Ortho111 #8

The Broker Mindset: A Delicate Balance of Defense and Offense

Insights for positioning DTE orthopedic offers to brokers

When a broker gains a client, another broker loses a client.

This creates an interesting market dynamic. They need to play defense and offense at the same time.

Link

In recent weeks, I’ve spent a considerable amount of my time talking with brokers to understand what they want to see from a benefit provider.

Here are my top three insights:

1. Brokers are defensive by nature

They want to protect their client from making a mistake. If they put something in front of a client that causes pain, that will damage the relationship.

2. They need to differentiate outside of price

Brokers get basically the same prices from carriers. To differentiate (while being defensive), they prefer seeking out low-risk, high-reward bets and working with people they trust or have highly demonstrable results.

3. Employee experience is make or break

Perhaps even more than cost, I hear brokers talk about how vital it is to have a great experience from an employee perspective.

One bad experience can sour the relationship.

A tip for making the broker's life easier:

Keep it simple and help them communicate

Employers believe managing employee benefits is complex.

93% of brokers report moderate to high demand for help with benefits communications materials. Link

It is crucial for brokers to have a sense of control over the data and narrative they provide to their employer clients.

Here are three tips to build confidence with your target brokers:

• Invest time to develop clear and concise positioning for your unique offer.
  Employees spend 30 minutes or less reviewing benefits materials before open enrollment. Link
• Create the education and engagement materials brokers need to go to their clients confidently.

Link

• Make your willingness to build a relationship with employees obvious.
  80% of employees find one-on-one conversations about benefits useful. Link

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