Milwaukee, WI – July 15, 2013
Given the mounting challenges for business owners and HR professionals, it’s no surprise they’d be turning to their insurance broker for more services than ever today. When asked what services are important for a broker to provide, employers rated almost each one higher than last year, according to the Zywave 2013 Broker Services Survey. From workplace wellness to legislative compliance to employee communications and much more, employers are demanding these “extra” services from their insurance broker even more than previous years.
“The increased demand for services isn’t terribly surprising,” said Dave O’Brien, division president of insurance solutions at Zywave. “Many brokers are already aware of the need to provide clients with more than just an insurance policy – particularly in light of health care reform. What we found most startling in the survey results was that employers are actually less satisfied with their current broker on the same services that they cited as more important than ever.”
In nearly every category that was ranked as highly important that a broker deliver, fewer employers than last year said that their broker was satisfactorily delivering that service. In other words, employers are speaking, but the brokers aren’t listening. Here are a few examples from the survey:
-86% of employers expect their broker to provide employee safety and health information, but 75% say their broker is not doing a satisfactory job
-75% want their broker to assist in creating or maintaining a safety program, yet 68% of employers are not satisfied with their broker’s current support
-Likewise, 85% of employers want assistance with their workplace wellness program, but 66% feel their broker is not delivering to their expectations
-85% expect an annual stewardship report from their broker, while 58% of respondents say their broker is not providing this
“These are huge disconnects between what employers are looking for and what insurance brokers are currently delivering,” said O’Brien. “While it is unfortunate that so many clients are unsatisfied with their current brokers’ services, it does present a huge opportunity for those brokers who do offer a comprehensive package of services and solutions to support their clients’ business needs.”
When employers were asked their top three risk management and employee benefit challenges, it highlighted additional opportunity for brokers to support their current clients – and target these areas of importance to win new business.
Top three risk management challenges:
-Keeping up to date on regulatory changes
-Controlling workers’ compensation costs
-Managing exposures
Top three employee benefit challenges:
-Managing health care costs
-Keeping in compliance and up to date on changing legislation, including health care reform
-Benefits administration and employee benefits education
To read more details of the survey, view our whitepaper here.
About Zywave
Zywave is the leading provider of software-as-a-service (SaaS) technology solutions for the insurance and financial services industries. The company’s products include Web-enabled marketing communications, business intelligence and analytics, agency automation, and needs-assessment and financial planning tools. More than 350,000 financial and insurance professionals, including 90 of the Top 100 U.S. insurance firms and dozens of the world’s largest financial institutions, use Zywave’s proven solutions to help them differentiate from the competition, enhance client services, improve efficiencies and achieve organic growth. To learn more, visit www.zywave.com.
###