As more benefits advisers struggle to articulate their value proposition to their clients and prospects, many are realizing that being the access point to products is not the differentiating value that clients want or expect.
Personally I have not thought that was the case for more than a decade. Clearly our clients need our advice, expertise and counsel. But given all the competition that exists, especially in the mid- to large-case market, that’s not enough in today’s environment. As a result, many forward-thinking advisers are adding other products and services to their offering to enhance their value proposition and to make up for revenue lost due to compensation compression (commission reductions or PEPM compensation). After all, we have already incurred the client acquisition expense. We now need to find new ways to monetize those relationships. Right?
So what are you doing? The following are some examples:
- Property & casualty commercial insurance
- Voluntary benefits
- Executive benefits
- Retirement planning services
- Deferred compensation products
- Financial planning
- Payroll services
- Workers compensation
- Human resource consulting services
- PEO option(s)
- Benefits strategic planning services
- Other alternatives
You may have products or services that you have added and we’d like to learn about those as well. Have you added any of these products or services to your client offering? If so, how did you go about doing it? Did you hire the resources with the expertise? Did you partner with a firm that specialized in that field? Did you buy an existing business with the required skills and relationships? I’d like to hear from you in the comments about how you approached this strategy and how it has worked out thus far. I’m sure all our other readers would like your input and commentary as well.
Beattie is president and chief executive of South Miami, Fla.-based Selden Beattie Benefit Advisors. She can be reached at 305-661-9090 or bbeattie@seldenbeattie.com.
