Cross Selling Voluntary Benefits to Your Commercial Lines Clients
Drew Gurley
EVP of Growth | Redefining Insurance FMO Excellence | Championing Experiential Innovation
Why should you consider cross selling voluntary benefits to your commercial lines clients?
Health care reform and the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), better known as Obamacare continues to rock small business owners and the impact is rolling down hill to their employees.
And, those costs being passed down to employees are now driving the demand for more voluntary benefit products to deal with rising deductibles and out of pocket exposures.
Your clients are buying these from someone and right now it’s likely not you. ??
Facts to Consider for Cross Selling Voluntary Benefits
While these once-in-a-generation changes are affecting businesses in a big way, most businesses and their employees have little idea of how much the earth is moving below their feet.
Consider these facts below from the AFLAC Work Forces Report.
- 79% of employees have no idea how healthcare will affect their lives
- 60% of businesses do not understand healthcare reform
- 45% of companies surveyed intend to increase their reliance on broker when making changes to their benefits plans.
This screams opportunity.
Cross Selling Voluntary Benefits
Voluntary benefits and P&C agencies are a hand-in-glove fit with your existing business.
You already have an established book of business and have knocked down most of the hurdles in developing a strong relationship with clients who know and trust you. While there is a long list of voluntary benefits products available, there are two core products we recommend to get the ball rolling.
- Accident
- Hospital Indemnity
We also like term life insurance and disability (income protection) in certain situations, but accident and hospital indemnity are two of the easiest places to start.
Other Voluntary Benefits
Aside from the common accident plans and hospital indemnity, there are other voluntary benefits that may make sense to offer your clients.
- Cancer
- Critical Illness (CI)
- Hybrid CI and Chronic Conditions
- Dental
- Identity Theft and Legal
Which accounts you should be cross selling.
A good first step in evaluating which of your commercial lines clients to approach would be by starting with those you have sold workers comp.
It is proven that companies offering voluntary benefits accident plans to their employees reduce their work comp claims which in turn saves money for your clients.
Think about it, how many of your commercial clients would be upset if you showed them a way to save money without spending a penny?
The second set of accounts I would focus on would be those offering high deductible health plans. The hospital indemnity plan is a great way to offset the high deductible and makes employees more comfortable with their benefit package.
Not only are you helping your client, but you are directly attacking the exposures employees have on their health plans. Your clients’ employees will see their employers as heroes.
Get Started Cross Selling Voluntary Benefits
Get Your FREE Cross Selling Flyer Template Here. (No obligation, just download the free template)
The elephant in the room for voluntary benefits is the enrollment process.
More mistakes are made here than at any point.
We suggest you work with a local enrollment company with proven experience. Yes you’ll take a small commission cut, but a good enrollment team will make you look like a hero and allow you to spend more time selling.
Your focus should be to leverage your client relationship and let the enrollment experts do the heavy lifting to get the program started.
Delegate, delegate, delegate!
How Voluntary Benefits Enrollment Companies Work
Voluntary benefits enrollment companies follow three simple steps.
- Go to your client’s office or schedule conference calls with employees.
- Meet with each of the eligible employees to review the benefit package.
- Complete the enrollment.
This of course is when you don’t want to do the enrollments yourself. Otherwise, you are welcome to go out and enroll all your accounts yourself. Either way works, but as I said before, leveraging an enrollment team is a great way to work smarter.
It’s a win-win: you get to add value for your clients and generate a new revenue stream, all while staying focused on your core business!
The difference between those who succeed in today’s health insurance environment and those that do not is their ability to adapt.
Finding an voluntary benefits enrollment company
There are two common ways to find a voluntary benefits enrollment company.
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