Unum's new simplified voluntary benefits enrollment strategy for sales partners

Unum's new simplified voluntary benefits enrollment strategy for sales partners: It's time to offer your clients important voluntary benefits and a streamlined enrollment approach that will help you serve your customers and build your business. Working with Unum, you now have a way to crack the code in the voluntary benefits market!

http://my.brainshark.com/Unums-new-simplified-voluntary-benefits-enrollment-strategy-for-sales-partners-709444925

A.M. Best affirms Unum’s rating standings

A.M. Best has affirmed Unum’s financial strength rating and stable ratings outlook, basing its decision on the company’s strong capitalization, good profitability and favorable operating trends in the face of a weakened economic environment.

“Unum’s core business lines are generating strong earnings and cash flows, with returns exceeding industry medians,” A.M. Best said in a press release. “Moreover, A.M. Best believes capital is being deployed in an efficient and prudent manner,” while maintaining sound risk-adjusted capital ratios. A.M. Best also referenced the company’s persistency, “reflecting the group’s ability to retain quality business.”

The ratings agency also commended Unum for its financial flexibility and for the modest exposure the company’s investment portfolio has to structured securities and real estate-related investments.

Workers now place more value on benefits

Adding voluntary plans can increase employee satisfaction...

Independent research shows that employees’ perception of the value of their benefits continues to be at a high level. The majority of employees say benefits are important to job satisfaction.  Our research, too, shows employees continue to value life, accident, and critical illness insurance, short and long term disability coverage since first surveyed for our 2008 report.  And, benefit package satisfaction rates of those not offered voluntary benefits continued to be lower than for those that did. That’s valuable to employers, since this 100% employee-paid coverage allows a company to offer more benefits and add perceived value to a plan without impacting the bottom line.

In today’s budget-conscious times, voluntary benefits are becoming “must-haves” in a competitive benefits package.  And they offer a variety of choices in coverage that appeal to today’s diverse and versatile workforce.

Voluntary coverage provides an important safety net to employees who are vulnerable to rising health care costs.  Accident and critical illness insurance can help offset the financial impact of expensive out-of-pocket costs not covered by health insurance.  And Unum research shows that employees place a high value on these benefits when they

are effectively communicated, even though they pay the premium.

The message is clear: employees are placing more value on benefits in general — even when they have to pay for them. And today’s group and voluntary benefits make it easy to add coverages at little or no cost to the company. This strategy can result in higher workplace satisfaction, reduced turnover and increased productivity.

Please contact me to learn more.  I can also provide you with a copy of Unum's recent industry study - Beyond the Usual Benefits: 2012 - The power of employee education to influence workplace satisfaction.

Strategies for expanding your reach in voluntary benefits

Voluntary benefits have been a growing trend for almost 15 years. Recent surveys show employee-paid benefits are on the minds of brokers, employers and the workforce alike. According to a 2011 study by LIMRA, 30% of U.S. employers are considering adding a voluntary benefit to replace employer-paid and contributory benefits within the next two years - affecting between 19 million and 45 million employees. These numbers aren't surprising. Even with slight improvement in the U.S. unemployment rate, employers have responded to the poor economy and rising health care costs by making the tough decision to shift the costs of certain benefits to their employees.


As a producer, this challenging climate provides you with a tremendous opportunity to guide the transition from employer-funded benefits to a more consumer-centric approach. The benefits managers you partner with will see the value in reducing their benefits costs. Their employees will appreciate the ease of worksite enrollment for products that provide fundamental lifestyle protection.


Helping an employer transition from employer-paid to voluntary benefits requires an approach that's consultative and product savvy, which finds ways to ease the administrative burden on the employer and educate the person ultimately making the purchase - the employee.


Consider these questions
Since you'll be meeting the needs of various employer and employee audiences, it goes without saying that a one-size-fits-all voluntary strategy isn't recommended. Instead, it involves a careful assessment of your book of business to determine where you will have the best opportunities:


* How many of your accounts are considering reducing benefits packages?


* Are your clients' benefit plans competitive with the industry? To make their benefits package more robust, are they open to offering voluntary benefits?


* Has your client evaluated their entire benefits package holistically? A well-rounded benefit program should include the basics, such as life, disability and medical gap coverage that complement any employer-funded coverage.


Once you've targeted the right types of employers, the next step is careful planning with their benefits teams to ensure successful implementation and communication strategies. From there, a successful voluntary benefits program is ultimately defined by strong employee participation in the benefits being offered.


On an industry level, we tend to measure baseline success when at least 35% of employees in a given enrollment cycle chose to sign up for benefits. Drivers of successful participation include:


* Targeted education campaigns- Your carrier should work with you to determine which segments of the employee population are the best targets for voluntary benefits. This analysis can be backed by a marketing campaign that includes dynamic educational tools accessible via email or intranet and supporting testimonials that affirm the buying decision.


* Communications- Discuss with your employer enrollment communications that give you access to employees via techniques such as group meetings, benefit fairs, and lunch and learns. This is especially important with employers that are geographically diverse or employ a range of shifts in multiple job bands.


* Simple and flexible enrollment- Be sure to explore whether paper or online enrollment best meets the employees' needs. Keep in mind specific groups, such as those who work remotely.
Market trends all point to voluntary benefits as a strong choice for brokers who are interested in growing their book of business.


This is an article recently published by employee benefit adviser.