working in a hospital and had to conduct enrollment meetings in a small room next to the morgue.

So the next time you think you're having a tough day traveling, when an airline is a bit behind and you're frustrated, think about Ralph and all of his fellow enrollers. They're probably changing from a Charleston–bound plane to one going to Little Rock, figuring out how to find an employer for their 6 a.m. enrollment meetings (while we debate whether or not to hit the hotel fitness room at 6:30 the next morning). They are looking forward to meeting strangers with a smile, and being the positive face of the benefit brokers and insurers they represent at one meeting after another.

So let's give kudos to Ralph and all of his fellow enrollers and take time to thank them for the hard work they put in, traveling to new cities, meeting with strangers and making it one of the most important, positive experiences that any of the people they meet will have—offering a link to family and personal financial security.

Instant Insights /

Hi, my name is Ralph

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