Successful brokers rely on the power of partnerships
Mutually beneficial alliances with clients, vendors and other brokers are more important than ever.
One of the most important lessons learned during the challenging year of 2020 is that teamwork is essential. If people didn’t previously appreciate the workers who respond to emergencies, bag their groceries or pick up their trash, they certainly do now.
Many brokers are also now realizing how challenging it is to try to go it alone as their clients face unprecedented challenges during the pandemic.
“I believe one big area where the pandemic has changed things is in prospecting and marketing,” says Kevin Trokey, founding partner of Q4intelligence, a consulting firm in St. Louis. “Everyone is rightfully concerned about coming across as tone-deaf or insensitive during these difficult times, so leveraging partnerships in an educational manner rather than in a ‘salesy’ way is more important than ever before.”
Related: In our NOW normal, be a partner to partners
Partnerships have never been more powerful.
“Given that employee benefits represent one of the largest cost categories for any employer, the services and support that benefit brokers bring to their clients have a significant impact on business profitability and success,” says Chris Connolly, senior director of broker relations for Ultimate Kronos Group (UKG) in Lowell, Massachusetts.
“Being able to help clients address these needs elevates the value clients receive from their broker, deepening the relationship,” he adds. “Brokers can’t be experts in everything on their own, though, which is why developing strategic relationships with solution providers can further secure and strengthen this trusted advisor status.”
Rhae Buckley agrees. “I think brokers need to be an extension of the HR department and work to help an organization meet its objectives,” he says. He worked as a senior human resources executive for several large corporations and nonprofits before recently opening Pridestaff, a staffing service in Goodyear, Arizona.
“Both HR and other members of the C-suite within an organization have an objective to provide competitive and cost-effective benefits,” he says. “Brokers and vendors who understand the needs of the organization will build beneficial partnerships and work as a team to do this.” It is increasingly difficult, if not impossible, for a broker working alone to be able to meet the complex needs of businesses today.
“When a benefits advisor does their job the way it needs to be done, they impact the business of their clients strategically, operationally, financially and emotionally, because of their connection to individual employees,” Trokey says. “As critically important as the insurance solutions are, they are just one of many in a growing list of ways for advisors to bring value and results to their clients.”
The best partners complement each other’s strengths while compensating for any weaknesses. “If we are to appropriately service our clients, it is critical that we have strong carrier and vendor partnerships in place to support that effort,” says Cary Goss, principal at Clarus Benefits Group in Houston. “We are going to make mistakes, and so are our clients. It’s quite simple: If we treat our carriers and vendors poorly, they are not going to have much motivation to help us in our time of need. We need them just as much, if not more, than they need us.”
Rethinking partnership paradigms
Brokers with a network of strong partnerships are better able to provide solutions to clients in the current business climate, Connolly says. Successful brokers seek to build a wide range of partnerships, including some that they may not have considered in the past.
The broader client organization: Building partnerships that reach beyond the HR department both strengthens the broker-client relationship and provides a better understanding of the company’s challenges and opportunities.
“The most effective brokers understand the unique relationship between benefits and culture that exists at every organization,” Connolly says. “They become trusted advisors to their clients and often are asked for counsel in other areas, both inside and outside of HR, such as hiring; talent management; workforce management, which may lie with operations; or payroll administration, which could sit in finance.”
Goss recommends going even deeper into the client’s organization by building relationships with employees. “They often provide me with key insight into what the team members really think of the organization, the culture and the benefits program,” he says. “We can use those insights to help our clients better strategize.”
Vendors: A recent survey from The Workforce Institute at UKG found that employees want physical safety, psychological security, and job flexibility and stability. “Having a strong and established network of partnerships allows benefits brokers to tag in and help where needed, especially in these areas,” Connolly says.
For example, the need to offer shift flexibility is increasingly important as employees juggle childcare, virtual schooling or caring for aging family members.
“As businesses scramble to figure out the best approach to this problem, benefits brokers with proven relationships in the workforce management space can confidently make recommendations and referrals to solve this challenge,” he says. “There is a tremendous opportunity for benefits brokers to think across the entire human capital management spectrum to identify partners that focus on people as intently as they do.”
Other brokers: As heretical as it may have sounded in the past, in this brave new world, there are also times when competitors can become valued partners.
“In terms of overlooked industry segments where partnerships could be beneficial, I would suggest partnering with other benefits agencies in your own market,” Trokey says. “I realize I will lose many with this suggestion, but advisors need to rethink the power of collaborating with traditional competitors. This is especially true when it comes to educating employers in a market as to the innovative solutions they need to consider.
“It is all but impossible for a single agency to take on this kind of marketing effort, but a group of agencies working together to amplify these messages will benefit everyone.” A good example is the affiliation between Q4intelligence and Clarus, a type of networking relationship that is becoming far more common in today’s benefits world.
“We have grown immensely as an agency thanks to the coaching and the support we receive from our partner agencies within the network,” Goss says. “The transparency that we share with one another has been amazing. We share business plans, financial information, presentations and business strategies, among other things. It has truly been an open book, and this level of open sharing has been a significant component of our success.”
Choosing the right partners
What is the best way to establish and maintain mutually beneficial partnerships? Brokers should start by focusing on what they have to offer in a partnership, not what they can get out of it. During his time working in senior HR positions with companies such as Kraft Foods, PepsiCo and Baxter Healthcare, Buckley found that the most helpful brokers were those who considered themselves partners in the business, not simply order-takers.
“There were a few who only wanted us to follow their program without any regard to the needs of our people and goals of our organization,” he says. “One broker recommended I increase benefits premiums when the numbers showed we could decrease our premiums because of our lower costs. But the ones who asked and listened provided great advice and services to the organization.
“Brokers and vendors alike should ask what the goals of the organization are; if the HR professional or person they’re working with doesn’t know, they should help by prompting them with things other organizations have established as benchmarks and best practices.” Goss compares business partnerships to a marriage that is built on mutual respect and trust.
“If you are going to maximize a relationship, you have to remember it is a two-way street,” he says. “When I worked on the carrier side, I worked with a broker by the name of Filice out of Northern California. Filice did a better job at building relationships than anyone I know. They invited me to attend internal meetings to better educate their staff. They invited me to join their team for outings at ballgames and other events, all on their dime and not mine. This collaboration and partnership motivated me to work my tail off for them. For brokers, think about all your various carrier and vendor partners. Is it a two-way street?”
The old Russian proverb “trust but verify” also applies.
“Vetting of partnerships is not something you can pass on to anyone else,” Trokey says. “Use industry peers and their experience as an initial filter, but every agency must do the final vetting to ensure a good fit for them and their clients. Partnerships must be approached as the business relationships they are and be managed to specific goals with milestone measurements along the way.”
And be sure to consider market segment and vertical alignment, Connolly says.
“A partner who serves mostly enterprise-sized clients with a high-tech or finance sector focus may not be well suited to address the needs of a small or midsize, hourly based retail business portfolio,” he notes. “If the partner targets the same markets, they will understand the needs and have solutions and services that address these markets and market segment’s needs.” It also helps for brokers to take a close look at their own strengths and weaknesses to determine where they could benefit from a strong partner.
“In looking for key relationships outside of the insurance industry, I always seek out individuals and organizations that can help us and ultimately help our clients,” Goss says. “Examples of partnerships we maintain outside of the insurance industry are marketing and advertising agencies, CPAs and accountants, IT, printer and copier organizations, business consultants, commercial real estate brokers, payroll providers and 401(k) advisors.”
If there is any silver lining to the pandemic, it is that many brokers are reevaluating existing practices and how they will adapt their businesses moving forward. In many cases, this means harnessing the power of partnerships.
“No business or individual has escaped the impact of the pandemic,” Connolly says. “This is forcing us all to assess, adjust and rethink our business and operating models in order to find success. Since we can’t do it all ourselves, I think partnerships are more important than ever.”
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