Practice and client management

Financial advisers and human resources managers looking for new and more effective ways to interact with their Baby Boomer employees should be inspired by a new report that finds social networking participation among this highly coveted group surged more than 60% in the past year.

In part two of a two-part blog series Robert Winslow, principal of Elm Street Partners, continues his blog about some of the opportunity that the new health care legislation has brought apart. Supplemental Coverages. PPACA accelerates a market change that has been evolving for some time, one that sees real business growth from supplemental coverages versus the base health plan. Supplemental products have come a long way in recent years, both by voluntary carriers and…

Crossing the value gap should be a top priority for benefit sellers. The value gap is a chasm that exists between how most advisers sell, which buyers view as ho-hum, and a wonderful place where relatively few sellers travel, but buyers love. Taking your buyers across the value gap lands you in a place where buyers are more frequently willing to buy and where you'll have more fun than a kid in a candy store.

After 10 years as a sales coach to benefit professionals - both core and voluntary - I have had an epiphany of sorts. My epiphany was this: Sales success is really very simple, regardless of your product or service. It boils down to this:

After going through all the normal marketing steps for his firm - direct mail, email and referral promotions, among others - benefits broker Jim Edholm has added another: videos.

The U.S. health care payments industry is undergoing changes as it grapples with inefficiencies in how patients, payers and providers exchange information and money. At the same time, it must respond to economic pressures, government reforms and other dynamics while it focuses on quality, value and cost reduction.

In these days of increasing reliance on electronic communication and high-tech Internet applications, in-person meetings have never been more important for Darrell Phillips. By holding regular face-to-face meetings with the 4,000 employees at his 41 501(c)(3) and governmental hospital plan clients across the state of Kansas, Phillips' mission is three-fold: 1) Build trust with the employer; 2) Serve the purpose of the programs by helping employees take advantage of their benefits; and 3) Let employees know they have access to a resource who truly cares about them.

Recently, I was asked to present in a sales seminar for one of our clients. The topic was something near and dear to me: "Changing from a product-based sales approach to a solutions-based approach."

Longer life expectancies and the individual responsibility for retirement savings are combining to challenge conventional thinking and to re-shape the relationships between employers and their older employees. Check out five significant practical benefits for plan sponsors.

With investors falling in and out of love with Wall Street at a rapid pace, some financial advisers are finding themselves playing a new role — that of marriage counselor. As financial markets remain in turmoil, couples are getting more anxious as they watch their nest eggs wither.

The Employee Benefit Adviser App is a must-have resource for benefit brokers, advisers and consultants who help employers build and manage their group benefits programs, be they health, retirement, voluntary or non-insurance. Choose from our helpful apps and download them today!

Hiring by small businesses slowed in August and employers reduced hours, an independent survey shows on Sunday, suggesting the recent stock market turmoil may have dampened job creation. Read how there are now fears surrounding the month's stock market rout that could ultimately make businesses hesitant to hire new workers.

The "eagerly-awaited" guidelines regarding the uniform summary of benefits and coverage (SBC) required by Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act have finally been released. Comments are being invited until Oct. 21, 2011, with implementation anticipated by March 23, 2012, the two-year anniversary of PPACA's passage. This is not just the first step in the direction of increasing uniformity in the structure and communication of benefit plans. …

For workers' compensation insurers, costs are going up as the market shrinks, according to a recent report released by the National Academy of Social Insurance, observing they are fighting to pay more for smaller slices of the pie.

Women who are in the middle of a transition — whether it be a divorce, the death of a spouse, or the inheritance of a large sum of money — often need specialized financial advice, but many of them may not know where to go, says Kimberly Howard, founder and owner of KJH Financial Services in Needham, Mass.

In today’s BeAdvised, Bob Arnoff blogs about ethical concerns for brokers and advisers around the new health care reform bill. How are you preparing for the switch? What do you plan to do about the dilemma he talks about?

The passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was the wake-up call our industry needed. On March 23, 2010, brokers woke up to realize that our livelihood could be wiped out with a swipe of the President’s pen. However, for far too long, many of us were reluctant to face the other threats that existed on traditional business practices. …

The hardest part of starting any business is getting clients. Whether you own a restaurant, are an attorney, an author, or an insurance broker, clients are your most valuable asset. The energy required to develop a client base at the start can seem overwhelming. However, if you treat each new client like the very first, your time spent prospecting will decrease as your business grows. It is better to have 50 clients who each feel like they are your one and only than it is to have 100 clients who think you're mediocre. Those clients will eventually go elsewhere, lured away by even the smallest dangling carrot.

To sell is to close. It is the penultimate conclusion. Selling is of no value unless one can close the sale in a timely manner.

To be successful in the sale of voluntary insurance products the agent will have to be transformed into a member of the business owner's employee benefit advisory team.