The inside track: 11 questions to ask your friend about their employer
It’s amazing the amount of information you can learn if you ask the right questions.
The inside track. Everyone wants a friend on the inside. It’s a competitive advantage. You make a new friend, or maybe someone married into your family. They work at a firm with the potential to be a client. Always on the lookout for business opportunities, you wonder: “What can I learn?”
Be careful. On the subject of advisors and making conversation, a friend explained: “It’s conversation. Not interrogation.” Gather information over time. You might start by explaining your business, how you generally work with firms, not individuals, if that’s the case. Their firm might be able to use your help, but you want to learn more.
1. What does their firm do? It’s a good starting point. You might know what other benefit plans tend to be used in their industry.
2. How long has it been around? Is it a new firm? Has bit been around forever? In the latter case, some vendor relationships might be entrenched.
3. Who makes the big decisions? This might be useful if it’s a family owned firm or the operation is of a scale where everyone in management tends to know everyone else.
4. What’s their benefits plan like? They likely know or can find this information. You might be doing them, a favor by explaining features they didn’t know were there.
5. How long has the current plan been around? Is the plan new? Is it the same one, year after year? If it’s newer, this might mean they are responsive to employee requests or shop around for the best price.
6. Was it ever better? Employees might be facing increased personal costs. Some features might have been done away with when plans changed. It’s a clue to what employees would like to get back.
7. Have they surveyed employees? Feedback is useful. Some firms do it, but maybe not all. This might be a way for you to get your foot in the door when you identify the right person.
8. Who do they know in the HR department? They probably know someone, even if they aren’t the right person. They might be able to provide a name and number.
9. How do their e-mails work? You’ve seen many conventions: “first name, dot, last name.” The same with a dash instead of a dot: “first initial, last same with no dot.” Once you identify the right people, you have a way to get in touch.
10. Do they do an orientation for new employees? If they are new, they probably attended. If they don’t, this might be a benefit your firm could provide.
11. When do they put contracts out for bids? It’s what you want to learn, but you might not ask directly. Try asking: Has the provider for overnight mail or copy machines changed recently? If you find things happen at a certain time of year, you might be able to estimate when contracts expire or they start shopping around. “When does the fiscal year end?” might help.
It’s amazing the amount of information you can learn if you simply ask the right questions. Many people don’t know how much they already do know. None of this should be confidential, either.
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