Back in the day, distant memory for many of us, agents could earn a good 6-figure income selling Major Med alone. A lot of water has gone under the bridge since then. Times have changed and with that many have left the industry, incapable of making a sustainable income like they used to. Not being skilled in cross-selling or lacking an understanding of “ancillary” products, they failed to take advantage of new trends emerging in the marketplace. What are these trends? As you will see … [Read more...]
EGWP: Lower-Cost Solution for Public Agencies
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From the East Coast to the West Coast and at almost every location in between, public entities are struggling to balance diminished revenue, increasing demands for service and the rising costs of employee benefits. In fact, bankruptcy is either looming or has become reality for a number of local governments, including the cities as far apart as Stockton, California and Central Falls, Rhode Island. Finding a way to cover obligations at a lower cost has never been a more pressing … [Read more...]
Creating Your Marketing Machine with Voluntary Benefits
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As I’ve often said, opening the door to the voluntary sale is a much more difficult task than opening the door to the group major medical sale. In the major medical sale the employer is generally highly motivated to seek solutions to the escalating premiums since he is most likely paying the bill. However, there is no such motivation when it comes to voluntary benefits. Despite the increased difficulty in opening new opportunities, the group health agent would be well served to become … [Read more...]
The Fee-for-Service Model: How to Position Your Practice
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What are you worth to any one of your clients? I mean in dollars. What’s your actual dollar value to your client? Do you have any idea? Does it come anywhere close to the commission you are making off the client? Is your client aware of the added value you provide? It’s a question you should be asking yourself. And it’s not an idle exercise. Aetna Is First In what it calls “post-reform positioning,” Aetna announced in April 2011 it is shifting to a “service fee broker … [Read more...]
Critical Illness Plans With Many Covered Conditions
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This article is an extension of the article, Your Guide to Living Benefits in Insurance Plans. Whereas Cancer Insurance and Heart Attack/Stroke Insurance are very specific to those conditions, there is another broad category of insurance that provides living benefits. This is your more comprehensive Critical Illness insurance plans which cover up to 18 different conditions. This category could be quite lengthy but we are going to simplify and give you guidance. Most all critical illness … [Read more...]
Voluntary Benefit Plans: Why Bother?
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Confidence in voluntary benefits is on the rise among carriers, brokers, customers and vendors in the market, according to a recent survey by Connecticut-based Eastbridge Consulting Group. The survey’s confidence index – based on sales growth, industry profitability and employee enthusiasm about products – continued to increase through the end of 2011, and 95 percent of survey respondents expected sales growth to continue throughout 2012. Voluntary Benefit Plans let employees choose … [Read more...]
