Advice button “What advice would you offer young (or not-so-young) brokers? What are the biggest mistakes/faux pas you see and hear about in the broker community?”

No substitute for experience

The best pieces of advice I would give include seeking out mentors who are willing to share their knowledge and experience with you. Even if you have to cut them in on some early compensation, it is well worth it in the long run. I've been competing in the benefits space for almost five years, after a 17-year career on Wall Street. That said, I still rely heavily on my more experienced partners and can honestly say I learn something new on a near-daily basis. Secondly, always put yourself in the shoes of your employer or employee clients. If you take shortcuts that satisfy your needs above those of your clients, you will get exposed. Success in this industry, like any other, is measured as a marathon, not a sprint. Doing the right thing is always the right thing!

Lastly, find a niche that you are passionate about. You don't have to be a jack-of-all-trades to flourish. The consultants who deliver the most value are those who provide specialized expertise and are willing to work alongside other unique partners. The benefits landscape has grown increasingly complex and demands advisors who dedicate themselves to a few key components.

Kevin Kennedy, benefits consultant, TriBen Insurance Solutions

Move quickly and be agile

1. Decide what area of benefits you are passionate about and why.

2. Always consider the end buyer in all of your endeavors and business roles.

3. Learn the latest in BenTech, FinTech and employee system of record. Go out and find it before it comes trickling down; you're three years late by the time it finds you.

4. The world moves fast. Be careful making a big bet or a long play with hopes of an easy life and potential future ownership. Move quick, own your ideas early, be valuable to the market and be agile. Work on more than one thing at a time and focus beyond yourself and your company's needs.

5. Surround yourself with forward-thinking industry movers in various areas. Build mentors and share and collaborate.

Tim Cerimele, director of business development, Noyo

Break new ground

Be yourself, only hire clients that you like (yes, hire) and follow a sales process. If you get a great sale, don't believe that you've found a new way of doing it. Success comes from doing the things that brought you success so far—repeatedly and consistently. Last, we're in the advice and results business; carve your own path.

Tom Avery, founder, president & CEO, Innovative Broker Services

Follow the money

Actually, I just had this conversation with a new broker today. My best advice is this: Only get paid directly by the client. When you start out with the client paying you exclusively, you can confidently look for, and bring, any solutions to the table, regardless of what kind of compensation that vendor may or may not be offering. In that model, you can truly look for—and deliver—the solutions the clients need.

David Contorno, founder, E Powered Benefits

Education is key

The advice I would offer is to never stop being teachable. So often, I see brokers who are unwilling to part from their own ways. If you have this mindset, you will get passed by. The business is constantly evolving, and you must be willing to evolve with it.

Also, I would tell brokers to focus on being a resource and not just a sales pitch.

Brandon Scarborough, executive vice president, Cobbs Allen

Marketing matters

The biggest source of frustration I see with our new members is no proven marketing plan.

Many advisors are lacking a consistent source of quality decision-makers booking appointments who actually want to hear about strategic ways to implement benefit programs.

What we're seeing work extremely well are targeted marketing programs using AI, social selling and cold email, with even veteran brokers enjoying healthy ROI on marketing spend.

Jeremiah Desmarais, featured growth mentor, Insurance WebX

Consistent curiosity

For brokers who are just joining us, take a moment to look around and find people you want to learn from. There is a growing community of advisors who are open to sharing strategies and solutions that will make a difference in your career. Learn from them and gain their trust by being consistently curious and respectful of their time. Today, your mentor could be found anywhere in the country. Follow and connect with the ones who resonate with your purpose and the reasons why you got in this industry.

Be proud that you are embarking on a challenging career. Our industry is evolving quickly and the ones who are willing to learn will be the last ones standing. Stay ahead of the curve. Continually develop your sales and insurance knowledge. Never give up on helping people first; your career will be defined by what you do when no one is looking.

Robson Baker, employee benefits & HR advisor, Clarus Benefits Group

No silver bullets

Too many brokers, especially those new to the industry, are looking for a “silver bullet” product or vendor or shiny new technology to close deals. If they're not careful, they could end up using the object as a crutch, leading to a lack of business and industry knowledge. Closing deals is not about the shiny new object! It's all about how we consult with our clients and lead them to business solutions.

In most cases, this solution does utilize a vendor for the purpose of ultimately solving a complex utilization issue with a simplified engagement strategy. Ultimately, brokers must understand the health care and health insurance industry like a surgeon understands how to remedy the problem from the inside out! My advice to new brokers, or any broker for that matter, would be: Become a student of our industry; be the subject matter expert in the room and also become an overall student of businesses and how they operate, especially if you have been running in this game for 25 years like myself. Be bold!

Billy Bridwell, vice president of employee benefits, Keystone Insurers Group

Proceed with caution

Please stop advising clients to offer an HDHP to a workforce that can't afford it. It can be the right fit for some employers, but certainly not all!

Ben Conner, president & CEO, Conner Insurance

Polly want a benefits package?

Stop parroting “gurus” if you aren't willing to learn what their words mean. You might get in the door, but then it only takes one question to embarrass you and waste everyone's time.

Trey Taylor, CEO, Taylor Insurance Services

To the point

Stop giving away free advice!

Felipe Barganier, CEO, GAB International

Read the fine print

My guidance to young brokers new to selling voluntary benefits is to look beyond the dissected benefits on a spreadsheet and the premium cost, and review the contracts.

Will the plan pay if “other insurance” is in force? What are the exclusions and limitations? Are there waiting periods, pre-X, and benefit reductions? If the Master Contract is terminated, do all policyholders lose coverage, including retirees who ported the coverage? When looking at critical illness plans, is the “second occurrence” covered? How many CIs are actually covered? Is a spouse/domestic partner covered at 100 percent or 50 percent? Is there a lifetime maximum? Does coverage run through the end of the month or does it end on the date the employee terminates employment? What are the time frames between an initial diagnosis, reoccurrence and second occurrence? How many different types of screenings are covered under a “wellness benefit”? Are they all invasive? Is the wellness benefit limited to a set number for a family per calendar year? Is there a 12-month wait to file a wellness claim?

Contract reviews are enlightening and can provide the planholder with the best overall options.

Michael Naumann, worksite practice leader, Western US, Guardian Life

Content is king

I wish I knew then what I know now! I would tell my younger self to start creating valuable print, social and online content and—most of all—not to take myself so seriously. Years ago, I was consuming tons of content, whether it be articles, books or videos, but I didn't create any of my own. We live and work in an age where anyone can create and share. This is literally how I've built my own personal and business brand within and even outside of our benefits industry. The key is not

to overthink it, which I'm still sometimes guilty of. But I am getting better. The content I spend the most time and effort on typically has the worst results. The content where I don't think too much about it and just put it out there is the content that tends to statistically perform the best and garner the most engagement with my social media and online followers. How do you get started? Like Nike says so wisely: Just Do It.

Eric Silverman, founder, Voluntary Disruption

Remember what matters

1. Develop a cadence for your time management that includes prospecting, staying in touch with current clients, education, and having a personal life to avoid burnout.

2. Solve for the clients' issues. So many brokers have a “look at all our shiny objects” approach, when it's primarily not what the client needs to solve their issues. Focus on the clients' issues to help the client reduce risk and exposure.

Brad O'Neill, Colorado and Northern California market leader, Fidelity Health Marketplace

Meet them where they are

What not to do: Overwhelm your prospects/clients with too much information or too many ideas all at once. As younger, or sometimes even seasoned agents begin to discover alternative strategies, it's tempting to rush out and tell every prospect everything all at once! That's a mistake. My advice would be to temper your approach and make it manageable for the prospect/client to adopt strategies incrementally.

Josh Butler, president, Butler Benefits & Consulting

Engagement tips

I think one of the mistakes agents make is not thinking through their clients' fears and their capabilities/willingness (staffing-wise) to get employees engaged. As a longtime client said to me a few years back, “Here you go again with self-funding this and self-funding that.” Two years later, he moved into self-funding with a level-funded plan.

As to engagement, while we have two proactive groups engaged on shopping services (Rx, diagnostic services, etc.), some employers just don't want to get involved, or perceive it as intrusive. One of these groups, composed of mostly millennials, has moved virtually 100 percent to HDHP (employer contributes the difference in premiums to their HSA). Their employees shop like good millennials do: online, in spite of the imperfect shopping market. We have to recognize that neither employers nor agents can fully control costs as they are not the purchasers of the goods and services. Employees are.

Elena Merino, president, The Meridian Group

Research and discovery

Be curious and ask more questions. Let the prospect learn more about you by talking about them.

John Clay, employee benefits advisor, Better Source Benefits Company

Simon says

Figure out your why and be authentic to it.

Jim Blachek, CEO, The Benefits Group

Compliance check

What first comes to mind for me is probably from a different perspective than most. I've been in the industry for more than 14 years, with the last four dedicated solely to compliance. The biggest mistakes/faux pas being made in the broker community are those who are forgetting to “sell” compliance in addition to insurance.

So many important details get missed when a broker does not have a basic foundation of compliance and what it means to insurance. In fact, I would argue that firms who don't have someone focused on helping to ensure their clients are in compliance are missing out on a huge opportunity. For instance, ERISA requires documentary, operational and fiduciary compliance, and there are penalties associated for failing to comply. EBSA recovered over $1.1 billion in ERISA violation investigations in 2018, leading to the indictment of 142 persons for crimes related to employee benefit plans.

The advice I would offer all brokers is to educate themselves on the obligations under ERISA. There is no expectation to know everything; rather, the goal should be to more easily identify compliance issues or “triggers.” This means having a general understanding of the numerous laws that impact the world of employee benefit plans and the insurance industry, understand some of the complexities clients face to stay ahead of the game, and provide solutions. This will help them maintain a competitive edge in the market.

Michelle Turner, compliance manager, Ardent Solutions

Build trust

Being a part of this ever-changing broker community, you hear and see many mistakes happening all around you: everything from pushy sales tactics, jumping too fast into a sale or even something as simple as talking too much instead of listening and asking the right questions. But I think one of the biggest is worrying too much about price. The conversation around budget and their needs will come up (better come up!) and it needs to be an open, honest and direct discussion. Lying about pricing or trying to cut corners just to make a sale will not get you very far. You might not always have the cheapest or lowest options for a prospect, but if you are providing a solution to a problem they are facing, they will see the value.

Advice I would offer to a broker, whether new or seasoned, is not to assume anything or count yourself out. Be diligent with the followup, stand behind your words, and do your homework on prospective or existing clients. Proving to prospects that you are trustworthy through your actions is key and helps secure lasting partnerships. Be the type of salesperson that you would want to work with.

Branwyn Lee, benefits consultant, Corkill Insurance Agency

Complacency kills

The biggest mistakes that I see too often are brokers not listening to their clients' needs. They focus on delivering a message that serves their own needs, as opposed to what is in the best interest of the clients.

The best advice I can give to any broker, whether they have been in this industry for one year or 30 years, is to never stop looking for new business. Unfortunately, I see brokers become complacent because they are happy with their current book of business. But eventually, we all lose a large account that can rock our world, and furthermore, we know that no client stays forever. If we are not continually evolving our approach and services, and looking to serve new clients, we will no longer have a book of business.

Rachel Sapoznik, president & CEO, Sapoznik Insurance

Make the shift

One of the mistakes we're seeing in the broker community is a hesitation to embrace the shift from “broker” to “consultant.” That means moving beyond spreadsheets and network discounts and doing the work to bring together the amazing benefit options that are available in today's market.

Health care is changing. Consumers expect a more personalized approach from benefits enrollment all the way to care delivery and the broker community needs to follow suit. Checking in with clients just once a year around open enrollment is no longer enough. Employers don't want shopping assistants; they want true partners who will work hand-in-hand with them to understand their needs and identify the best health plan options for their workforce.

Ray West, chief growth officer, Maestro Health

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Take it from us: Brokers share their tips for those new to the industry

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