A broker paid based on performance will  do everything in their power to ensure that the plan you end up with is tailor-made to provide your employees with the best benefits at the lowest cost to you. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Your benefits plan can be a powerful strategic advantage for your business. The right advisor can help maximize the impact your plan can have on your company, but that's only going to happen if your benefits package creates a win-win situation for both you and them.

Most benefits brokers aren't truly concerned with whether or not you get the best benefits plan for your business. They work on a commission-based model, which means that their goal is to sell you a plan, collect their paycheck, and disappear until it's time to do it over again next year.

Related: It's time for your checkup: Assessing your health and welfare plan

Working with an advisor whose pay depends on your satisfaction is a much easier way to guarantee that your advisor truly has your business' success in mind. In this situation, the end result helps them just as much as it helps you, giving them a big reason to find every possible way to develop a plan that helps your company grow.

Here's what aligned incentives can offer your business:

A customized approach

A quality advisor knows that your benefits plan isn't a one-size-fits-all purchase. The plan that works for another business is unlikely to be the best option for yours, but a standard broker won't be incentivized to create a custom-build benefits plan for your company. An advisor who is working towards the same goal as you, however, will make the effort to develop a plan that suits your company's individual needs. Because they're paid based on their performance, they'll do everything in their power to ensure that the plan you end up with is tailor-made to provide your employees with the best benefits at the lowest cost to you.

A plan that grows with your business

One of the pitfalls of working with a status-quo broker is how infrequently you meet with them. The standard process for renegotiating your benefits plan involves talking with your broker at the end of the year, settling for an even higher premium than you paid the previous year, and receiving lower quality benefits in return.

An advisor whose incentives align with yours will take a more fluid approach to your plan, which involves:

• Working with you and your business throughout the year
• Keeping up with the changes in your company and understanding how they impact your plan
• Making the appropriate adjustments in your plan when it's time to reevaluate your benefits

Because you're both working towards the same goal, your advisor will stay on top of the changes in your company to ensure they're consistently delivering on their promises to you.

Cost-effective solutions

When your advisor's incentives align with yours, they're going to work with you to figure out how to help you find savings throughout your benefits plan rather than trying to convince you that the miniscule amount of money you saved on your annual premium increase was a "win." Your advisor should offer a performance-based guarantee when you start working together, which will include approximate savings you'll see by partnering with them. This ensures that they don't get paid unless their services fulfill your expectations, and it pushes them to search for every available opportunity to cut costs in your benefits plan.

Aligned incentives between you and your advisor help guarantee that you'll maximize what you can get out of your benefits plan. When an optimized plan creates a win-win for everyone involved, mutual satisfaction is an inevitable end result, which can create a sustainable working relationship and optimal benefits plans for years to come.

Jim Blachek flipped his traditional brokerage model in 2017 to focus solely on consulting and building value based health plans. In 2019 he co-founded a consulting only firm Dynamic Benefit Solutions and founded Local Script a transparent pharmacy and marketing organization focused on reducing employer and employee costs while supporting the local community.

Read more: 

• 4 major trends in health benefits plan design
• How brokers can foster clients' benefits success year-round
• Broker and consultants are key to proactive benefits