Client Education

• Employers and brokers agree that communication is always job one

  A broker is no longer an implementer and a benefit manager is no longer a savvy shopper. Benefit experts on both sides of the desk are now primarily communicators aiming to boost enrollment, create "consumers" and coach employees to financial security.

• Virtual reality takes on benefit communication and enrollment

  Imagine having a new member of your benefits staff that you don't need to train, pay or offer benefits. She'll work 24/7 and you can be sure her messages are consistent and compliant.

Advertisement

• Focus on communication may stimulate gender parity in advising

  Historically, the benefits industry has been a male-dominated world. However, when it comes to communication of benefits and human resources policies, the opposite has been true.

• Managing benefits for Generation Y

  Tune in for Employee Benefit Adviser's first "Friday Fray" lunch speaker series. We'll have three industry professionals give short presentations on how to manage benefits with Generation Y in mind and there will be time to ask questions about your specific business issues.

• Tackle consumerism models with today's panel

  Tune in today at 3:00 pm to an online forum where experts will offer tips and tactics for building consumerism models that meet employer demands.

• Create or update your online identity to attract clients

  You only get one chance to make a first impression. That's why progressive advisers are fine-tuning their image on the Web - where many employers hunt for benefit services and information.

• How and why to be really bad at sales but really good at giving advice

  One of my employees was recently explaining to me the virtues of why a client should accept the offering of a particular product. As she spoke, I sensed she was trying to convince me that this solution made sense. The discussion continued and she said I was good at "selling" these ideas. That hit me as an extremely negative perception.

• Taking care of your client's other needs

  Chances are you stick to your knitting, marketing a core group of products and services to your clients. If so, you are not satisfying all of your client's needs, either. Then who is?

• Advisers should rededicate themselves to their job

  For small employers (less than 50 employees), there really isn't much you can do about health insurance premiums. Both you and the employer are at the whim of the insurance carrier. Marketing the plans every other year or so and looking for possible subsidies on comparable plan designs is about all you can do to hold rates down

• HR's increasingly versatile role

  Anyone who's been to a benefits trade show knows the events can yield some pretty unexpected things -- odd knickknacks at the booths, mechanical bulls, live animals -- anything to get your attention while trolling the expo halls. But the most surprising guest at recent trade show in Atlanta, Ga. was not the porcupine.

Most Popular

• Friday Fray: Talking 'bout compensation

  If you've been tracking the news you'll know that recent research indicates that thousands mid-size companies fail to file their 5500s. That means that the same number of companies probably don't know how much they're shelling out in fees and commissions to their advisers, TPAs, PBMs and other service providers. As more and more of that money is actually being paid by plan participants that's a problem -- one that employers and their advisers would do well to address quickly.

• High-deductible plan debate gets heated

  A contractual battle pitting major health insurers in California against brokers and employers casts a bright light on whether recent attempts to assist employees with high-deductible health plans in the face of rising medical costs contradicts efforts to create better health care consumers.

• Gen X and Y worry about money, but not retirement

  Generation X and Y, or Americans ages 19-39, will represent 60% of the U.S. workforce by 2010. That's a large chunk of the population that isn't giving retirement savings much thought. A recent EBRI study finds that members of this age group are more focused on immediate concerns than longer-term issues.

Most Forwarded

• Compare candidates' small business views

• High-deductible plan debate gets heated

• Employers re-examine retirement plans in bad economy

• HR executives hope to help employees manage their finances during a recession

• HR shifts benefits strategy during a recession