Prospecting for Group Benefits

[newbie2001]

Hey everyone,

I'm looking to add group health into my repertoire. I've talked to a few brokers and done my research but now I'm just wondering how to market.

I'm used to direct mail and workshops/seminars but I've been having a lot of people tell me I just have to do walk-ins in order to group business.

Honestly, that's not something I'm super comfortable with. I joined my local chamber of commerce and hope to meet some small business owners there that have employees but any advice on this topic

 

[rmhaire]

I'm used to direct mail and workshops/seminars but I've been having a lot of people tell me I just have to do walk-ins in order to group business.

Hate to break it to you but you just named one of the best ways to write group. Walking and talking.

You'll pick up some business with direct mail but not much. And workshops and seminars would be a waste of time. Small business owners don't go to workshops. Simply too much on their plate for that.

The two best ways are simply walking in and introducing yourself and calling on the phone.

You need to find out why you don't like to make cold calls and change it.

 

[LeeV]

rmhaire brings up some good points. I have been a group rep for 42 years and what I have seen from the brokers I work with is walk-ins, referrals, and being involved in organizations such as the CoC, SHRM, etc.

Group business has a long sales cycle, so do not become too discouraged. You will need to learn about the various products, create a brand for yourself, and have a 30 second elevator pitch. rmhaire is correct in that most of your prospects will not have much time. Best of luck.

 

[newbie2001]

rmhaire brings up some good points. I have been a group rep for 42 years and what I have seen from the brokers I work with is walk-ins, referrals, and being involved in organizations such as the CoC, SHRM, etc.

Group business has a long sales cycle, so do not become too discouraged. You will need to learn about the various products, create a brand for yourself, and have a 30 second elevator pitch. rmhaire is correct in that most of your prospects will not have much time. Best of luck.

Question then. What kind of business do you walk into?
HVAC, Plumbing, Electrical? Obviously restaurants are tough because not many are on salary.

What is CoC?

I've had it easy ish by creating mainly inbound leads for my individual business and haven't had to reach outbound now for almost a year and a half since I stopped selling FEX as my primary product.

 

[newbie2001]

Hate to break it to you but you just named one of the best ways to write group. Walking and talking.

You'll pick up some business with direct mail but not much. And workshops and seminars would be a waste of time. Small business owners don't go to workshops. Simply too much on their plate for that.

The two best ways are simply walking in and introducing yourself and calling on the phone.

You need to find out why you don't like to make cold calls and change it.

Yeah I just don't know what to say... planning on offering mostly ICHRA as a savings opportunity for employers.

 

[LeeV]

Question then. What kind of business do you walk into?
HVAC, Plumbing, Electrical? Obviously restaurants are tough because not many are on salary.

What is CoC?

I've had it easy ish by creating mainly inbound leads for my individual business and haven't had to reach outbound now for almost a year and a half since I stopped selling FEX as my primary product.

Sorry, CoC is Chamber of Commerce, the other is Human Resource associations.

Saw your post about "offering ICHRA's as a way for employers to save money. Suggest you create an elevator speech that identifies yourself as being in the employee benefits space, you are independent and work with a variety of companies. You do not know that the solution will be an ICHRA, so do not lead with any type of product solution.

You will be behind the 8-ball on this because you are new. Just start walking in or talking to people, its the best way to learn. Make sure you get name of decision maker or the person you talked to and the date of their renewal. Any other information is helpful, but not all that important. Good luck.

 

[newbie2001]

Sorry, CoC is Chamber of Commerce, the other is Human Resource associations.

Saw your post about "offering ICHRA's as a way for employers to save money. Suggest you create an elevator speech that identifies yourself as being in the employee benefits space, you are independent and work with a variety of companies. You do not know that the solution will be an ICHRA, so do not lead with any type of product solution.

You will be behind the 8-ball on this because you are new. Just start walking in or talking to people, its the best way to learn. Make sure you get name of decision maker or the person you talked to and the date of their renewal. Any other information is helpful, but not all that important. Good luck.

I just joined my local town's chamber today.

Yeah I need to get contracted with all the big guys for fully insured and level funded... just haven't taken the time to do it because I don't have any prospects.

 

[newbie2001]

Sorry, CoC is Chamber of Commerce, the other is Human Resource associations.

Saw your post about "offering ICHRA's as a way for employers to save money. Suggest you create an elevator speech that identifies yourself as being in the employee benefits space, you are independent and work with a variety of companies. You do not know that the solution will be an ICHRA, so do not lead with any type of product solution.

You will be behind the 8-ball on this because you are new. Just start walking in or talking to people, its the best way to learn. Make sure you get name of decision maker or the person you talked to and the date of their renewal. Any other information is helpful, but not all that important. Good luck.

Can you collapse groups mid-year or do you have to wait for the renewal date?

 

[Jim Wright]

Yeah I just don't know what to say... planning on offering mostly ICHRA as a savings opportunity for employers.

I wouldn't offer ICHRA until you are well versed in group benefits. A lot of people think they can do ICHRA because they know individual. That's the smallest part of it. It's just the vehicle to do group health. Not to mention you need to see their whole benefit picture, not just health. See if you can find a GA or some other kind of group benefit expert to help you.

Can you collapse groups mid-year or do you have to wait for the renewal date?

Not sure what you mean by "collapse" but you can AOR a group mid year

 

[LeeV]

Can you collapse groups mid-year or do you have to wait for the renewal date?

You can for fully insured, but this is rare. Almost impossible for self-funded. Employers don't want the hassle and good chance you are not going to show them anything with significant savings to incentivize them.