Broker blog

How have you stayed competitive through all of the shifts we've experienced in healthcare? As brokers, you've had to provide more for your clients, while commissions took a dip. 

Unless you’ve been under a rock the past few days, you’ve heard that Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan Chase announced a collaboration to do something about healthcare for their employees. While the announcement highlighted goals of transparency, tech innovation, and forsaken profits – it didn’t include details of how these goals would be achieved. So, what are we supposed to think?

I'm still digesting all of the learnings from the Q4Live Conference in Tampa (writing this article helps a LOT). 

What a great group of consultants, speakers - and no one expected a pirate attack.  Actually, it was the Gasparilla Pirate festival outside our hotel. OR maybe it was a group of panicky brokers who didn't want to lose any more clients to the expert advisors collected at the La Meridian Hotel. 

The conference was packed with insight that I've boiled down to a list of my 4 big takeaways….  

Have you ever returned from a conference with literally dozens of "must do" strategies in your brain? I just attended the 2018 ASCEND Agency Growth & Leadership Summit in Music City, Tennessee. A tremendous amount of talent was in the room and tools and strategies were shared to help agencies grow to the next level. 

I'm sharing 5 of my favorite overall learnings. Believe me, it wasn't easy to narrow the list! 

Have you heard the saying, "When one door closes, another opens?" Well, that's what should happen, but when it comes to accessing the healthcare system, it's not always the case. 

Now that we’re through the Q4 crunch, are you getting to know your family and friends again (kidding, not kidding)? A big part of my “off-season” is spent learning and planning and books are key in this process. 

I read (or re-read) books from successful business owners, marketers, and entrepreneurs. Reid Rasmussen, the CEO of freshbenies, encourages our entire team to read constantly (check out his 5 tips to maintain the habit). 

I have the craziest conversations with people telling me that social media and marketing activities are a waste of time, and they don’t see how social/marketing could influence anything substantial, like their business. And when I look at their LinkedIn profiles, I see zero activity. Yet, some have hundreds of connections.

How are your enrollment meetings going? 

In my 15 years in the employee benefits industry, I’ve had my share of great and not-so-great enrollment experiences. I’m sharing 4 tips to help make the most of your voluntary enrollment meetings, particularly with larger groups… 

1. Conditions

I’ve found that there are TWO key components for successful enrollments meetings…