Who is your customer?
Nelson Griswold looks at the consumer-centric benefits sales model to help brokers understand the answer to the important question of who is their customer?
Secrets to success with selling voluntary
The results for selling voluntary have been pathetic recently, says EBA Columnist Nelson Griswold, who shares how to overcome that.
Consultative strategies with voluntary
Nelson Griswold on using voluntary sales as back-door strategy.
Brokers need to move from transactional to consultative
Nelson Griswold on how brokers need to move from transactional to consultative selling due to changes brought upon by the Affordable Care Act.
Strategies for a reform-proof portfolio
Nelson Griswold on how most advisers have not committed to a plan to adapt to the coming Affordable Care Act change in the insurance business.
Deliver a less-is-more HR solution
Nelson Griswold on how to deliver a less-is-more human resources HR solution for a valuable payday
3 essential agency reform strategies
Nelson Griswold on what insurance brokerages need to keep up with health reform.
Carriers will no longer establish a brokers worth
Nelson Griswold on how under health reform a carrier will not determine how much a broker is worth.
A brokers only plan for health care reform survival
Nelson Griswold on a brokers only plan for health care reform survival.
Your business model could spell doom
Nelson Griswold on why your brokerage business model could spell doom.
Turn PPACA compliance into profit
Turning PPACA compliance into profit for advisers brokers by Nelson Griswold.
Surviving the PPACA tsunami
Nelson Griswold on how brokers can survive the PPACA health reform tsunami.
2014: Will your agency be ready?
Nelson Griswold on how to reinvent your brokerage come 2014 and the start of Obamcare, PPACA
‘Obamacare’ … It just doesn’t matter!
In the movie armageddon, Earth faces destruction from a giant asteroid on a collision course with our planet before it is saved by the heroic sacrifice of the character played by Bruce Willis. As 2014 hurtles toward us, brokers across the country helplessly search for a savior from the cataclysmic PPACA disaster. "Help us, Supreme Court!" No? Then, "Help us, Republicans!" Maybe. Maybe not.
The 5 fatal mistakes in cross-selling voluntary
When asked about their experience with selling workplace voluntary benefits, most brokers often give one of two replies:
The secret to closing the voluntary sale
In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was a king condemned by the gods in the afterlife to pushing a huge boulder to the top of a steep hill, only to have it slip from his grasp each time and roll back to the bottom, a frustrating and unproductive task to be repeated over and over.
No room for error in management
How well is your agency managed? Is it being managed to generate maximum top-line revenue and maximum bottom-line profit?
Do or die: Marketing that fills the sales pipeline
One of our clients, a Midwest employee benefits agency, came to us with a serious problem. Revenues were down 19% over the previous year, despite an increased marketing budget. They spent their $137,000 budget on brand-building – including a $15,000 sponsorship of the 18th hole at the local pro-am celebrity golf tournament, a $10,000 sponsorship of the Heart Gala, full-page glossy ads in the local business magazine and half-page ads in the weekly business paper. While they couldn't say for certain what, if any, new business resulted from these efforts, the net result was an almost 20% drop in revenue. Not surprising, but still a terrible waste of resources.
Diversify your voluntary portfolio
Are you still using just a hammer in your benefits practice? Too many benefit brokers have been showing up at the jobsite equipped only with the hammer of health insurance, limiting their ability both to add new revenue and to be consultative and solve other HR problems.
Do or die: creating a consultative practice
While working for a benefits enrollment firm, I managed to get a coveted appointment with the senior vice president for voluntary benefits at a major regional brokerage. He started the meeting with an invitation to pitch: "We already work with several enrollment firms. Why should we work with you?"