How an open mind can lead to a transformed benefits plan

Here’s how opening your mind to new possibilities can create thousands of dollars in savings for your business.

As the cost of benefits rises every year, employers have everything to lose and nothing to gain from refusing to try new ideas. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Change can be terrifying, especially for business owners coping with already challenging times. Sometimes, though, change is exactly what’s needed to significantly transform your business. Many employers have been convinced that the benefits system they’ve been working with for years is the best one (or the only one) available. Even when a better alternative is presented, the fear of the unknown can close employers’ minds to opportunities that could turn their benefits plan into a huge savings opportunity for their company.

Related: Fear, relevance and the future of brokers

Here’s how opening your mind to new possibilities can create thousands of dollars in savings for your business:

The drawbacks of resistance

After working with the same person for years on end, many employers are convinced that their broker can do everything and knows everything about the capabilities and limitations of their benefits plan. The fear of change can be so strong for these business owners that the prospect of new ideas – even ones that can save them thousands of dollars – can be too intimidating to pursue.

While it’s natural to fall back into this mentality, it also hobbles your plan’s potential. As the cost of benefits rises every year, employers have everything to lose and nothing to gain from refusing to try new ideas. Sure, there’s comfort in safety, but a benefits plan isn’t truly “safe” if it continues to cause your company to bleed unnecessary funds year after year.

The freedom of a better plan

Completely opening your mind to a new and improved benefits plan can be a challenge, but it’s worth the effort. And, if you’re working with an advisor who offers a performance guarantee, the choice comes at virtually no risk to you. A great advisor will be able to explain the tools and strategies that they’ll use to transform your plan from a large annual business expense into a money-saving tool that you can use to help grow your business.

In this way, the very same benefits plan that you may have been cautious about changing at all can end up offering your business more freedom, giving you the savings you need to:

With an advisor who has your best interests in mind, you can rest easy knowing that the risk you took in making a big change in your benefits plan will pay off.

 Meeting in the middle

Some business owners are cautious about new, radical changes in their benefits plan, but are open to hearing more. Perhaps they’ve heard about ways that their benefits plan can create savings for their company, but don’t understand how to go from where they are now to reach their business’ full potential.

Your advisor can work with you every step of the way to ensure that both you and your employees understand what choices are being made within your plan and why. In fact, a good advisor will have tools that can help them gain access to important data that enables them to locate and fix unnecessary spending in your plan. Their goal won’t simply be to convince you to make a decision – they will also strive to ensure that you find clarity and comfort as your plan evolves into a strategic advantage for your business.

Open minds opening doors

Keeping an open mind when it comes to your benefits plan can create new opportunities for your business. Even if you aren’t completely at ease with the idea of changing such a massive expense for your company, your advisor can work with you from day one to ensure that you and your employees understand each step on the way to building a plan that can create savings, transforming uncomfortable change into exciting opportunities.

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.

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