Make this year your best year ever by taking the time to get prepared for open enrollment with an amazing plan. In this post we look at the 5 top tips that the best brokers will take advantage of at various stages throughout the year to ensure a wildly successful open enrollment season.
12 Months Out/All Year Round
1. Plan “excuses” to connect with clients throughout the year to build a case for certain open enrollment choices so clients are ready to opt for them when the time comes
As a broker you already know just how important it is to be in regular contact with clients. However, some brokers worry that they’ll pester clients if they’re in contact with them too much outside of open enrollment. If you’re worried that constant emails will be unwelcome, you can stop worrying.
Clients want to receive valuable information. They desperately want information which directly benefits them because they’re usually too busy to educate themselves on all the latest trends and changes in healthcare, and this type of information is exactly what you’re sending. You aren’t sending junk with no value which is what would put a client off.
So, this year, make it a point to establish a regular schedule for sending content to clients and stick to it (e-newsletters and email marketing works best). The content you send will build a case for certain open enrollment options, which means by the time open enrollment comes around, clients will need less convincing, and instead of selling, you can focus on helping them enroll in various packages.
If you still need to see “proof” that you won’t be bothering your clients with your emails, consider these statistics1:
• Brokers are 6x more likely to get a click-through from an email than from a tweet
• Email is 40 times more effective when it comes to acquiring new customers than Facebook or Twitter
• Email subscribers (such as those that subscribe to your e-newsletter) are 3 times more likely to share your content via social media than visitors from other sources
The lesson learned? People are reading emails and e-newsletters and those who subscribe to your newsletter want to hear what you have to say.
So, here are a few ideas for staying in contact with clients throughout the year:
• Attend benefit/healthcare conferences and send summaries of what you learned, suggesting ways clients can operationalize your recommendations during open enrollment. Remember, clients want to hear from you—the likeable expert— about what you think. Attending conferences and giving your take on what was presented is one way to give clients what they crave while preparing them for open enrollment at the same time.
• “Get real” and send stories about real people, their health, and how benefit options relate to their situation. For example, you might tell a story about a person you know who just had a baby. You can share the wonderful news in story format, for example, you can talk a bit about their birth story, some humorous bits about the baby’s personality, and more. Then you can share information about the healthcare options the young family may want to consider and why—again giving your take as the likeable expert, because that’s what your clients crave.
• Leverage recognition days. Find a list of recognition days or use this one and highlight the days you think you can make relate to benefit options and healthcare plans. For example, March 20th is World Oral Health Day and April 7th is World Health Day. Send emails or newsletters which bridge these themes with issues you know are relevant to your clients. If you need help brainstorming ideas, you could always take advantage of what’s trending at the time by searching Google Trends.
3 Months Out
2. Educate clients early to fill knowledge deficits and pave a smooth path forward for open enrollment
Clients who occupy positions as human resource specialists face several challenges. They must stay educated about benefit options, rules and regulations. They must be aware of and address their employees’ needs. And, they must plan for a productive future—anticipating what the company and its employees will need down the road. As a benefits broker, you can accomplish a great deal by helping them with the education aspect of their jobs.
As open enrollment approaches, you can provide your clients with several resources which not only explain the topics, benefits, and options they’re interested in but also suggest ways to get started with various packages and options.
By getting client education out of the way before open enrollment you not only reinforce your position as a valuable resource, but you also take care of the information gathering stage—a stage that precedes nearly all buying decisions, including decisions to enroll in benefit options during open enrollment.
Though you probably already have an idea about the education your clients need, a recent survey suggests some areas with which human resource officers want assistance. Inside Higher Ed’s 2013 Survey of Human Resource Officers2 revealed 70% of HR officers are moderately to very concerned about healthcare costs in retirement, and only 25% of HR officers believe their organizations hold sufficient knowledge about retirement-related issues. Educating your clients about healthcare costs in retirement may be an excellent way to set them up for relevant benefits during open enrollment.
Of course, with all the changes to New York’s rules and regulations regarding the commuter benefits plan, educating clients about commuter benefits before open enrollment may also be helpful.
Finding the time to educate clients will probably be difficult. However, we have a few ideas that you can implement to get client education out of the way without devoting too much of your time to the task. They include:
• Webinars- Find a webinar that address the issues you need to educate clients about and connect clients to it. Clients can watch the webinar when they have time and follow up with you if they have additional questions.
• Email courses- Create or find a free email course that explains essential healthcare/benefit topics. Clients will receive an email a day or an email a week and can slowly come up to speed on key topics.
• Free articles- Share articles you receive or find articles that provide useful information. While these may not cover everything about a given topic, they’ll start an important discussion with your client—one that could lead to sales during open enrollment.
3. Make a checklist and take care of basic but essential reporting requirements before open enrollment starts so you can focus on helping clients with more complex decisions during open enrollment
As healthcare continues to become more complex with constantly changing rules and regulations, getting certain basic but essential reporting tasks out of the way ahead of time can pave the road to a smoother, faster, and more efficient open enrollment season.
The easiest way to take care of these details is to use a form that can be emailed to clients and ask them to fill in the details. You can then check the box on this task and use the information to help you prepare customized solutions for your clients. An alternative to a fillable form would be an online survey. You can send the link to your clients and ask them to fill it out.
1-2 Months Out
4. Notify clients ahead of time to let them know how you will personally be available to assist them and their employees with online enrollment and what unique support tools you’ll be offering
Even though clients and their employees want to use an online enrollment platform and take care of open enrollment tasks on their own, they are still going to want personalized support. The best open enrollment system—and the one your clients and their employees will want—combines technology and the human touch.
Impress your clients and reinforce your value by being proactive. Reach out to them ahead of time and let them know when you or another benefit specialist will be available in person to assist them with open-enrollment. You can also provide step-by-step directions for how to enroll, addressing areas you know are likely to trip people up, and send these directions out with your availability.
Be sure to offer clients and employees multiple ways to reach you, including by phone, email, chat, or text.
Being personally available can make a world of difference to your clients and they’re going to remember how accessible and friendly you were.
During Open Enrollment
5. Bring out your “secret weapons” and wow clients by substantially easing their burden
When open enrollment finally comes around, your preparation will start to pay off. Now’s the time to bring it home by bringing out your “secret weapons” and demonstrating just how spectacular a broker you are.
What secret weapons are we talking about?
That’s simple. Mobile solutions and decision-support tools. Reduce the burden your clients in HR feel by connecting their employees to online enrollment solutions and support tools. Not only does this give your clients a breather during a hectic time, but it also addresses the needs of Millennials who seek these types of enrollment options.
Make it possible for employees, especially Millennials, to enroll using their smart phones. Put short bits of information in front of them where they can see it on their phones. For example, you can provide videos and price comparisons. And then make decision-support tools available to them as they enroll. Decision-support tools provide the personalized enrollment process your clients and their employees crave, in an empathetic way, by tailoring the experience to the individual, while letting them enroll on their own online.
Start with a Reliable Partner
There’s no denying it—getting prepared for open enrollment is a year-round job that requires planning. Fortunately, you don’t have to do it all on your own. Before you start preparing for open enrollment, partner with an organization that can connect you to the tools, resources, and information you’ll need. This will seriously cut down on the time needed to prepare, and it demonstrates to your clients that you have the right connections and support. For more information on how you can get help preparing for open enrollment, visit Clarity Benefit Solutions today.
Sources:
1. https://www.campaignmonitor.com/blog/email-marketing/2016/01/70-email-marketing-stats-you-need-to-know/
2. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/survey/wellness-plans-retirement-and-adjunct-health-care-survey-chief-hr-officers
