Broker blog

As we all wake up to this strange new post-election world, two things seem certain:

1. Very few, if any, of us saw this coming.

Have you ever missed an opportunity and kicked yourself for not seeing it or doing it? There’s “seeing” an opportunity and then there’s “doing” something about it. Further, there’s “doing” it right. Just because you’re aware of an opportunity, doesn’t mean you actually took action - and just because you took action, doesn’t mean it was the right action.

Last week was our company’s anniversary. 7 years ago I woke up, opened my computer, took out my phone and started calling brokers to tell our story of how we could help Americans save on their healthcare.

Have you noticed the amount of new services in the benefits industry? To name a few: identity theft protection, telehealth, doctors online, advocacy, pet care insurance, savings networks, legal plans, cancer/critical illness/accident insurances, international medical and the list goes on.

While these can bring added complication to a sales or planning conversation, there’s a lot of opportunity to not only help your client, but also your paycheck.

Are you using LinkedIn to build your business? …sell a product or service? …get personal introductions from other connections? ...find a new job? …establish yourself as a thought leader?

“Piece of cake,” I thought when I was asked a few weeks ago to write an article in early October about the upcoming presidential election. I was confident that, one month before Election Day, we’d have a pretty good idea who our next president will be and how his or her proposals will affect the health insurance industry. Boy was I wrong.

I recently started doing crossword puzzles. They can be challenging and will exercise your mental muscle.  When evaluating the clues, you have to think outside the box as the answers are often not as obvious as you’d think. Many times you need to complete sections around the most difficult words so the letters help complete the picture. Completed words lead to other words. 

The need for telehealth is obvious these days. However, with more and more of the benefits budget being used up by the medical plan, many turn to voluntary offerings. A voluntary strategy allows the employee to purchase services they feel suit them best, and this is usually a good approach.