CONSULTATIVE CROSS SELLING    With an eye on health care reform, this Connecticut agency diversifies its employee benefits and services offerings It's all part of the same risk assessment puzzle-property risks, casualty risks, and employee health and safety. Total asset protection, including employee benefits that protect employees, should be a strategic target for all agents and brokers, says Joseph B. Smith, CPCU, ARM, president of Smith Brothers Insurance in Glastonbury, Connecticut. "We take a diagnostic approach. When we meet with clients for the first time, we bring a team that includes P-C producers and employee benefits producers and any other agency experts that can help our clients take a comprehensive look at their company, its risks and potential solutions. "'What are your goals, objectives, strengths, needs, risks and opportunities? How does it all come together?' Those are the types of questions we ask." Employee benefits contributes about 20% of revenues and benefits expertise is a critical component of the full service the firm provides, Smith says. "When we meet a prospect for the first time, we are there as a team to introduce our culture and our capabilities and explore how they align with the potential client and its spectrum of needs." Smith Brothers Insurance was founded in 1971 by the original Smith Brothers, Bob and Brian. The agency now employs about 100 in six divisions: Risk Management, Surety, Benefits, Special Accounts (small business and commercial), Property and Casualty (large and mid-sized accounts) and Financial Services. Click here for the complete article …

Why Don't They Want/Use My Solutions?    The high cost of doing nothing I hear various broker conversations that include a similar complaint: that prospects just don't seem to truly appreciate the worth of the value-added services being offered and, even when they do recognize their potential benefit, they don't use them once they become a client. There are many reasons for this, but I'm going to focus here on several within the broker's control. I am certain that many of the value-added solutions you take to your clients and prospects are intended to help improve their internal communications. You set up Web sites, you provide brochure/newsletter content, you discuss year-round communication strategy, you provide communication resources to improve performance management, and perhaps you even suggest ways to improve communication with their clients. I would also hazard a guess that you can empathize with these conversations, that you have prospects to whom you present your solutions, prospects who would clearly benefit from having them, but who are never compelled to hire you to get the job done. I am just as certain that at least some of the prospects who do become clients never utilize the solution as either of you intended. That lack of use will almost always happen for two reasons. • First, prospect/client never finds the motivation to do the hard work of implementing the new solution/process/procedure that you are offering. This is largely because too many sales processes lead with the solution rather than a conversation about why the prospect may need the solution. Click here for the complete article …

CHANGE IN THINKING REQUIRED    Wellness program reduces health costs, increases productivity If there has been one overriding concern shared by large and small employers alike, it's how to control employee health care costs. Without a doubt, maximizing employee health and productivity has been and continues to be a top priority for business leaders around the country. Because most employers consider these programs to be a vital part of an employee's benefit package, corporations are eager to find some way to control these escalating costs. However, despite the best efforts of the employers, medical cost trends have risen steadily over the past 20 years. In most cases, annual health coverage costs are rising at a pace far outstripping general inflation. Historically, employers have looked to the health and disease management industry for assistance. It was believed that motivating the employee was all that was required to reduce costs, but low engagement rates have made it difficult to effectively activate employee health behavior. As a result, to date, these types of organizations have been only marginally successful in providing more cost effective programs. New insights Recently the National Business Group on Health (NBGH) completed a study of 3,000 employees and dependents on their perspectives, behaviors and attitudes towards employer health and wellness programs. The study provided some very interesting insights for employers to be aware of when developing strategies to hold down health care costs. The study revealed that employees "want their employers to do more to help them improve their health, and get the most from their employer-provided health and wellness plans." Click here for the complete article … ONE COMPANY'S COMMITMENT TO EMPLOYER-PAID BENEFITS    In an era of cutbacks, what does a different approach look like? When we hear about a well-established business trend, it is wise to remember that not everyone is following that trend. And sometimes there is much to be learned from those who don't follow the herd. Large numbers of companies have reduced their employer-funded benefits in the last few years, often shifting to more extensive use of voluntary benefits. Owners of these firms see this as a prudent course in light of the relentless rise in medical insurance costs and the sputtering economy, which clouds their revenue prospects. Employees, fully aware of the uncertain job market, are likely to acquiesce. What are the exceptions to this trend? There are companies that are able to maintain consistently rich employer-paid benefits because their industry-such as the oil business-is somewhat immune from economic weakness. Or because there is fierce competition for talent-as in Silicon Valley tech firms. But these firms, rather than eschewing the herd mentality, are really just following their own, different, herd. Western National Insurance Company, a Minnesota-based property/casualty insurance company, represents a true exception to the trend toward employer-paid benefits cutbacks. The insurer, which has fewer than 400 employees, is represented by some 750 independent P-C agents in 13 Midwestern and Western states for personal lines and commercial lines. Operating under the cost pressures that our industry knows all too well, Western National was recently named one of the "10 Best Companies for Employee Financial Security" by Principal Financial Group. Western National also was listed as one of the "Top 100 Workplaces in Minnesota" last year by the Minneapolis Star Tribune, based on the newspaper's survey of Western National employees. Click here for the complete article …  Click here to unsubscribe This message was sent by The Rough Notes Company, Inc., 11690 Technology Drive, Carmel, Indiana, 46032 1-800-428-4384