Value stacking: the best is more than just a health insurance agent

We get it: you live and breathe health insurance. We do too, honestly. But if your job with your group clients starts and stops at health insurance agent, you're making yourself easy to replace. Agents thriving in today's world aren't the ones with the lowest premiums—they're the trusted advisors that clients can't imagine business without.

The good news? You don't need fancy credentials or a massive support team to deliver this kind of value. With a few simple tools and a mindset shift, you can go from transactional to transformational: A tried and true, strategic business partner.

The problem: You're competing on price in a race to the bottom

Small group health insurance isn’t the mystery it once was. Your clients can get quotes online. They're bombarded with solicitations from other agents, with endless promises. 

Health insurance isn't like other businesses, where you can "talk to your manager" about lowering the sticker price. But you aren't stuck, either. Section 125s can put money pack into their pockets before taxes kick in, HSAs are more popular than ever before, and nobody ever said you are stuck with the same deductible, metal tier, or even plan design forever.  

Cost savings aside, there are other avenues you can take to show your long-term value.

The solution: Build your "value stack"

A collection of knowledge, resources and tools that goes far beyond the average agent can do you wonders. These aren't complex or time-consuming, but they make you irreplaceable.

What is valuable to each client is going to vary, but here are a few options to get your wheels turning:

1. Business compliance checklist

Why it matters: Small business owners are drowning in regulations they barely understand. They don't have HR departments or compliance officers—they have you. A simple, customized compliance checklist demonstrates you understand their business, not just their insurance.

What to include:

• Recruiting and interviewing regulations
• Talent management
• Harassment and violence in the workplace
• OSHA regulations
• Workplace safety
• Compensation laws
• Benefits management (like COBRA and ACA requirements)

Understand benefits-related deadlines, and size-threshold triggers (like when certain laws kick in as they grow). Organize it by month so they know what to watch for throughout the year.

Delivery: Create a master template you can customize based on their state and industry. Update it annually and send it as a "gift" in January. Not all things will apply every business, of course. This takes five minutes per client to personalize, but positions you as the expert keeping them out of trouble. 

Or, if your clients want a one stop shop for all of their compliance needs, Action Benefits partners with isolved, a company helping small businesses stay compliant with easy-to-use tools at a very fair price point.

2. Workplace benefits survey template

Why it matters: Most small employers guess at what their employees want, throwing benefits at the wall to see what sticks. A simple survey gives them spending guidance, and shows employees their opinions matter.

What to include: 10-15 questions about benefit preferences, understanding of current benefits, life stage needs, and satisfaction levels. Keep it anonymous and simple: use a 1-10 scale, and leave an area open ended for comments.

Delivery: Provide a free online survey tool template (Google Forms, SurveyMonkey) they can distribute, or make it something simple to print and distribute. This creates a natural mid-year touchpoint and gives you ideas to fuel their renewal—something an agent off the street surely can’t provide, no matter how low the rates are.

3. Business insurance consultation

Why it matters: Small business owners often don't think about what happens to their business if they or a key employee dies or becomes disabled. These are natural conversations that flow from your health insurance discussions.

What to include: Key person insurance, buy-sell agreement funding, disability income protection for owners, and succession planning basics.

Delivery: If you're licensed for life and disability, you probably already do this If not, partner with an agent who is and ask them to scratch your back while you scratch theirs. Either way, you're helping your client.

4. HR trends and industry updates

Why it matters: Small business owners are too busy making profits to stay on top of benefits trends, regulatory changes, or competitor offerings. These new updates could translate into cash savings for them. You can easily be their eyes and ears.

What to include: Quarterly emails or brief reports covering healthcare cost trends, new benefits innovations (like telemedicine or student loan assistance), relevant compensation benchmarks, and upcoming regulatory changes, or news within their particular industry.

Delivery: This doesn't have to be elaborate. A simple one-page email with 3-4 bullet points and links to additional resources positions you as a thought leader. Bonus: this keeps you top-of-mind year-round.

5. Educational resources

Why it matters: Small employers want to help their employees make smart benefits decisions, but they don't have time to become benefits experts themselves. You can fill that gap.

What to include: Health insurance glossaries, HSA/FSA education materials, preventive care guides, how to read an EOB, understanding deductibles vs. copays— any basics that seems obvious to you but baffle most employees.

Delivery: Curate existing resources from carriers, create your own simple one-pagers, or use Action templates. Offer to present at open enrollment or record a brief video employees can watch on their own time.

6. HIPAA compliance basics

Why it matters: Many small employers don't realize their group health plan makes them a covered entity under HIPAA. They're storing enrollment forms with Social Security numbers in unlocked file cabinets and emailing medical information without encryption.

What to include: A simple overview of HIPAA privacy requirements for group health plans, guidance on Business Associate Agreements with vendors, and best practices for handling protected health information.

Delivery: A one-page "HIPAA basics" checklist will do. Offer to review their current practices for obvious vulnerabilities. You're not a lawyer, but you can at least point them in the right direction.

Additional quick wins for your value stack

These options might be a lighter lift, and can be mixed and matched with the options above as an added bonus.

Open enrollment communication tools

Pre-written emails, meeting agendas, decision support tools, and announcement templates save your clients hours of work and ensure employees actually understand their options. Create a template you can quickly customize with each client's specific plans.

Of course, you also have CoverageforCompanies at your disposal to make the process easy for employees to enroll. As long as you set it up for success, C4C is a huge time and effort saver for you and your clients. Reach out if you're in need of a demo. We've had a lot of enhancements and upgrades to our technology in the past year.

Benchmarking reports

Show clients how their costs, plan designs, and employee contributions compare to similar businesses in their area and industry. This data helps them make informed decisions and justify their benefits investments to leadership.

Year-round communication calendar

Give clients a 12-month calendar of recommended benefits communications: HSA contribution reminders, preventive care campaigns, dependent verification notices, etc. Most employers only think about benefits during open enrollment—you can help them engage employees year-round, ensuring they maintain the value they are paying for with their plans.

New hire orientation materials

A standardized presentation or one-pager explaining the benefits package to new employees. This ensures consistent messaging and reduces repetitive questions to HR.

How to implement your value stack

You don't need to offer everything at once. Pick 3-4 items that are easiest for you to create and most relevant to your book of business.

Make an assembly line. Create templates for everything so you're not reinventing the wheel for each client. Invest the time upfront early on, then trot them out when it makes sense.

After a quote, let clients know about your value add: "Just to make things easier for you, I also provide my clients with compliance checklists, benefits communication templates, and quarterly industry updates to help you manage your benefits program more effectively."

You’re being altruistic, so give yourself the credit for trotting these extras out. They won't know to use them unless you show them. Remind them---and yourself--you are not a tax advisor, attorney, HR professional, talent agent, whatever. You are someone in their corner making sure they get set up for success. 

Then, give it some time to see what clients use and what they don’t. Ask them what they found useful come their next renewal, and update those items as needed.

Stand out somehow

The small group market is getting tougher, but that creates opportunity for agents willing to evolve. The clients who see you as a commodity will always take their business to the cheapest bidder. The clients who see you as an indispensable advisor will stick with you through rate increases and market changes.

Building your value stack isn't about doing more free work—it's about working smarter. Most of these resources take a short stint to create and minutes to use, but they fundamentally change how clients perceive and value your relationship.

Stop competing on price. Start competing on value. Your retention rates, referrals, and commissions will thank you.