3 things brokers should look for in a benefits partner

There’s a good chance you’ve worked with a benefits provider that offers a confusing digital portal (or worse, none at all). Maybe the support team takes days to process your clients’ paperwork. Maybe they give you and your clients the runaround for even the simplest of questions.

These red flags are all too common, and they could be hurting your clients’ satisfaction – not to mention your chances of attracting new business.

It’s important to have a partner with the right digital capabilities, benefit lines, and service experience. Here, I’ll note three green flags to look for in a benefits partner.

1. A tech-first onboarding process

Many benefits providers still rely on paper-based systems to process employers’ information. That can create headaches throughout the onboarding process and leave your clients frustrated.

For instance, imagine a benefits provider that asks employers to enter their information (basic company details, payroll figures, etc.) across multiple forms. There’s no digital solution – everything has to be printed, scanned, and emailed.

If the ink isn’t dark enough or the scan is blurry, then the employer has to repeat the entire process for each form. And if the provider keeps asking for additional forms with duplicate information, that means even more printing and scanning. The impact is unnecessary tedium for your client and a relationship that starts off on the wrong foot.

With a tech-first benefits partner, you can sell your clients a streamlined benefits experience from onboarding through renewal. I’ve seen the impact first-hand. In my experience, clients value a provider that:

• Offers a single digital onboarding portal. Companies should be able to enter all necessary information digitally.
• Only asks for information once. Companies shouldn’t need to provide duplicate information. They should be able to complete a single form for basics, payroll, etc. 
• Provides self-service access to benefits information. Members should be able to access a single portal with all of their benefits information.

2. Multi-line benefits

Most brokers try to connect their clients to multiple benefits providers. But when clients have separate providers for everything from dental to disability, it can be tough to handle billing or point members toward their provider information.

I recommend looking for benefits partners with multiple benefit lines. This way, you can help your clients streamline their processes.

Not all benefits providers will offer multiple lines, of course (like, say, your health insurance provider). But some offer multi-line benefits like…

• Vision
• Dental
• Life
• Disability
• Supplemental health – including accident, critical illness, and hospital indemnity.

One major plus: Multi-line benefits partners can have a huge impact on employees. Picture, for instance, an employee who’s getting new glasses for the first time in five years. With a single carrier for multiple benefits, it’s easy to remember that their vision insurance carrier is the same as the dental carrier they referenced last month. And if they need to pull up their plan details, they can do so from a single self-service portal.

3. Fast, transparent support

It’s a common experience: You send a benefits provider your brokerage details, group info, and plan preferences, only to hear back from their team a week later. And when your clients’ plans are up for renewal, they don’t hear about rate increases until a couple of weeks before the deadline.

The right benefits partner shouldn’t leave you or your clients in limbo. Instead, they should offer efficient and transparent support. That’s one of my favorite parts about working with attentive providers.

I’ve found that it helps to have a partner that provides:

• Lightning-fast broker quoting tools. In minutes, brokers can receive plan info and pricing details that they can quickly relay to their clients – versus waiting several days to hear back from a provider.
• Transparent renewal information. Sixty days before the renewal deadline, employers should automatically receive renewal details that explain any rate changes.

Make sure your partner keeps an open dialogue with you and your brokerage team, as well. The best partners will offer:

• Annual surveys to gather broker feedback.
• Quarterly meetings with carrier reps to identify places to streamline and understand industry trends.
• A dedicated broker advisory board to strengthen the broker-carrier partnership.

The right partner can wow your clients

In a competitive benefits landscape, brokers need the best partners available to satisfy current clients and draw in new ones. The key is finding a partner with a tech-first, efficient service model and the right benefits lines to keep your clients coming back.

Don’t stop there, though. Look for benefits partners that use broker and member feedback to develop innovative products, from member rewards programs to new self-service tools. This way, you can connect your clients to providers that will continuously evolve to meet changing needs.

Lyal Stephen is an employee group benefits broker at Treeline Insurance. He is a Navy veteran, pilot, endurance athlete, family man, and health benefits specialist.