By looking beyond the sticker price of your advisor you can create a chain of positive impacts that radiate throughout your business for years to come. (Photo: Shutterstock)
When business owners start searching for benefits brokers, many are (rightfully) focused on cost. They see their health care costs rising every year with no improvement in the quality of their benefits, and, desperate to save money, they decide to work with a broker who charges less for their services than competing advisors. This decision may seem financially wise in the short-term, but over time, this choice can result in missed opportunities to save money.
If you want to achieve significant savings on your benefits plan, here's why you should look beyond your advisor's sticker price:
More for your money
Benefits brokers are traditionally viewed as a necessity rather than an opportunity. Most business owners' interactions with brokers are limited, meeting with them only when it's time to renew their plan and signing yet another expensive contract.
Your advisor can offer you so much more than traditional brokers would have you believe. Rather than acting as a bare-bones middleman between you and your insurance company, a great advisor can work with you to provide:
- Employee education – Your advisor can help teach your employees how to use their benefits plant to maximize their quality of care while minimizing costs to them and you.
- Supply chain management – By analyzing the health care supply chain at every level, your advisor can find every available opportunity to create savings for you.
- Year-round support – Your interactions with a benefits advisor don't stop once your contract is renewed. Instead, they work with you throughout the year to adjust your plan based on the changes in your business.
A great benefits advisor may charge more than traditional brokers, but those costs will likely reflect the valuable services they offer.
Price vs. cost
Imagine that you find and decide to work with an advisor whose sticker price is four times as high as their competitors'. You elect to work with the more “expensive” advisor, while another company in your industry selects the “less expensive” broker. Your advisor gets to know your business inside and out, strategizing with your C-suite to identify your company's needs and examining the areas in which you may be overpaying for health care goods and services. They help you create direct savings, which are then funneled back into the company to help purchase new equipment and increase employee wages. Your production increases, and your employees (who are now paid more, receive better care, and feel valued by their employer) are happier at work, decreasing your turnover rates.
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