"Forget that you're in the insurance business."

That's one of the many pieces of advice, this one coming from Seth Denson of GDP Advisors, offered for brokers as they pivot from having conversations about employee benefits with the HR department to having them with the C-Suite. Denson, along with Kim Eckelbarger of Tropical Benefits and Kareim Cade of great Lakes Benefit Group, shared their experiences and tips for talking to the C-Suite as part of a recent panel hosted by The Olson Group's Andy Neary at the BenefitsPRO Broker Expo.

To fix the broken health care system requires requires breaking it down and rebuilding it from the ground up, and more benefits professionals are turning to the C-Suite in hopes of making real, concrete changes. And that starts with the conversation they have–one that's not about health care at all.

"You really do have to put your business leadership hat on," Denson said. "Put whatever insurance product out of your mind, don't even go there."

The panel of brokers shared their experiences and tips not just for how to message to the C-Suite, but getting an initial meeting with them and how to keep HR in the conversation.

Brush up on your finance vocabulary

For a long time, the C-Suite has ignored health care expenses as something beyond their control, noted Cade, but brokers have an opportunity to open the employer's eyes and make them see it as a controllable business item–by making it a business conversation. "You're need to talk their language," said Eckelbarger. "They understand revenue. If you can show them how to liberate some money out of the SG&A line, you have their ear. Do the math before you go. You know the average PEPM. You work it down from there.You start to have that conversation, they start to relate to you."

You also need to understand the goals of the business itself–is it maximizing revenues, cutting expenses, expanding into new markets?

"Do your research ahead of time," Denson said. He shared an anecdote from a meeting he had years ago: "We had done our data analysis, developed the strategy, went to the client and said, 'This is what you need to do and how to do it.' He said, 'Son do you have any clue where my business is going right now? I'm trying to sell by business, and everything you've described sounds well and good, but all I care about is getting my EBITA to its maximum level. So I won't be here to get the ROI that you're offering."

The lesson: "What we do now, at the beginning of every year, we ask the CEO and CFO: Where are you taking your company over the next 12 to 24 months, and where do I play a role in that?"

The panel of speakers demonstrated their knowledge of key terms, such as EBITA (Earnings Before Interest Taxes and Amortization) and SG&A (Selling, General and Administrative Expenses), and their comfort dropping them casually into the conversation, but learning the lingo and changing the conversation is no easy task. It's going to take time, practice, and a lot of failure. "Work on your speaking and become a credible authority," Eckelbarger said. "It builds over time. The message isn't insurance. It's a story that I've been taught to tell. The more you can speak in front of groups–speak every time you can–it builds your credibility and it gets the word out there."

Other credibility issues might also influence how receptive the C-Suite audience is. Being young, for example. While Cade stressed the importance of mentorship for passing on key knowledge and skills to win the C-Suite's attention, he understands that sometimes you just have to adjust for your audience. "If youth is the issue, I'm taking somebody who is able to talk their language. Those are things you have to be aware of. We have to make sure we're not shooting ourselves in the foot."

That's something Eckelbarger understands, as well. "I have a meeting next week," she said. "I'm bringing a male with me. But I don't have a male on my staff. It's a vendor-partner."

A final reason to bring an ally? There's power in numbers, Cade said. "I find a whole lot of folks who go in together, and there's a chance that we'll hear something that the other has not heard that allows us to do more."

Getting the C-Suite meeting

Before brokers can have this business-focused conversation, they have to get in front of the right audience–how do brokers today do that? There are a few ways.

"LinkedIn is a quick place to find out who they are and what they do, what charities they're involved in," Cade said. "Meet them where they are. Figure out who are the other influencers I already work with: who can get me an introduction?"

Another strategy: referrals and recommendations. "The more you can have other C-Suite folks lift you up, the better," Denson said. "Have someone else host a seminar, and you be the speaker–don't put on the event for yourself. If you're going to get a CEO there, you're going to want to have that credibility."

And again, when making these connections, maybe drop the term "health insurance" from your vocabulary. Eckelbarger shared the story of a connection she made to a CFO through a financial rep. In the initial introduction, the connection mentioned she worked in health insurance, and the CFO's initial response was to pass her off.

"I rewrote the intro, 'We wanted to talk about a financial hedging strategy,'" Eckelbarger said. "If you use health insurance, they're going to try to hand you back to HR. Don't take the handoff."

Don't burn the HR bridge

Having the benefits conversation with the C-Suite does not mean the HR department gets left behind. The HR team is still a key stakeholder, particularly when it comes to successful implementation of new strategies.

"I need them all," Cade said. "When the CEO says, 'Great, we want to do this,' someone is on implementation, and I have to be lock-step with those folks as well. For HR, this is their baby. The moment that they don't feel part of the process, there's some resentment."

When a meeting includes members of both the C-Suite and HR, brokers must be able to bridge the conversation and speak the language of both. "I tried for years to train HR on financial terms," Eckelbarger said. "They want to contribute. They understand that their employees are functionally uninsured. When we can bring strategies, when we don't have to talk any more about raising copays, the HR director is happy."

In fact, HR professionals also see the importance of looking at employee benefits in relation to the company's overall business strategy, and they're looking for that seat at the table, as well. Help them get there, Denson suggested. "Check your ego at the door and let solutions be their idea. Now you've gained an ally. Help them elevate their own status."

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Meeting with the C-Suite: Don't mention health insurance

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