When talking about benefit plans at open enrollment with employer clients or employees, I always encourage broker-adviser partners to think of it in terms of attending their favorite performer's concert.
Let's say you just bought tickets to Metallica, Jay-Z or Elton John. You're spending top dollar and time to see the main event, the headliner. But the party starts with the opening act. The same can be said about benefits enrollment.
I made this analogy recently, during a spirited webchat series sponsored by BCS Financial Corporation alongside host Ed Ligonde, EVP of Nielsen Benefits Group (and my weekly podcast co-host), Charlotte Santa Cruz of Santa Cruz Insurance Group, and Dan McNeill, director of ancillary products and distribution strategy for BCS Financial. We all weighed in with ideas for raising the bar on employee engagement at open enrollment.
As night follows day, every employer and employee wants to learn about health insurance offerings. It's their No. 1 concern. And as someone who specializes in what I like to call "enhanced" benefits, which the rest of the industry describes as "voluntary," I get that — and it's totally fine. Supplemental medical, hospital indemnity, accident, critical illness, disability, life, prepaid legal or anything else that's in the mix are always the opening act. But the learning curve is steeper for these benefits, which can be glossed over at open-enrollment gatherings.
With that in mind, why would you ever talk about health...
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