Prospecting 51-250 for Group Benefits

I currently have about 10% of my book in the 51+ market. I am looking to move into that market more now that my book is significant. We have not had much success in cold calling larger group vs. small group business. What other ideas or marketing campaigns have brokers had success with in this market? Any insight would be very helpful.
 
I currently have about 10% of my book in the 51+ market. I am looking to move into that market more now that my book is significant. We have not had much success in cold calling larger group vs. small group business. What other ideas or marketing campaigns have brokers had success with in this market? Any insight would be very helpful.

What obstacles are you running into when cold calling the larger groups?

You really have to network into the HR world for the larger groups. I know of a guy who would run lunch seminars for HR execs. It was a true educational seminar and not just a sales pitch. He landed some big groups from that.
 
I currently have about 10% of my book in the 51+ market. I am looking to move into that market more now that my book is significant. We have not had much success in cold calling larger group vs. small group business. What other ideas or marketing campaigns have brokers had success with in this market? Any insight would be very helpful.

I found it much easier to bypass HR altogether and go directly to the head of the snake so to speak....it's much easier to get an audience with the owner/Pres or CEO of small or medium sized firms than you may think.
 
I found it much easier to bypass HR altogether and go directly to the head of the snake so to speak....it's much easier to get an audience with the owner/Pres or CEO of small or medium sized firms than you may think.

When you get to the level of 100 plus, often the owner is deferring most all of those decisions to the head of HR. At least in my experience they do. The owner might sign off on what the HR Director chooses. But in my experience usually it is the HR Director heading up things when dealing with groups that are 100 plus.

Of course if the owner is telling the HR Director to give you a shot and to get quotes from you then that does put you in a good position. But the bigger the firm is the less likely that is going to happen from a cold call.
 
When you get to the level of 100 plus, often the owner is deferring most all of those decisions to the head of HR. At least in my experience they do. The owner might sign off on what the HR Director chooses. But in my experience usually it is the HR Director heading up things when dealing with groups that are 100 plus.

Of course if the owner is telling the HR Director to give you a shot and to get quotes from you then that does put you in a good position. But the bigger the firm is the less likely that is going to happen from a cold call.

actually, I've F0UND IT TO BE JUST THE OPPOSITE. THE LARGER THE FIRM THE EASIER IT IS TO GET TO THE HEAD HONCHO....NEVER HAD MUCH USE FOR HR FOLKS UNTIL THE DECISION HAS BEEN MADE FOR THEM AND THEY SIMPLY HANDLE THE DETAILS.

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Sorry about the caps.....muscle spasm :)
 
actually, I've F0UND IT TO BE JUST THE OPPOSITE. THE LARGER THE FIRM THE EASIER IT IS TO GET TO THE HEAD HONCHO....NEVER HAD MUCH USE FOR HR FOLKS UNTIL THE DECISION HAS BEEN MADE FOR THEM AND THEY SIMPLY HANDLE THE DETAILS.

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Sorry about the caps.....muscle spasm :)

I never said it was hard. Just that benefit decisions for insurance are usually delegated to others in the firm.

Ive landed groups as small as 3 and as large as 3000. The larger the group, the more power HR has over benefit decisions. Especially the group health and supplemental plans.

This has nothing to do with how hard or how easy it is to get the CEO on the phone.

Out of curiosity what do you do and how long have you been doing it?
 
I never said it was hard. Just that benefit decisions for insurance are usually delegated to others in the firm.

Ive landed groups as small as 3 and as large as 3000. The larger the group, the more power HR has over benefit decisions. Especially the group health and supplemental plans.

This has nothing to do with how hard or how easy it is to get the CEO on the phone.

Out of curiosity what do you do and how long have you been doing it?

Benefits Recovery currently. Usually set up appointments on site thru the gatekeeper.
 
It seems to me, from getting into this over the last few months, that it is kind of all over the place with small group under 200. The smallest I've had is one that I'm working on now (18) and it is completely up to his assistant (sec, hr, admin, etc.). He wants her to handle it start to finish. The other two, which were much larger, the owner has been intimately involved.
 
Benefits Recovery currently. Usually set up appointments on site thru the gatekeeper.

Benefits Recovery is something a CEO of a large company would be directly involved in. When I cold call for 401k plans or NQDC, I go straight to the Owner/CEO.

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It seems to me, from getting into this over the last few months, that it is kind of all over the place with small group under 200. The smallest I've had is one that I'm working on now (18) and it is completely up to his assistant (sec, hr, admin, etc.). He wants her to handle it start to finish. The other two, which were much larger, the owner has been intimately involved.

Your right, it is.
I have a 150 person group where the owner is totally hands off with the Insurance. He only is involved with major changes to plan design. But I have a 200 person group where the owner wants to be at every meeting and every review for the group health. But generally speaking, from my experience, the larger the group the larger the importance of the HR manager.

And its not uncommon for ultra small groups to have a trusted assistant/etc. take care of a lot of the decision making. Some business owners, especially of very small businesses, do not trust themselves with finances. Its sad really (especially since they are in charge of their employees financial future).


One interesting thing Ive found over the years is that the ones who control when small and delegate more and more as they grow... are the ones that expand the most. (generally speaking)
Ive got a construction firm that has been around 30 employees for the past 9 years. The owner makes zero insurance decisions and has his office manager make them all (even personal insurance). I have another construction firm that started 4 years ago with 5 guys. Now they are at 50 and looking to add 10 more this year they claim. Exact opposite when it comes to the decision making process. At first he was 100% hands on, now more and more is delegated to his office manager. Now its just her and I reviewing renewals and discussing possible changes. If a major change is made the owner will sit in for that and make the final decision, but thats all.

It is very interesting for me to watch how my clients businesses do over the years and comparing it to their decision making process and personality. Obviously everyone is different, but sometimes you do start to see general traits and patterns.
 
I currently have about 10% of my book in the 51+ market. I am looking to move into that market more now that my book is significant. We have not had much success in cold calling larger group vs. small group business. What other ideas or marketing campaigns have brokers had success with in this market? Any insight would be very helpful.

What are you saying on the cold call? Your goal on the phone should only be to build rapport and endear yourself enough to them that they are not able to decline a brief introductory meeting.
 
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