In my book 12 Steps to Your Personal Success in the 401(k) and Small Plan Market, I observe that one of your major prospecting challenges is to identify plan decision-makers. In fact, among six basic rules for success in this market, the first two are to:

1. Identify and meet the decision-makers.
2. Identify and document needs.

FreeERISA.com can help you identify key decision-makers for purposes of your initial prospecting calls. It also can indicate other decision-makers whom you may meet "down the road," such as when you gather data for a Request for Proposal (RFP) or present your proposal and recommendations.

It would be helpful if you could go to one screen in the FreeERISA data base and find all of a plan's key decision-makers neatly arrayed. Unfortunately, the Department of Labor did not consider your needs in designing the public disclosure forms that feed data to FreeERISA. So, you will need to scavenge among several forms to find names and titles. In this article, we'll highlight where to go and what you may find.

Form 5500

Line 2a contains the plan sponsor's name and address. For many small businesses, this will be the name of the business owner. In the space below this line you will find the name of the individual signing as plan administrator and the individual signing as employer or plan sponsor. In many companies, these names will be for the same person. In some larger companies, the plan administrator may be a senior manager in the Employee Benefits or Human Resources department. In some filings, the plan administrator's telephone number can be found on Line 3a.