About a year ago, a voluntary insurance company released a research report that they claimed was definitive in terms of employee preferences regarding enrollment methodologies. According to the company's research, employees absolutely preferred to learn about their benefit options and enroll for coverages through a web-based system. The study reported all the advantages the research subjects listed when explaining their overwhelming preference.

Within a month, another voluntary insurance company released a report that came to very different conclusions. Their research had proven that employees much prefer to learn about benefits and enroll for coverages through an individual meeting with a benefits counselor. The findings were touted as absolute and statistically valid.

Read: 8 things to know about voluntary sales