Cement your small group book of business with voluntary benefits

Employees demand more of their employer’s benefits than ever before. A recent WTW survey shows that only six in 10 are satisfied with their benefit offerings.

But why does that matter to health insurance agents?

On the same survey, two in 10 employers cite employee satisfaction as a chief driver in switching health plans. Depending on your portfolio, that could mean a change in agents as well.

So, how do you help employers stay in their employees’ good graces, and in turn, stay in the good graces of decision makers?

Voluntary benefits can be a big part of the solution.

Explaining the value of voluntary benefits

In simplest terms, voluntary benefits cost employers next to nothing, but provide immense value to their employees.

Employers partner with carriers or benefits companies to offer group rates on items like dental, vision, or life insurance, among other products. Due to their voluntary nature, the employer contributes nothing to the premium for the products – the employee bears the full cost. However, the distinct advantage is access to prices they might not otherwise see when purchasing independently.

And, because these products generally are not held by the group’s health carrier, they’re not subject to the same underwriting rules. That means there’s often a reduced or non-existent new-hire waiting period. Waiting periods for tier II dental services might also be wiped out, depending on the carrier’s policy. Even better, they can often be purchased year-round – not just at the group’s renewal.

Generally speaking, employees see a ton of value in these products. An Employee Benefit Research Institute Study reports that 85% of organizations offering these products see a positive impact on employee satisfaction. About 75% of employers see positive impacts on recruiting and retention. And, 70% of firms see positive impacts on employee health. Happier, healthier employees are more productive ones, making the time and effort to set up the benefits worthwhile.

Low-cost. High value. Easily accessible. Sounds like a win-win-win so far.

What benefits can be sold on a voluntary basis?

A variety of ancillary (non-health products) and supplemental (generally, indemnity-style products to boost the major medical plan) can be sold on a voluntary basis. A quick sampling of the most popular we support:

Ancillary products at-a-glance:

• Dental plans to cover routine, restorative, and orthodontic care
• Vision plans to cover exams, frames and lenses, and some non-medical procedures
• Life plans to provide cash payouts in the event of death
• Disability to help replace income lost due to illness or injury

Supplemental products at-a-glance:

• Accident plans provide a lump sum payout in the event of accidental injury
• Hospital indemnity plans provide a set daily amount to offset the cost of a hospital stay
• Critical illness plans provide a lump sum cash payout in the event an employee is diagnosed with a specified disease – typically heart attack, cancer, or stroke

Of course, many of these products can be offered on a non-voluntary basis, too. Such arrangements typically require a minimum employer contribution, and often have stricter participation requirements. But we're talking about adding benefits at no cost to the employer, and non-voluntary benefits wouldn't help in that regard.

How to pitch voluntary benefits to your group’s stakeholders

So, how does an agent broach the subject?

Sharing that value proposition – low-cost, high-value, accessible benefits – is key to getting your stakeholders to sign on the dotted line. If you’re going to grab their attention, you’ll need some strong language to help you out. A few ideas we’ve borrowed from some of our most successful co-broker partners:

Options for getting stakeholder attention:

• How would offering day-one dental and vision benefits impact your employee retention rates?
• I want to show you some strategies for strengthening your benefit package – without increasing your costs.
• What would it mean for your employees if you could help take care of their families should the worst occur?
• I’m reaching out because a lot of my clients with groups your size are dealing with the same challenge – their people want better benefits, but the budget isn’t there. I’ve got a solution that’s working really well, and I thought you might want to hear about it.
• Now that we've got your renewal locked in, let's talk about one more thing that could really help with retention: voluntary benefits. Five-minute conversation, could make a big difference.

Once you’ve got their attention, it’s all about driving that key message: voluntary benefits increase employee satisfaction and retention without impacting the business’s bottom line.

How to handle common objections to voluntary benefits

Employers, very rightfully, may be wary of your offer. On their side of the desk, it probably sounds far too good to be true. “What do you mean I can make people happier without spending my own money?” Here’s how you might respond to that objection, among a few others:

If they ask: "What if employees don't want it?"

"That's completely fine. These are voluntary, so there's no requirement for anyone to enroll (Be careful here, though – some carriers may have participation requirements). But what I typically see is once people understand the group rates they're getting, a good portion of your team will take advantage of at least one benefit. And even if only 30-40% enroll, those employees are getting real value—and you're getting the retention benefit from offering it."

If they ask: "How much does this cost them?"

"That depends on the coverage they choose and their age, but to give you a ballpark: dental is usually $30-50 a month, vision is $10-15, and life insurance can be as low as $5-20 a month for basic coverage. So we're talking about $50-75 a month total for all three benefits—which is much less than they'd pay buying these individually."

If they ask: "Can we add this anytime?"

"Absolutely. That's actually one of the great things about voluntary benefits—they're not tied to your health insurance renewal. We can implement this whenever it makes sense for you. A lot of employers like to roll it out at the start of a new quarter or at the beginning of the year, but we can do it anytime."

How to get started selling voluntary benefits with Action Benefits

Action Benefits partners with a variety of carriers that serve both the voluntary and employer-paid markets: Beam, The Standard, Dearborn National, LifeSecure, Wellabe, and Guarantee Trust Life. Each of them excels in different market segments: some are built for small groups, and others aim to serve mid-market employers. Visit our get appointed page to get the ball rolling.