Practice and client management

The Affordable Care Act, new ways to fill the sales pipeline and Zenefits dominated EBA’s BeAdvised blog commentary this year. The top 10 most-read blogs of 2015 detail the growing number of ACA regulations and reporting requirements, explain why advisers don’t accurately understand the threat behind a tech-focused brokerage and highlight simple-yet-effective ways producers can increase existing client revenue and get prospects to open the door.

Healthcare coverage is a significant piece of your employees’ overall financial package. If your plan doesn’t appropriately meet their needs, it can be a source of stress for them throughout the year.

Commentary: What we can do to support them, make them feel more welcome in our company culture and help strengthen our own company in the process.

The work ahead can seem daunting for those running a private exchange. Nonetheless, they have big visions for the future that come with a fair amount of patience as the employer-sponsored benefit system adjusts.

Bring many of the industry’ leading minds together with brokers and advisers from across the country who are eager to learn and share insights on the latest market trends and best practices, and you’ve got some of the year’s most thought-provoking conversations. For those who missed out, here are the highlights from EBA’s 2015 conferences.

Internship and mentoring programs are popular among some of the nation’s top advisory firms, but they also know it takes more than a cursory relationship with universities to recruit and retain talented producers. See how brokerages such as Arthur J. Gallagher, Lockton, Willis and USI Insurance Services are securing the loyalty of the nation’s up-and-coming elite advisers.

Commentary: To avoid turning employers off, focus on the “1%,” the essence of the client’s message, says John Graham.

ACA reporting becomes mandatory in 2016. Preparing employers to be compliant with reporting requirements is a core service that advisers should be offering, industry experts say.

Commentary: Rookie adviser Brian Murphy makes the connection between carriers’ package proposals and the opportunity to market multiple lines of coverage to the client.

Internship and mentoring programs are popular among some of the nation’s leading advisory firms, as is maintaining strong relationships with universities. But brokerages must also work to dispel misconceptions many people have about the industry if they want to ensure they can develop enough home-grown talent.

The provider of benefit outsourcing solutions adds new tools to its private benefit exchange in collaboration with ConnectedHealth.

Zenefits is back in the spotlight with news of slower than expected revenue growth. The company also this week announced it will offer a free payroll option. The announcement follows a months-long public dispute with payroll giant ADP.

Brokers have been largely an afterthought on the public health care exchanges, industry insiders say, and one company says it is trying to change that at no cost to the broker.

Commentary: More than empty theories, columnist Nelson Griswold shares business-building and growth strategies that work.

NAIFA has launched a new initiative aimed at reinventing its role as an advocate for advisers. Its five-year strategic plan, dubbed NAIFA 20/20, aims to make the association a more effective resource for an increasingly diverse membership facing some challenging regulatory burdens.

Commentary: If you listen to your clients — and I mean really listen to what they’re saying and not saying — you’ll know exactly what they need and what they’re willing to spend money on, says columnist Wendy Keneipp.

Commentary: Add these talking points to your next plan review to ensure the year gets off to a good start, says adviser Michael Clark.

New business for validated employee benefit producers decreased over the past three years. Organic growth for independent brokers has also slowed. However, mergers are on a record-setting pace.

It all starts with a business plan and honest answers to some tough questions about the state of your company, says columnist Jack Kwicien.

Employee education is critical to health care cost management, says United Benefit Advisors’ Les McPhearson, who addresses rising plan costs in the company’s annual health plan survey.