The annual Benefits Selling/Eastbridge Voluntary survey was conducted during March and April of this year, and almost 300 producers responded, representing a combination of employee benefit brokers, traditional voluntary brokers, enrollment companies and agents. The overarching conclusion from the survey is that voluntary is now front and center for many brokers, regardless of the type.

Over the last three surveys, there has been a steady increase in the sales activities related to voluntary. Just 8 percent of the respondents this year do not sell voluntary and half of those plan to do so in the future. However, the most notable change is the increase in the percentage of brokers describing their marketing efforts as "selling it (voluntary) actively" from just 19 percent in 2014 to 32 percent in the most recent survey.

As predicted several years ago, medium-sized employee benefit brokers and the classic worksite brokers are looking more and more similar. They often respond the same way to:

• The increase in new voluntary cases

• Voluntary products offered most frequently

• How they chose their carriers for voluntary

• Enrollment methods used

• Carriers used

Still, there are some differences in the volume of voluntary sold (both the number of cases and the annualized new business premium) as well as their described level of effort for voluntary and their acceptance of non-traditional voluntary products. This article looks at these similarities and differences in more detail.