Is someone building an industrial park, medical office complex or office building in the area? Who are the new tenants? Or who's renting new office space? Here's how you find out.

As a benefits professional, you know the toughest part of the sales process can be getting in front of the decision maker. Yes, a country club membership costs money, but it gets you in front of the right people.

Offering a range of employee benefits – from assigned parking and gym memberships to professional development – makes sense from the viewpoint of recruiting, retention and morale.

By suggesting an employee survey and running it yourself, you can learn about the state of your current relationship -- or get your foot in the door for a new relationship.

Here's how to encourage a culture of enjoying time away from the office because your employees should return refreshed and the longevity benefit might help with retention too.

"Maxing out your 401(k)" is hard when employees are struggling to make ends meet and their paycheck barely covers expenses. That's why employers need to go beyond the obvious to give employees practical information they need.

If you are an honest, decent person, it is amazing the amount of information that is available to you in the public domain. However, a word of caution: Be careful how you find it and how you use it.

Name recognition can be a powerful asset in sales, so when you're visible by speaking, writing articles and sharing them with your connections, you gradually become the "go to" for benefit plans and retirement planning.