It’s one of the most stressful times of the year when your clients have to make a decision whether to stay with you or leave for what they perceive to be a “better deal”. When you are renewal focused, you are constantly scanning the landscape to ensure that you are offering the most competitive solutions that will entice your clients to renew their coverage with you. It’s vital that you identify the best plans for your clients’ renewal processes, which starts by understanding their needs as well as the competitive landscape. Don’t take a chance that your clients will slip away — take action now to keep them engaged in your offerings throughout the year and prove that you are adding value to their processes by providing thought leadership on topics of interest to your clients.
Offering the right plans for each particular client is key to being renewal focused, and that means having a firm understanding of the needs of each client. Have the demographics changed dramatically in the past year, indicating that a different type of plan would make more sense? Companies regularly go through waves in terms of the age of the majority of the staff members. If you have more employees that are nearing retirement age, your client may find more value in a traditional plan. More Millennial employees? A high deductible plan may be the right offering to lead with — but identifying changes in the workforce over the year and noting future trends helps your conversation stay relevant.
Download: How to Streamline Your Renewal Process
Have there been significant changes in the benefits landscape, either locally or nationally? Each decision can play into the solutions that provide the best value for your clients. Being able to present a holistic plan that includes solutions for the unique needs of your clients is often the differentiating factor that will help you stay on top during renewal-focused conversations. Be prepared to discuss any changes in legislation and how they could impact your clients, including any additional costs that your clients should prepare for in the coming year.
Are the plans that you recommended in the past working for both your clients and their employees? if employees are not taking advantage of the benefits that they have available, it can be extremely frustrating for companies. Benefits professionals and HR leaders want clear, understandable solutions that are easy to implement and make sense to staff members without requiring a lot of explanations. It doesn’t hurt to touch base with clients directly after open enrollment to determine how the client perceived the process and to make any tweaks for the coming year. This reinforces the idea that you are a partner for your clients and are fully invested in their success. Clients will appreciate (and remember!) that you took the extra step to help improve their processes during renewal conversations in the coming years.
Want to learn more renewal focused tips and suggestions to keep your business moving forward? Staying up-to-date on the latest benefits processes is an important part of winning new business. Download our complimentary Guide: How to Streamline Your Renewal Process to see if there are steps that you could take to accelerate your renewal process.