Worksite Marketing

Brokers Should Look to Carriers for Enrollment Support
by Elena C. Wu

There’s no doubt that businesses feel strapped in the current economic slowdown, particularly small- and medium-sized businesses. In many cases, they have shed payroll and placed an increased workload on fewer shoulders. They must do more with less. But, make no mistake about the priority of employee benefits in this context. Employers realize that benefits remain indispensable motivators and important incentives, especially in a climate where salaries are under cost-cutting pressure. At the same time, they all know that the supervision of employee benefits can be time consuming and soak up resources that are better spent on more strategic contributions to the well-being of their enterprise. It comes as no surprise that businesses want and need administrative help now more than ever. Enrollment support is one area that can make a big impact.

Time is Money Give Clients More Time

Brokers should lean on carriers to complement the enrollment services they provide or look to carriers for full support for their clients. Companies that are squeezed by the economy want to keep their administrative duties to a minimum. So it can be invaluable to work with carriers that differentiate themselves by taking on a host of administrative services for companies. The less time your clients have to spend raising awareness for their company offerings, managing enrollment paperwork or fielding employee questions means they have more time to focus on more strategic and revenue-generating human resource activities.

Efforts like these just make good business sense all around. Effective carriers are skilled in engaging and educating employees about the importance of various protection products in ways that are easy for employees to understand. With the economy serving as a wake-up call to Americans to get adequate protection, a simple yet informative enrollment process is vital to converting piqued interest into high participation rates.

One-stop suppliers of multiple employee benefit products tend to deliver the most satisfaction. Businesses get a wide array of options to offer employees. Packaging ensures consistency of services for employees; it simplifies the supervision of benefits for employers; and it results in greater efficiencies, which lead to cost savings that can be used to fund richer benefits for employees.

Enrollment Services Can Open new Business Doors

Carriers with a track record of strong enrollment participation results are willing to waive that minimum participation requirements that are often seen on voluntary products. If waivers are available, it’s a great way for brokers to drum up business, especially in the marketplace where voluntary benefits have traditionally carried plan enrollment minimums of up to 25% of a company’s personnel pool. This can be an extremely influential offering that brokers can bring to the table as more employers look to voluntary products to preserve benefits packages. It can be an important morale booster when you can alleviate concerns over minimum participation requirements so that an offering is ensured.

Which Enrollment Services Offer the Most Value?

In order to foster high participation rates, enrollment services that offer the most value cover a diverse range of communication channels and support employees before, during, and after enrollment. Here are key services that brokers should be sure to leverage:
• Turnkey communications materials -- Communications that build awareness of a plan offering with employees are the cornerstone of generating high participation rates. An effective carrier can provide enrollment meeting announcements, including posters, handouts, check inserts, and e-mails as well as educational information for employees.
• Personalized enrollment materials – Enrollment materials that are easy-to-understand and personalized to the employee go far in engaging employees are learning about and signing up for available coverages.
• Certified enrollment specialists – Advisors who are committed to educating employees about available products – especially via face-to-face meetings – are advantageous. Having live group meetings is one of the best approaches to helping employees understand coverage options because they provide a forum for questions and answers.
• Bilingual enrollment services, including enrollment materials and phone support, further boost participation across a client’s employee population.
• Enrollment support hotlines – Toll-free telephone hotlines provide critical support during enrollment and can further enable employees to make the right decisions for their needs while freeing up time for benefits managers.
• Follow-up services -- Good follow-up ensures that employees have access to tools, such as toll-free hotlines and informational websites, to answer additional questions -after employees have enrolled so that they can effectively and easily use their benefits.
Don’t overlook the value of an effective enrollment process when you’re looking to offer solutions that meet client needs in the current economy. A focus in this area provides significant returns.

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Elena C. Wu, is group marketing 0fficer of Guardian Life Insurance Company of America.