Sales and marketing

Commentary: More often than not, misreading customers causes them to look elsewhere. It doesn’t need to happen, says sales expert John Graham.

There are three types of brokers: the transactional broker, the Zenefits-style broker and the new school premier broker — but soon only one of them will be successful.

Commentary: As a broker offering these benefits to your employer groups, it is important to become proficient in voluntary benefits or choose to outsource this expertise.

Michael Turpin, the former CEO of UnitedHealthcare’s Northeast region, shares his thoughts on the new landscape and the potential impact the deal could have on benefit brokers and the insurance industry.

With just three major insurance companies, brokers must distinguish themselves from carriers, create additional approaches to serve clients and develop alternative risk approaches to health benefits, industry experts say.

Anthem Inc. struck a deal to buy rival Cigna Corp. for $48.4 billion, wrapping up almost a year of contentious negotiations and potentially creating the largest health insurer in the U.S.

Worksite voluntary benefits are gaining in popularity on standard ancillary benefit offerings, but the adviser’s sales approach to each needs to be varied.

Commentary: Technology helps, but it does not replace the expertise and experience of a broker. Rather, it helps to elevate what the broker can supply to a level that is equal to consumer demand, says Zywave’s Dave O’Brien.

Commentary: There is no better time to be a broker, says Zywave’s Dave O’Brien.

How San Francisco-based Equity Risk Partners’ focus on private equity firms had made the small firm a big player in the niche market.