Our Approach

Your organization has probably purchased its employee benefits using one of two approaches:

1. Hiring an insurance broker and wholly trusting in their professional ability and integrity to secure the best procurement direction (larger employers); or,
   
2. Allowing multiple insurance brokers and/or agents to procure insurance bids on your behalf (smaller employers—generally those having less than 200 employees).

Smaller employers only seem to follow approach #2 because they don't realize that they too can take advantage of approach #1, which is far more effective in securing their best long-term interests. Regardless of the size of your organization, it is extremely important that you take advantage of the positive results that are available to you by establishing a long-term relationship with a trusted, independent brokerage/consulting firm, such as Benefit Strategies (BSI). We always act as our clients' trusted employee benefits advisor, and we will do the same for you. We will positively impact your employee benefit program by way of our vigilance in protecting your best interests.

Upon being hired, we will first conduct an employee benefit audit in order to establish our best procurement direction working on your behalf. This review would take into account your historical experience, current needs, future objectives and other important considerations. Our pre-procurement effort allows us to build a value-based strategic direction for our new clients. Take note that our procurement effort would only occur after we work with you (and/or your management team) to establish key data and a sound direction—not beforehand. We don't want guesswork or multiple, ill-fated attempts to prevail in our efforts to improve—ASAP—the performance of your employee benefit program.

As larger employers learned long ago, ignoring the front-end work of their independent broker/consultant will not provide an employee benefit direction that is in their best short and long-term interests. Regardless of your size, the only manner with which you can realize sustainable, positive employee benefit results is if a thorough measure of due diligence is regularly completed on your behalf by a trusted, independent employee benefit broker/consultant that has your best interests in mind. This is one of Benefit Strategies' core values.

Despite this fact, many smaller employers approach the procurement of their employee benefit program in a manner that is opposite that of large employers. When smaller employers' plan costs increase and/or service issues erupt, most initiate a market solicitation through product-driven brokers to identify a lower priced insurance program. They give their census to various brokers who present numerous proposals or a spreadsheet with multiple insurance offers. The smaller employer reviews the proposals and eventually makes a decision, (generally based on which plan was least expensive). The problem with this process is that the smaller employer chooses their broker by default, strictly based upon the lowest insurance bid, which oftentimes does not represent the best value. Following this decision-making process, the smaller employer does not hire the level of broker/consultant that is crucial in helping them to find solutions to their employee benefit cost challenge. As a result, the smaller employer market is being hit with larger and more challenging premium increases.

BSI gives smaller employers the ability to access the same types of programs and services that larger employers enjoy today. We do so without charging smaller employers extra fees for our additional services, resources and expertise. It may be contrary to your experience, but BSI can help your organization—whether larger or smaller—better manage your employee benefit program and restore for you peace of mind in this volatile area going forward.