App aims to help brokers boost client savings

Getting a foot in the door to acquire new clients can be a challenge for even the best advisers. Brian Appleton, host of online conference Insurance Agent Summit, recently field tested a new app that allows brokers to overcome a top challenge — rising benefit costs — by identifying where CEOs, CFOs and business owners can save money on their life insurance plans, group benefits and retirement plans.

eCommerce marketing agency Stryde'’s new app, the Stryde Savings App, has gained strong traction for assisting brokers with client acquisition, Appleton says.

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“At least 82% of business owners are saying ‘yes’ to meet with agents and brokers using this app you can download on your smart phone,” Appleton says. “One agent used it and got into a physician group of 69 doctor members, and another is getting speaking gigs at prestigious conventions.”

Using data from industries that Stryde has previously worked with, brokers can select an industry where potential clients reside. A series of questions the broker is prompted to ask through the app regarding the prospect’s benefits cost, office space cost, turnover ratio and how much the company spends on payroll can help the broker determine where the employer can potentially save money for their company.

Jason Ziccarelli, CEO and founder of Stryde, says brokers can have a better likelihood of gaining new clients through cost remediation. “Cost remediation is the avenue through which we seek to reduce or recapture operational cost; and/or engage in tax mitigation,” he says.

Ziccarelli adds that offering a client a lower premium cost is not going to always sell the client on a broker’s service. However, finding options to reduce a company’s property tax or reduce employee turnover are services that every business owner looks for.

“28 million business owners in this country spend every waking moment looking for what we are bringing to the table,” Ziccarelli says. “Every book we buy, every seminar we attend, every hire we engage in, every consultation we pay for is all about becoming more profitable.”

How it works
Heather Trudeau, agent support at Stryde, broke down the app’s step-by-step process brokers would use when presenting their services to a client. Trudeau says by selecting the industry the client is located in, brokers will then receive a breakdown of average savings for that industry based on data gathered by Stryde.

“[For a manufacturing company] I can tell them that on average payroll tax incentive is an average $240,000,” Trudeau says. “There’s an additional $240,000 savings in property owner tax incentives based on cost segregation.”

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Trudeau continued to dive further into more average cost savings for manufacturing companies by providing average credit card savings, property tax savings and workers’ comp savings.

“We do not change their provider,” Trudeau says. “These are services based on vendors and providers [the manufacturing companies] currently have in place.”

From the average cost savings, brokers can then break down savings specific to the individual owner by asking them how much they spend in payroll, if the company made profit within their first year of business and how much they spend in property tax.

The app prompts the broker to ask these questions based on what title the client holds and whether there are missed tax incentives the client has not received based on the location of their business.

Once all of the prompted questions are completed, the Stryde Savings App will give the broker a total estimated savings that can be provided to the client through the broker’s services. If the client agrees to move forward with the cost saving plan the broker puts in place, the client is required to sign an agreement that 50% of savings will go to Stryde for identifying the financial pain points. Following the first year, all savings that client receives will go 100% to the client.

The Stryde Savings App also provides the client with terms of service agreements based on what savings they will be receiving and whether there are significant savings found. If significant savings are found, Trudeau says, that will be when fees are required. If STRYDE is unable to find savings for the client, it will not charge them for services rendered. “We agree to complete our analysis at no cost to the client,” Trudeau says. “If there are no savings found, there is no fee.”

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