That's Not My Job.

Do you give your clients the bare minimum? It's O.K. if you said yes. You wouldn't be alone. In fact, you'd in the majority.

Some people just do the bare minimum. And there are a lot of these people in the world today. The waiter who never refills your drink. The sales person who never offers assistance in the store. The door man who sits behind his desk and doesn't get the door when you walk in (#ThingsNewYorkersSay). 

I talk to roughly 50 insurance brokers a week about ways to improve their business. Very rarely do they stop me and say "We are not interested in hearing how you can help us improve our business." On the contrary, most brokers want to hear how you can help them.

What I do hear most brokers say is "That's not my job". 

Now I'm not going to sit here and debate what is and what isn't an Employee Benefits insurance broker's job...........O.K. I will. 

But before I do, here are 3 reasons you should care about "What is your job". And they're very, VERY serious and threaten your livelihood:

1. Carrier Commissions - Which direction are they headed?
2. Affordable Care Act - Wake up. Its not going anywhere. 
3. Payroll Companies - Zero in BI 100 2010, Paychex is #25 in 2013

                            "Oh, do I have your attention now?"

The following services are being adopted by brokers, consultants, and payroll companies today. They're doing this because they want to seize an opportunity. That opportunity is YOUR book of business.

How many of these value added services are you offering your clients today, either from your internal staff or through out-sourcing? 

Compliance Where do you want to start? FMLA, , PDL, COBRA, DOL, HIPPA, State, Federal, EEO, ADA, ERISA, etc., etc., etc....You know your clients aren't compliant. Help them and become their hero.

Online Enrollment Have you gone paperless yet? You're not still storing your clients data on excel spreadsheets are you? Make everyone's life easier by offering an alternative to the all-day, onsite enrollment meeting.

Payroll If you can't beat them, join them. Or at least partner with someone that can.

Human Resources This is a broad term, but why don't you start with a new employee handbook. Apparently 85% of you aren't even doing that. 

ACA Guidance "Obamacare won't last." This is not guidance, it's denial. You need to be an expert on this law or hire someone who is.

Analytics Measure your client's health care utilization. Get some bench marking data. Help them understand where they can save money.

Employee Training Corporate Training is a $200 billion industry. 

Corporate Training is a $200 billion dollar industry?????? That means your clients are already paying someone to help them train their employees. Could that person be you? It could be....

...but that's not your job.

-R

America's Shift: Cost to Compliance

Compliance is king. Gone are the days of the price quoting. This makes it a very complex time in the insurance industry. It also presents a grand opportunity for the savvy insurance broker who wants to grow his business. 

From 2007 - 2012 the country was recovering from a collapse in our lending institutions that trickled down from Wall St. to Main St. It affected all of us, some worse than others. 

Now it's 2014. The economy has been experiencing slow, incremental growth. Unemployment has steadily decreased. PPACA is going nowhere.  

KPMG released their 2013 Insurance Industry Outlook survey of insurance executives. What you're going to find from their responses is an overwhelming shift in "business realities".

Q: Of the types of potential regulatory changes listed below, which would most 
affect your business if implemented? 

Most popular answer: Health Care Reform, 51%

Q: What are the most significant barriers to growth over 
the next year?

Most popular answer: Regulatory and legislative pressures, 60%

Q: What issues pose the biggest threat to your business model?

Most popular answer: Political/regulatory uncertainty, 58%

Q: What initiative do you expect to undertake over the next year that 
will consume the most time, energy and resources, from a management 
perspective?

Most popular answer: Navigating significant changes in the regulatory environment, 18%

If you want to get an executives attention this year you need to be having a conversation about protecting them from fines and penalties associated with regulatory change & compliance. Otherwise you risk sounding like every other broker who is talking about customer service & price. Change your value proposition to reflect your clients needs and you will find that your closing ratio and referrals will go up. 

-R

Value-added service checklist

You're losing revenue. The organic growth is weakening. Referrals are down year-over-year. Churn has gone up. You want to stand out in your market. You're keeping up with the Joneses. Commissions are decreasing and you know that you will need to transition to a consultant model to survive in the future. Your support staff is spread too thin. An important account asked for something. You've got a competitive situation. Did I forget one?

This isn't a commercial for the services I sell. This is a high level checklist designed to help insurance brokers through the process of selecting a value-added service. 

Too many times decision makers find themselves buying the wrong solution because they moved too fast or convoluted the buying process. Here are some suggestions on how to buy a value-added service.

1. What problem are we trying to solve?

This is extremely important. Where you start isn't always where you end up. Once you get in to the buying process with vendors they will help you uncover additional challenges that you didn't realize you had.

There job is to identify problems and solve them. You decide what problems you want solved. 

2. What is the cost of the problem?

Quantify your pain: in hours, accounts, and dollars. 

3. In House vs. Outsourcing

Do you want to hire someone new? Will their personality mix well with the others? Can you afford another headcount plus benefits? Thanks, Obama. 

Take a look around your office. Do you have any employees who possess the skills necessary to perform this new service? If so, are they reliable. Finally, are you able to shift their current work load elsewhere to free up time for their new responsibility?

If you answered "no" to any of these questions you should outsource the solution. It's easier to fire me for incompetence than Jerry who has been with you for 15 years. 

When outsourcing try not to engage more than 2 vendors. We will drive you nuts with our emails, voice mails, value touches, and check ins. You'll be so crazy you'll forget the problem you were trying to solve. 

4. Budget

In my world, like yours, you get what you pay for. 

6. Timeline

When do you want to hold the ground breaking ceremony? Have a good idea of when you can commit to minor to moderate office disruption for a couple of weeks to a couple of months. A strong employee & client engagement is critical and will be the biggest determining factor of your ROI. Take in to consideration vacations (summer) and any scheduled leave (medical) for key players and plan accordingly. 

7. ROI

This is where "cost of the problem" comes in to play. How will you know if the problem is being solved and at what rate? Will this new service return it's investment in years 1, 2 or 3? Evaluate your employee or vendor on a monthly basis and share your feedback. It's their job to execute. It's your job to hold them accountable.

This checklist is written by someone who has been on the buying end as well as the selling end and these are my best practices. I'm interested to learn some of your best practices. Leave a comment if you have a minute.

-R

No one cares what you do

Why should anyone really care what you do for a living? That is the harsh reality of the fast paced world we live in. Sure, people will listen to what you do. They might even nod and smile. But do they care? 

What do you do for a living Mark?     "I manufacture tiny screws that go in to toys."

I'm sorry, Beth. What did you say you do?      "I write a blog."

"I'm Rob, can I buy you a drink?" Sure, I'm having champagne. So what do you do?    "I sell insurance."

In one ear and out the other.

People care why you do something. If you want to get someone's attention these days you need to make an emotional connection. There has to be a human story they can get behind and relate to. Here are some of my past jobs since high school:

1. Helping seniors get their meals
2. Preventing foot pain for people of all ages
3. Making people feel like every night is a special occasion
4. Helping people stay closer to their friends & family

Can you guess some of my jobs? Here is a hint: I made minimum wage doing all of them.

1. Bag boy at a grocery store
2. Salesman at a shoe store
3. Waiter
4. Cell phones out of a kiosk

Our interactions and opportunities to capture someone's interest are so fleeting that we have to grab it immediately. Apply this to your prospecting efforts both face to face and over the phone.

You're at a networking event and you see a name tag of a person or company that is on your prospect list. Walk up to them and say hello, "Hi, I'm Rob. I help companies like ABC (their competitor) have happier employees that make more money. What do you do?" That's memorable.

It's your designated cold calling time. You've got your list for the day. The first call is to the CFO of a mid size retail company. She picks up the phone, "Hi Karen, it's Rob Erfurt. I help retailers avoid sexual harassment law suits and make their stores a safe place to come to work. Did I catch you in the middle of something?" She has to hear what you do.

Let's revisit our friends from the top, Mark, Beth, and Rob:

What do you do for a living Mark?     "I make sure children have safe toys"

I'm sorry, Beth. What did you say you do?      "I alert the public to business scams"

"I'm Rob, can I buy you a drink?" Sure, I'm having champagne. So what do you do?    "I protect families from tragedies and help them get their lives back together" You're a super hero and good looking? Are you married...

-R

No Pain, No Gain

YOU'VE GOT A LEAD. Someone left a message stating that they'd like to talk to you about their coverage. Maybe it was a voice mail, they saw your add in the back of the Weekly Saver. Or maybe it was an email from a client who wants you to call their friend who is the HR Director at a mid sized business in town. 

These are time sensitive opportunities that don't come as often as most insurance brokers would like. You need to get them on the phone as soon as possible before the next broker returns their call. You don't really think you're the only broker they're going to reach out to, do you?

YOU'VE GOT THEM ON THE PHONE. What would you do here? You have someone on the phone who wants to talk to you about buying insurance. Should you:

A) Tell them you have great customer service

B) Tell them you can get them the lowest rates

C) Tell them that you're a 3rd generation broker who is an expert

D) Ask them why they called

What would you do?

I guess a better way of thinking about it is what do you do? Your first reaction is probably to start talking about insurance, which is what most insurance brokers do. You don't want to be every other insurance broker, you want to stand out and be different. So do something completely crazy that they wouldn't have expected in a million years! Ask them some questions. 

Sales organizations that follow a Consultative Approach call this behavior QUALIFYING, the act of understanding the buyer's wants and needs. It is a critical step of the selling process. If we don't know what the buyer's pain point is we can't provide the remedy to make the sale. No pain, no gain.

LET'S QUALIFY THEM:

• How did you hear about us?
• Are you prepared to fire your incumbent broker?
• What do you like that your current broker does for you?
• What could they do better?
• Who is involved in your buying process?

Do you ask your prospects these questions? This is how you should open every conversation, with every prospect, every time. It lets them know that you are going to learn about their needs. It lets them know that you care. That you are here to listen. And there's a reason you ask these specific questions:

• How did you hear about us?
  • This tells you which marketing efforts are working and what got their interest.
• Are you prepared to fire your incumbent broker?
  • If the answer is no just end the conversation. If yes, ask why?
• What do you like that your current broker does for you?
  • This gives you baseline of their service expectations.
• Who is involved in your buying process?
  • This lets you know who you're currently dealing with and who you need to get to.

If you had this information after an initial conversation you would have power in the sales process. I'm not referring to you making the buying decision for the prospect. Rather, you have the power to pursue the sale or walk away. Insurance brokers who talk about themselves and rush to get a quote processed don't have that choice. They could be dumping valuable time and resources in to a lost cause. Let's assume the prospect was an assistant to the CFO. Their job may be to go to market for the CFO who will in turn use the quote to beat up the incumbent insurance broker.

Suppose you're talking to the CFO and they're the ultimate decision maker. Is this better than working with the secretary? Not necessarily. What if their broker is the CFO's brother? He isn't going to fire his brother. Maybe his brother wanted to see your work because you're competitors. 

By asking the important questions you are able to determine if this is the type of business you want to put time in to. As you know your time is money and your staff's time is money. 

You want to work with businesses who have already done their homework and researched you. They're prepared to make a clean separation from the incumbent insurance broker for specific reasons and you know what they liked about that broker as well. Finally, you know who you're speaking to and it is the decision maker. These are the only conversations I'm willing to have and you should consider setting your bar this high too.

-R