Paycor now has a new tool to help brokers better understand how employers are using its HR software and payroll services.
The company on Tuesday added a dedicated relationship management feature for brokers to its partner loyalty program. Its new tool is an addition to the HR payroll software provider’s broker care service, which it launched in 2016 as a way to help advisers streamline their client relationships.
Catherine Dunwoodie, leader of client success at Paycor, says the company wanted to develop a way to reward its most active brokers. Paycor’s new tool for client management helps brokers better manage their relationships with employers, she says, by offering broker outreach, joint go-to-market strategies, internal process management and issue resolution features.
“There’s been a big change in how brokers in particular are approaching HCM technology,” Dunwoodie says. “When you think about where a broker was 10 years ago, they were largely agnostic.”
“They cared about enrolling employees on benefits. What’s happened over the last [decade] is brokers have been called on by their clients to give an opinion,” Dunwoodie says.
Brokers who bring in two new clients and $75,000 of annualized revenue to Paycor in a year reach platinum level status. That status gives them access to features including analytics that will give them information on how their clients are using the software, Dunwoodie says.
But the tool also can be helpful for employers, who are increasingly using technology to help them attract and retain talent, Dunwoodie adds. Employers often rely on human capital management systems to streamline benefits administration.
“When technology is in place and it’s working beautifully, employers tend not to want to disrupt that,” she says.
Some benefits advisers are still struggling with the rise of technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning, experts say. But big data can help brokers learn more about their clients, Reid Rasmussen, co-founder and chief executive of benefits consulting firm freshbenies,
Dunwoodie says more brokers are incorporating technology into their selling and client management processes. While there are still some brokers who aren’t comfortable with technology, those who embrace it may be better positioned to set themselves apart from the competition.
“When a broker embraces technology, it’s fundamentally such a differentiator for them,” she says. “It will grow their marketspace every day.”
