For our employer-paid lines, we always take the best care of our employer customer (HR, plan administrator, decision-maker, etc.). We cultivate them, educate them, sell them, check in afterwards, service them, etc. They pay the bill.
Intellectually, we know that as we become an increasingly voluntary/worksite industry, the nature of the customer has changed. In our new world, the employee is our customer, but somehow, for some of us, our actions don't seem to have made the transition. Amidst some interesting trend data, it may be time to ask whether we are serving our new customers as they deserve. Are we taking the best care of them? Are we cultivating, educating, selling, following-up and servicing them as we should? Because today, they pay the bill.
The trends present reason for doubt. First, traditional employee benefit brokers (EBBs) have come to dominate the industry's sales. Second, electronic, self-service platforms are rapidly growing as many EBBs' enrollment platform of choice. But third, participation rates are falling.
It's seductive to buy into the logic that the platform can take care of education, cultivation, selling, follow-up and service. That certainly makes life simpler. Plus, many EBBs don't have much experience in taking care of employee-customers. It is not something we have had to do, at least not to the extent now required. And these platforms may be more efficient, more cost-effective, and require less of our personal time (the “It's all about me” syndrome). You may even tell yourself that with all the investment in online tools (widgets, calculators, avatars, etc.), the platform experts must have figured it all out. Or at least they want to appear like they have figured it out. And certainly, that logic makes life easier for you and for the platform vendor. But our customers seem to be saying something different.
Maybe we should start by examining our own results. Do we have cases with less than 10 percent participation? Are our personal participation results sliding also? At what point does participation become so low that the product(s) offered are no longer meaningful as an employee benefit? Do they become more like a benefit for a few employees?
If the numbers are dropping, do we see any correlation between these results and the level of engagement and customer care we bring to the table? Have we fallen into the trap of being a platform vendor? Is there still room for us to be consultative? Should we be engaging with our customers or do we delegate the customer relationship to a website?
Everyone knows that if you don't take care of your customers, someone else will. Competition is heating up. Are you ready?
More to come.
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