Sales and marketing

Commentary: Targeting the small employer in today’s benefit landscape requires specific resources and knowledge from a benefit adviser. Columnist Jack Kwicien unveils what considerations to make when addressing the needs of your small employer clients.

Commentary: The more companies we come in contact with, the more we hear this statement and the more we realize how much employers are relying on their broker, says Beverly Beattie.

Acquired by Towers Watson in November 2013, private exchange provider Liazon is navigating a unique space. It is both owned by a consultancy and used by that firm’s competitors. Alan Cohen, co-founder and chief strategy officer of Liazon, discusses how all brokers fit into the exchange equation and what, in his view, makes an exchange, an exchange.

Aetna’s planned acquisition of private exchange operator bswift may signal the start of more insurers acquiring private exchanges, experts in the industry say.

EBA’s first-ever technology survey reveals where benefit agencies plan to invest their IT dollars.

Commentary: Take this small step now, says consultant Wendy Keneipp, and become the feared competitor in your market.

Benefits firm WorkforceTactix and tech company Digital Health Innovations are using data analytics and an innovative health app to predict and prevent clients’ high-cost claims, increase transparency and rein in health care costs.

Commentary: Benefit advisers hoping to remain relevant in this rapidly changing environment need to match their strengths to their client base, columnist Jack Kwicien says. In order to do that, some self-analysis is in order.

Commentary: Columnist Nelson Griswold reveals the "sales triangle" and why closing the sale is not the biggest part of the puzzle.

Commentary: You only get one chance to make a first impression. Columnist Mel Schlesinger shares his tips on how to make that first appointment with a prospective client a successful one.

Aon Hewitt expects more than 1.2 million employees, retirees and their families to choose health benefits through the company’s exchanges — revising their earlier estimates upward.

How offering employers solutions to employee engagement can earn you an agent of record letter.

A panel of some of EBA’s Most Influential Women in Benefit Advising discuss how women are claiming a role in the benefits industry.

All comprehensive wellness platforms should consist of four core programs — wellness, disease management, EAP and work life components — says Yale Mallinger of wellness company HMC-HealthWorks, but it’s what makes up those components that counts.

More than two dozen industry experts to share where employee benefit advising is heading and how to succeed during this time of change at EBA's Workplace Benefits Summit.

New analysis finds there are four types of private exchanges – what are they and how do employers pick which is right for them?

Commentary: Voluntary benefits used to be nice-to-have, now they are must-have benefits, says columnist Nelson Griswold. To sell voluntary to the client, don’t ask, tell.

Commentary: Think about what you would do differently, says columnist Jack Kwicien, because your success depends on it.

A day in the life of benefit adviser Michael Bodack of York International Agency.

Commentary: A good management consultant offers you objective advice and a path to greater prosperity, says Craig Davidson.