We all know that selling voluntary benefits is a multi-step process. Carriers have to sell their products to brokers, who then have to sell to the employer and ultimately the employees.

It's this last step that's often overlooked or not given enough attention. But until an employee buys something, none of the selling before that makes any difference. Understanding what employees need in terms of insurance coverage is important to achieving good enrollment results. Too often, we design our enrollment approach around what we are comfortable with rather than what the employee needs. Or, we are reluctant to tell an employer that their preferred method of enrollment is not going to work for many voluntary benefits. In both of these situations, we're not focused on the end buyer.

To illustrate this point, let's put it in the context of a different setting—the automobile industry. Today, you decide to go to a dealership to look at buying a new car.