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Employee Benefits

How Specialists Can Help Your Adviser Cook Up The Perfect Benefits Plan

by The Benefits Group
October 15, 2019

Building a high-quality, cost-effective benefits plan requires putting a lot of pieces together in exactly the right way, and when you’re searching for an adviser, you should look for someone who knows how those pieces fit best for your business. A great adviser won’t assume that they know everything about every aspect of the healthcare industry, but they will know how to find the right industry experts and bring them together to build unique solutions for your company.

Here’s why you should always work with an adviser who wants to build the perfect benefits team:

THE MISSING INGREDIENTS

The healthcare industry is a massive, complex machine with countless moving parts. A great adviser will know how all those parts work together to help the machine function properly, but they’re unlikely to know everything about the parts themselves.

This concept is the same in virtually any other field as well. A bakery manager, for example, knows how to make customers happy by combining great food with great service. In the kitchen, though, the bakers are the ones mixing the right ingredients together and heating them at the perfect temperature for the perfect amount of time. And of course, the bakers’ success relies on the skills and knowledge of the people growing the ingredients and manufacturing the ovens.

Just like customers at a bakery, your job as an employer isn’t to worry about all the smaller processes going on in the background of your benefits plan. If you have a great adviser, they’ll put the perfect team together so you can relax and enjoy the final product.

CONNECTING THE CONNECTIONS

Your adviser doesn’t need to know how to perform surgery in order to be great at their job. Instead, they should be experts in connecting the healthcare specialists who can optimize the quality of your plan. This means that your adviser should be able to:

  • Be aware of the areas in which they need specialists’ advice
  • Know where to look for subject matter experts
  • Understand how to apply the specialists’ advice to reduce costs and improve the quality of your plan

This is why finding an adviser who understands the healthcare supply chain is crucial to the success of your own plan. By seeking out the right experts and being willing to team up with them, your adviser can create a team of specialists who can maximize the positive impact of your plan at every point, from pharmaceuticals to benefits administration to primary care.

NO MORE KNOW-IT-ALLS

Don’t be fooled by brokers who claim to be experts in every area of the benefits industry. In fact, being unwilling to ask questions or seek outside help should be a major red flag in your search for an adviser. Can you imagine the chaos if the aforementioned bakery manager tried to fix a faulty oven instead of calling in a trained repairman? A broker who makes decisions about your plan without consulting specialists could have the same effect on your plan, burning up your savings opportunities and charring the quality of your employees’ care.

Advisers who search for specialists to partner with are simply ensuring that you get the very best from your plan. The healthcare supply chain is long and complicated, and your adviser will have more success managing it effectively if they can consult with the experts within it.

A RECIPE FOR SUCCESS & SAVINGS

Being willing to admit when expert advice is needed can be one of the most important qualities your adviser can have. By identifying how specialists could help your plan and making the right connections, your adviser avoids the toxic trap of assuming that their existing knowledge is all that’s needed to optimize your plan. The end result is likely to be a pretty sweet plan for both your business and your employees.

Contact us today to learn more about how teaming up with healthcare specialists can help your adviser make the most out of your plan.

Employee Benefits

Why Understanding Your Adviser’s Mission is Crucial to an Effective Benefits Plan

by The Benefits Group
October 2, 2019

Many business owners see their benefits plan as just another annual expense. The truth, however, is that your company’s plan is a deeply personal investment, and your adviser should treat it as such. When choosing to work with an adviser, you and your business deserve better than whichever broker can offer you the “least expensive” increase on your renewal. Instead, find out what your prospective adviser’s mission is, and see if it aligns with your goals. If you and your adviser see eye to eye on what your plan should be doing for your employees, the results could include dramatic growth for your business over time.

Here’s why you should always learn about your adviser’s mission before deciding to work with them:

Prioritizing People

While, yes, your plan should help you create savings to help your business grow, your adviser should be focused on building a benefits plan that takes care of your employees. At its core, the healthcare industry is about keeping people healthy, and your adviser should be focused on creating a plan that reflects that by providing care that’s:

  • High-quality – Your adviser shouldn’t cut corners just to save you money if it means compromising your employees’ health.
  • Affordable – Great care is only great if your employees can get it without sacrificing their financial wellbeing in the process.
  • Accessible – If your employees can’t use their benefits because their providers are too far away or they’re worried about taking time off work to go to the doctor, their health may suffer as a result.

Choosing an adviser who sees your employees’ health and happiness as the ultimate goal can make a huge difference in how your plan impacts your business, and you should establish whether or not your employees are part of their mission before signing a contract.

The Same Vision

Even if you and your adviser have the same overarching goals in mind, you may still be a poor fit for each other. Once you’ve established that you and your adviser are on the same page regarding why you want to build a better benefits plan, you should have a discussion about what it’s going to take to achieve those goals. Talk about what your other goals are for your business. How do you want to see it grow? How much will your adviser be involved in the process? How much are you willing to change your current plan to see the results you’re hoping for?

This can be a tough conversation to have with a prospective adviser, but it will reveal whether you see eye-to-eye on how your benefits plan can be used as a strategic advantage for your business. For example, if a prospective broker is only willing to meet with you once a year when it’s time to renew your plan, it can indicate that they’re not as invested in their mission as they need to be to help your business grow. However, if you meet with an adviser who proves that they’re dedicated to their mission by meeting with you throughout the year and offering a performance guarantee, you may be on the right track to forming a great benefits team.

Vision, Mission, Values.

A Plan You Can Get Behind

Making sure you and your adviser are walking the same path isn’t just important so you feel comfortable about who you’re working with – it’s crucial to making your benefits plan as effective as possible. Even if your adviser provides you with the best tools and strategies they have at their disposal, they won’t work if you and your employees don’t buy in to what your adviser tells you.

By making sure you and your adviser have the same mission, you’ll feel more comfortable following your adviser’s recommendations. Your employees will then follow your example and become more engaged in their plan, using the tools your adviser provides to help create savings for both themselves and the business. By simply working with an adviser whose mission you believe in, you can create a chain reaction that can help your business save tens of thousands of dollars every year.

Putting Passion Into Your Plan

A broker who sees your plan as nothing but paperwork and dollar signs can’t take your business where you want it to go. By working with an adviser who prioritizes your employees’ care and has the same goals for your plan as you do, you’ll be on your way to having a benefits plan that you and your employees will be eager to work with, setting your workers and your company up for success.

Contact us today to learn more about how an adviser who fits your business can give you a benefits plan you can believe in.

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