Brokers and advisers: Brokers' new role

What's the role of a broker in today's landscape, and how do we contribute as more of a strategic services role?

Transcription:

Eric Silverman (00:08):

All right. Good afternoon, everybody, All right one more time. We got the Bio coach in the house. Help me out. Good afternoon everybody. All right, well everybody it's nice to meet you. My name is Eric Silverman. I'm the founder and CEO of Voluntary Disruption. I am a brokers broker out of the Baltimore area broker consultant for actual major medical health broker studs and stud ets. Just like these folks right over here. And we're super fired up for you to be here today. We have some exciting content. Yes, I used the word exciting in the benefits industry conference. Can you believe that? Who's in exciting and benefits? Do they belong together? What do you think? Yes. No. Yes. All right. No falling asleep. It's a little nippy in here, so I gotta keep you awake. All right. These guys just, they, they're going to sit down and be boring, but I'm going to stand right here and keep you awake.

Braden Monaco (01:19):

I'd much rather stand up, but behind a table, it just feels like I'm, should be sitting down.

Eric Silverman (01:24):

They're going to fall asleep. All right, here we go. So, to my immediate left, you're right. I have Mr. Louis himself, benefit optimization. Officer Lou Bernardi out of the Greater New York area. Give it up for Louis. Everybody say, That's not a joke. He wants you to say Boo, everybody real quick. Boom, boom. We're going to talk about that. Don't worry. We're going to talk about Boom. All right. We also have my good friend Braden Monaco what is it? Managing Partner Blue Horizon Benefits out of the greater Boston Mass area. He's the world's largest Baltimore Orioles fan. Give it up for Braden Monaco.

Braden Monaco (02:06):

The only fan in the stadium is me, cuz that's somebody there on a daily basis.

Eric Silverman (02:10):

Note of reference here my Orioles took over the Red Sox for fourth place yesterday. What's up? Anyway, all right, so let's get this started. We obviously, it's a panel. We're going to come prepare. We have some canned questions that we believe you're going to like the answers to, but this is open. I would love to have some audience participation, some questions that pop up. So please don't be shy as you come up with questions. Let's think about it. Today's topic is the broker's new role in 2022 and beyond. So what we're going to be talking about is what these guys are doing with their client base and so forth and so on. As again, you think of things, please let me know. So I wanna kick it off and start with Louis. Louis, you've told me before that it's taken you 30 years to get five years of experience. I suspect everybody here can imagine what you mean. But can you give us your input on what you exactly mean?

Louis Bernardi (03:00):

Sure. So this is my 30th year. I was licensed June of 92. The week of my wedding. I was past my license just before I went on my honeymoon. Sexy and yeah, very sexy. Not me. Wife was still sexy. I like to think my wife. Yeah. So I was, if you guys are a lot of, you're probably familiar with Benefit Mall, I was a GA sales rep from 92 through the end of 2016. And I simultaneously owned my own agency with my father since 98. But when I was kind of planning my exit from Benefit Mall and was no longer being hounded by brokers, to be honest with you, I didn't wanna work with brokers any longer. And at that time was really because my course had already taken a kind of turn because of the aca, we were providing a lot of compliance technology solutions. And my brokers that I was working with for many years weren't interested in doing anything at all. And now my phone wasn't ringing off the hook, which was really good, but very bad also, cuz I didn't know how to prospect. They didn't know who my prospects were, where to get them. And I started doing a lot of research trying to figure out, okay, what's my value proposition going to be? And it caught me most, mostly probably on LinkedIn. I started getting engaged with these conversations with other advisors, probably a lot more independent than I was that were talking about the cost of care, the quality of care, a lot of things that I hadn't really been focused on. Cause I purely sold insurance really for 25 years. So since then, I mean we're doing things completely differently. Our entire focus is not on selling insurance, but selling solutions and really primarily self-insured, independent TPA, independent PBM where we can do a lot more creative things. And it wasn't until I saw the numbers and had to make a moral decision of am I going to still sell these insurance products that I know are really a drain on my clients? And more importantly they're people cuz it's really about the people for me. And I just couldn't stay on that course. So the last five years have just been a complete eye-opener and to be frank, very rewarding.

Eric Silverman (05:16):

So Braden, you've been a broker I think like 14 years or so Orioles fan the whole life. How has the way you work with your clients shifted, particularly over the years? Pandemic included before pandemic, either way, but you've gone through a lot of changes within the industry in general. What have you seen that's been pretty prominent?

Braden Monaco (05:43):

Great question. I mean, haven't 30 years. I'm thinking it's going to be very different than today. But I think starting in 2008 when I started, obviously that was an interesting time to start in any sort of industry as at any level professionally. But for me, I started it was very linear. I think that's what Lou was just saying, providing just benefits, solution benefits, products. It's just really focusing on the insurance side of things. Transactional not much transactional, but just very hyper focused on the core benefits of medical, dental, disability, life, just the core product. Moving on to the next, obviously you're providing open enrollment support and things like that, but it really just wasn't holistic as you can tell why we're all here in this room and at this conference, it's just way more than that. Now Louis and I were chatting a little bit before and I kind of referenced the idea of what we do every day. Probably 20% of it is really what a benefits broker is hired to do. I think about a benefit broker in a nutshell. It's provide solutions, provide engagement, help with open enrollment, help manage the population from a eligibility perspective. But think about where it's gone. Mean now we're supporting HR, we're helping with lifestyle benefits, we're getting into people operations, we're getting into technology integrations. We're getting into, it's changed so much I think for the better. I mean, frankly wouldn't be doing this anymore if it was solely based on the insurance solutions themselves and just bringing in a new carrier for this or a new life insurance product. Cuz that would just get really boring really quick. So I think it's taken a turn for the better, but I think there's a lot of advisors that haven't really noticed the fact that our role is not so much as a benefits broker as it is kind of an advisor and a partner now.

Eric Silverman (07:40):

Well let me switch gears, ask you both this. What role are your clients looking for you to fill now more than ever before? Braden, I'll stick with you and then I want to hear louis responses?

Braden Monaco (07:55):

Response. I think they're looking for me to be at places like this because they can't be all the time. So we are getting questions all the time about what else they can do. How can they retain, how they, can they recruit? I mean this is kind of questions, I'm sure everybody in this room, whether you're in HR or a broker are hearing or dealing with. But there's so many solutions out there that looking for us to be the experts and things that are so far outside of what like I said, would traditionally fall into that comfort zone of an insurance advisor and really be a holistic consultant across the board from people operations to culture and all that.

Eric Silverman (08:29):

Louis, what's your impression on that? And let me repeat it those, I just walked in. So Braden, appreciate the answer. Just answered, what role are your clients looking for you to fill for them more than ever before nowadays?

Louis Bernardi (08:44):

So the role that they're looking for us to fill isn't actually the role that we're trying to fill because we're very focused on the health insurance plans and really, really restructuring them. But that's a very complicated conversation. So I think most of the new business we get is because of the technology we're kind of an extension of the HR team for most of our clients. They're starting to come to us for compliance questions and we anticipate that. So we do partner with some outside HR consulting companies and provide them with a lot of technology like XY wave. So I think that's what they're looking for. We're hoping that they're in the next five years looking for us for what we really are trying to do, which is really trying to help them build a high performance health plan. And we're doing it now, but it's a complicated change of mindset to say the least.

Eric Silverman (09:44):

So the reference I talk about a lot or uses an expression for what they're talking about now I don't know if you guys would agree, but I look at it as responsibility creep. So if you're an advisor, broker, consultant in the room if you're a human resource executive professional in the room, there's more and more and more dropped on your plate that you were being held accountable to more things that you are supposed to be an expert at. And I mean, think about it. So this conference is a perfect example. There's an incredible amount of solution providers in the hall right next door. And for advisors and brokers in HR to absorb and learn every single one of them and try to become some type of expert or at least have a solid foundation and knowledge base. It's insane. These are things that benefit advisors and brokers and even HR departments didn't sign up for 20 years ago when they started in their business. They wanted to help people in whatever way they were starting. And they're becoming more and more responsible for these types of solutions to bring it to the tables. An advisor or broker, I would encourage you if you're not already, look at all the incredible solutions out there in the hall and those that aren't here as well. And really dig in and figure out what you can bring back to your client base that would be of value. And it's funny, I've talked to a number of you in the room today. I've walked around and I talked to these guys about it. The reality is, if you're an advisor and you bring it to your human resource team that hires you to give them advice and opinions and so forth, even if you bring them a solution that they pass on for whatever reason, it's just not the right timing, it's not the right fit. They're still looking to you as the hero cuz you brought it to their attention. Cuz if you're reactive and you wait for somebody else to bring it to their attention, you're fired, you're gone. They're going to say, why didn't you bring this to me? Should have brought it to me six years ago when they started. So I'm a big believer and I encourage you to consider it too, and I know these guys are, I wanna get your opinion on it. Just being proactive, too many brokers and advisors, and again, I'm not trying to offend anybody, but even HR professionals I need, and I've been doing benefits 23 years. They're just reactive. They wait for employees to ask about something. Well, it just doesn't pop up necessarily that they're going to ask about a lot of the solutions in that room because it's not top of mind for years. I'll give you a perfect example. For years there was Pet insurance and Pet benefits out there and nobody was asking about it at the employer level. I was out there pushing it at the employer level because I thought it was a good benefit. Now it's become more and more popular. Now employers are asking their employers about it. But if you're an advisor and you haven't brought it to their attention yet, you're missing out. That's just one example. There's a million solutions, bring it to the table and give them the idea first. That's the way you keep your clients and keep them happy. And the term we use keep the business sticky. And if you're an HR person in the room, you might even agree that's a valuable broker, Opinions. What do you guys think?

Braden Monaco (12:57):

Yeah, I was going to say, one of the things that I think about as an advisor broker, consultant, whatever you want to call me my wife would call me something else, but

Eric Silverman (13:07):

I call you an Osman

Braden Monaco (13:08):

Handsome. Come on. It was handsome

Eric Silverman (13:10):

Studly.

Braden Monaco (13:11):

Fair enough. I think about, So I think about in general, the idea of solution providers that are within our clients. So they have maybe an accounting team that they work with. They have a four 401K advisor, they have all these different attorney for whatever reason as advisors, brokers, we somehow took on way more than what our initial role was supposed to be. We have 401k inhouse with our partners for our clients. And I joke with Jason in our office, say, what else do you do other than 401ks for him? Nothing like, all right, we have a renewal every year. We have employee engagement, we have lifestyle benefits. We're talking about culture and performance and technology and all these different things that have come into play. And I think that's where our jobs become really challenging is how do we really focus on the things that are our core competencies and work with our HR partners in a transparent fashion of saying this is what we focus on. Because if you try to be everything to each one of them, I just don't think it's possible. So I think having great partners on the outside, having other solution vendors to come support you in that regard. And having a bunch of them, right? And not always trying to be the one that's providing the solution, but just pointing them in the right direction and helping advise them on, here are three solutions, let's go through them together. I'm a big advocate of that. I'm a big advocate of choice. I don't ever want a client to fire me because of something I brought to them. I want them to look at me and be like, I think I made the wrong choice. Maybe I should have gone with the other one you recommended as well. So giving them that option and that buffet of choice to pick. But we've found ourselves in a role of that for years. We've, I'm not going to say a commodity, but we're paid by insurance companies on behalf of our clients, which is no other way that they pay for any of their other partners. So we just kept throwing things at them to make ourselves look better and feel better. And instead of staying in our lane and focusing on what we're really good at.

Eric Silverman (15:18):

So Louis, in that same van, I wanna get your opinion. You've been in benefits before your position now, but benefits mall. How long again? Roughly

Louis Bernardi (15:28):

30 years total.

Eric Silverman (15:29):

So 30 years. Serious question. Did you have to be a tech expert, an EDI expert. Did you have to be all these solutions out here? Not that they existed or not, but is that what you signed up for originally? Because I would imagine not, but you've had to adapt because of that responsibility for you.

Louis Bernardi (15:48):

Yeah, no, I mean definitely not. There's no question. We sold insurance. That's what we did. We sold insurance. We thought the insurance that we were selling provided value help members. It's an essential part of healthcare for most people. But what I've learned over the last five years is it's not really the end all be all to healthcare or benefits. But really what we're doing today reinforces the decision I made five years ago to step away from my GA position which I wore 80% of my day was focused on the brokers cuz I knew that they would be extinct. Sure. And I would assume that the people in this room that travel here aren't just selling insurance. There's a lot of other things that you wanna learn because you want to bring value to your clients. And most of those brokers that I did work with are either out of business or really struggling. Most of them didn't sell health insurance or benefits. Primarily they were P and C, they were financial planners. And I'm just happy I didn't go down with the ship with them. So five years ago was a great time for me to start and kind of evolve into what we're doing today.

Eric Silverman (17:00):

Yeah, I mean look when it comes to offering benefits, call it insurance, call it benefits, it doesn't really matter in my opinion I am of the belief that a benefit is a benefit. Is a benefit. A benefit regardless of who pays for it. Anything that an employee can get working for one company that they cannot get working for another company is immediately an employee benefit period, end of sentence. Whether it's a solution like some of the great things in the hall, whether it's an actual insured and product like an actual insurance carrier, that's a benefit. Whether it be lifestyle, it doesn't matter. So when you're helping as brokers and advisors and HR teams, you're trying to onboard new people, you're trying to recruit what's going to differentiate you to get that employee interviewing with you versus the next six companies up the street. So the more benefit rich you can be, the better opportunity you're going to have. Particularly when you start to differentiate.

Braden Monaco (17:57):

I think that's a good point. When you said, I was just sitting here thinking the evolution of the title on business cards or on websites, But the idea of originally, I mean even when I, in 2008 it was insurance broker, the website said insurance brokerage and that's how it was positioned. That's what everyone knew it as. And over the span of 10, 14 years, it's become benefits advisor, benefits consultants. So you've broadened our scope by title, by website, by industry based on need. But that's evident that it's changed even just in the way that everyone's positioned themselves in the marketplace. So to your point of we're not insurance brokers anymore, right? That's just a piece of the puzzle.

Eric Silverman (18:46):

Correct. Yeah, no doubt. No doubt. Louis, let me ask you a question and I mentioned it a second ago when I just made a joke about EDI feeds and stuff. But really how is technology playing into the role that an advisor, broker, consultant, whatever title you need, use Chief Benefit Optimization Officer. Sure. What's technology doing to your role these days?

Louis Bernardi (19:07):

I mean it's at the core of everything that we're doing. So if we're not providing H R I S type systems and things of that sort to our clients, they have it bundled into their payroll. We're going through that with a few of our clients now that we know are changing vendors for January 1st. Then we're not E D I specialists, but we have to connect the pieces and the people from the insurance carriers are the TPAs and the PBMs And I have about 10 emails I have to return. I don't understand any of the terminologies that they're using, but I'm to the point where I'm on my 10th email with the same client, getting them to understand what the name of the employer is and the policy numbers for medical that they can't under because that is confusing to them. So you get sucked into it because they're all talking about these very confusing terms. Everything's confusing to the other parties. And the employer is telling me Louis, because we're their trusted advisor, they're saying Louis, can you help us with this? Because we don't understand what they're saying either. Of course we say yeah, we'll do it, but it's it's hours worth of work. But technology is one of the reasons like benefits obviously partly most of the people in the room, I don't know how many years ago it was eight, nine years ago, they scared the heck out of benefit brokers. They were writing a million dollars worth of new business a day. I think I heard in BOR's simply because they were giving technology away for free and taking the BOR. So what did that say about what we were doing? There wasn't much value in what they thought at the time a traditional insurance broker was bringing to the table. We were just selling them rates.

Braden Monaco (20:43):

Just like bell bottoms. It always comes back my friend. So please fashion it always comes back.

Eric Silverman (20:51):

This isn't even on the list here, but it made me think of a question. I'm going to throw a curve ball both of these guys.

Braden Monaco (20:58):

I'll be able to hit it cause I'm a MET fan.

Eric Silverman (21:00):

You will hit sure if they'll be able to hit the curve. You have Buck as your manager. Hold on though real quick but I want to hear it when it comes to actually there's probably a lot more important than mine. What's your name? Jeffrey. Jeffrey, yes. Nice to meet you. What's your question?

Audience Member 1 (Jeffery) (21:19):

So you're talking about this conference here and some of the newer benefits and not overloading and knowing everything that's out there. You talking about Zens came out and said hey we have all these solutions in one place.

Eric Silverman (21:30):

They said they're going to eat brokers lunch

Audience Member 1 (Jeffery) (21:33):

And they did for a while but then people threw them up.

Braden Monaco (21:35):

Then they were having parties in the hallway and they're unlicensed brokers and it was, yeah

Audience Member 1 (Jeffery) (21:40):

And I worked, we've met over years shows before here for many years. So what are you guys doing now? Were suggesting everybody we can do to create holistic approach where you know said holistic approach to offer the next generation of benefits, not only to and health, but present to your clients whether it's technology, whether it's lifestyle benefits, whether it's A or next four things. What are you suggesting people do to be able to prepare and to be able to deliver that.

Eric Silverman (22:14):

So in essence, how are they embracing everything in that room and everything else? How are they packaging that up to explain is their clients I

Audience Member 1 (Jeffery) (22:20):

Now and what they also see in the future too coming.

Braden Monaco (22:22):

Yeah, I mean I could quickly just say ask a lot of questions. Ask your clients a ton of questions about what they want, what they're looking for, help them understand what their people are looking for. Because the biggest mistake that I think I made in the last five years is I've been going to these conferences, I started seeing all these cost control measures and all these cool things and I'm like wait, we can change this thing and you can do that and some are on board, some aren't. But I tried to get everyone on board and with technology sometimes you try to get everyone on board with lifestyle benefits, try to get everyone on board cuz you see the value of it. They might not. So I genuinely think at this point I'm actually toned down my, call it arrogance of the fact that I think I know what they want because I see all these things, amazing things. I see people talk on stage from Fortune 500 companies about how amazing these benefits are. But the reality is each client's completely different and I think that's the most challenging part of our job is that there's no one size fits all. So I was joking with Eric earlier that I think I'm just going to start going through the vendor halls because I get overwhelmed and just getting a, I'm going to ask for what's your brochure that you has the most important information on it. I'm just going to make a binder so that I know when someone comes to me and says I have questions on caregiving, we have a lot of people hold on, I saw somebody out and we'll go through this together with my client. I've never used them but I've seen these three solutions. Let's go learn about them. Right? I think that that's a point. It's very honest and pure in the fact that you cannot be have the answers to everything, but you certainly can have the resources to find the answers. And that's no different with technology. We're fortunate that one of my business partners is whole background is in Ben Tech. So, whether it's licensing of employee navigator or EASE or whatever platforms we're using, we can also help build out pay loss to the ADP rippling, whatever the client wants. And I don't care what they use, I just wanna make sure that I'm integrated in the support of that because when I'm pulling a 300 person company right now out of a PEO, I can say my partner in our tech side can help support with all of the integrations, the EDI's, the setup and he's done it all right. So I'm fortunate in that regard but there's plenty of solution partners that can be that for you. So for me, for the future, I think it really is just in our organization we always talk about partnership with our clients. We don't want to be your vendor, we want be your partner. So just talk to us about everything that's going on and we'll get through it together. And that to me, I think has what's allowed us to be really sticky with our clients in regards to longevity is that we're not going to have the answer to everything but we'll find something.

Eric Silverman (24:56):

I don't think HR departments and so forth that business owners expect you to be the know and all, be all know it all on every last thing, benefits related. But I love what he said about being pure and open and honest and just say, look, here's my focus. But I have industry friends, colleagues, I'm a part of multiple groups that I'll find you the answer and it's we're going to learn about it together. Heck, Braden and I talk and Lou as well through text throughout the year, bouncing ideas. They're subject matter experts in various areas. I'm subject matter expert in various areas. So I think that's ultimately a solution. It's just make sure you align yourself in a good community is the definitely the word people use. You had a question in the back there. I did. What's your name?

Audience Member 2 (Todd) (25:38):

Todd.

Eric Silverman (25:39):

Okay.

Audience Member 2 (Todd) (25:39):

How important is it to you guys in the technology conversation, the technology that you're recommending playing nicely with all the carriers that the employer actually uses or wants?

Eric Silverman (25:54):

So for instance, if one of these guys has an affiliation or an affinity toward one technology if they're going to bring in other solutions it has to match and mingle and integrate.

Audience Member 2 (Todd) (26:04):

Well more so I guess some of the names bandied about don't necessarily work with volunteer benefits for instance.

Eric Silverman (26:12):

Sure.

Audience Member 2 (Todd) (26:12):

How important is it that you tailor the technology answer to what they actually are trying to put in place for their employees?

Eric Silverman (26:21):

Sure. Louis, what do you think?

Braden Monaco (26:22):

So we talking about like H R I S systems, enrollment

Eric Silverman (26:27):

Enrollment Platforms, HRIS.

Audience Member 2 (Todd) (26:28):

He mentioned too that in particular that I do two every day as an issue and that's a ease navigator. So I'm just curious how important is it that they actually can support the full product line and work well with the carriers?

Eric Silverman (26:43):

Louis is that important to you as a broker that integrates.

Louis Bernardi (26:45):

It's important to me but my main focus is on the health plans creating, creating kind of the new style benefit health plans. So we're not tied to anything we give our clients ease for free. We cover the cost for that. A few doesn't use it, A lot of them use their payroll companies. A few are building them out right now we have a client that's the one I'm getting all the emails out cause they're building it. But I'm not sure that they're building something that's going to talk to all the vendors. I don't see that necessarily as my problem. I'm doing everything I can do to help them solve for that. But they're not asking me to help them pick that technology solution. But I can understand how not having the right technology is going to be a real drain on their HR team if it's not connected. We have the ones that we're not doing, we get dozens of email a week about members who we're supposed to be added to benefits and they were never were because the files weren't right and the vendor that they're could be the carrier vendors not reporting back and letting them know we got a file that was corrupt, it didn't work. They never ask them for a new file. So we see those conversations but that's not really at the heart of what I see as my role in the benefits.

Braden Monaco (28:03):

We do a little bit more in the trying to use technology as much as physically possible to alleviate the man hours. It's important that they connect. But not to be all end all, I think that for me, like I said, we are more heavily into employee navigators because that's the one that we fell on six years ago that was seemed to do what we needed it to do. Now there's plenty of things it doesn't do that we would love it to do but we also know what our bandwidth is. We know how much we can support and how many different systems we can be experts at. And truthfully at that point, if I'm looking at multiple carriers, I'm going to find the ones that are going to integrate as long as the rates are right and the plans work and what they're looking for. But to your point, there's certainly going to be areas, especially in the voluntary benefits where it's going to get more challenging. Where you're going to try, if you're trying to do multiple carriers for different plan design plan solutions and stuff, it's going to be more challenging. So I would say from an ease of use standpoint, we do try to focus on certain carriers that have integrations with the systems we use when we're consulting with clients on payroll providers. We wanna make sure those payroll providers have integrations with the products that they're selecting. Obviously within reason of from a cost and quality perspective of the benefit.

Eric Silverman (29:22):

So, my answer would be more kind of to what Braden said, just from my experience, I work with hundreds of brokers around the country and they won't put in a single solution in the benefits world unless it's integrated in the system of record that they want to use. Period. End of sentence. Just because it's smooth and easier for the client. But again, it just proves right here that that's not the only answer we have time for. One quick last question. You got a question?

Audience Member 3 (29:45):

Yeah. This is sort of a follow up to the last one. You know Braden, were talking a little bit about really not being able to know every vendor and every solution out there. So as a vendor, what are some ways for us to educate the broker without over and inundating you guys? Cause there's a new solution each of these spaces every single day. And so what is for the vendors that are really trying to grow and disrupt the space?

Eric Silverman (30:11):

To grow the broker side?

Audience Member 3 (30:13):

Yeah, How do we actively reach your audience.

Eric Silverman (30:16):

I'll give you a sell. It's perfect.

Braden Monaco (30:22):

It's funny you say that cuz text message is probably the answer. I say the real quick is snapshots. I literally think at this point, especially me going back to my business partners and other people in the office, I'm the one that travels and does these things. I come back with all these great ideas and all these solutions, but they're like, we haven't seen 'em, we haven't met him. It's very simple marketing, very simple case studies of something ideal client base. Here's the ideal of what we're looking for because everyone's going to have a different one. Our minimums on the top, minimum a hundred employees, okay, that's only going to work for these groups. Just real clean, easy. Cause it's going to be one out of every 10, 15 clients that the solution might work for. And I'm probably going to forget it. So I literally think I'm going to go back and this is make a cheat book of this system.

Audience Member 3 (31:08):

Where you can import all of these?

Braden Monaco (31:09):

It would be amazing, but I don't even know that I'd be smart enough to go in there and put the information I need in to get out what I need.

Louis Bernardi (31:17):

I think that part of it is engaging with the organizations maybe that brokers belong to and get in those portals. And then I'm a health Rosetta advisor, so I can go into a portal and I can see 20 different categories, the vendors and I can see which advisors already use that vendor. I can reach out to that advisor first and tell me about this. But the vendors that go through their vetting process, which is a little bit lengthy, shows me that they're probably more in line with what we're trying to do for our clients too. I'll get a hundred emails a week from vendors and I used to take calls with almost all of them and looked at my calendar and said I haven't prospected in two and a half years. Yeah, it's very tough. It's like the HR getting calls from brokers.

Eric Silverman (32:04):

Real quick if we're not already connected, I gotta imagine all of you are on LinkedIn. Please connect with all three of us on LinkedIn, connect with us. We'd love to tap chat with you, especially all you vendors that these guys are dying for your message, I promise you. And 20 bucks per cell phone I'm in.

Braden Monaco (32:24):

We knew that's why we did this.

Eric Silverman (32:25):

Exactly. With all seriousness I appreciate everybody coming in. This is Braden, Monaco, Louis Bernardi and I'm Eric Silverman. Don't go anywhere, don't even take a break because you're about to have your mind blown. I got three of my good friends coming up here right now for the next session. Adam Michaels Pat Moore and Butch Zamar where is he?

Braden Monaco (32:51):

He doesn't have three more friends. Thanks guys.