4myBenefits Featured In Rough Notes Magazine
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VALUE-ADDED SERVICE IS KEY TO WRITING BENEFITS BUSINESS
Web-based service can help agents compete with the mega-brokers

By Len Strazewski

Everyone is knocking on the same doors, selling the same employee benefits products and services to employee benefit managers, human resource directors and business financial managers. That’s what makes the business so competitive for independent agents and brokers who want to succeed as employee benefits specialists or augment their property/casualty book of business with life, health, vision, dental and supplementary benefit sales.

Service provides the competitive edge, says Bill Fowler, president of The Benefits Department, an employee benefits specialty brokerage with six employees and offices in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Orlando, Florida. But developing the resources to match the administrative services provided by the mega-brokers and the large employee benefits consulting companies takes a lot more than many small agents and brokers can provide, he adds.

“Employers—particularly large groups—expect much more than insurance quotes,” Fowler says. “They are looking for administrative and technical support and employee benefits communication expertise.”

Fowler should know. He founded his company nearly two years ago after taking early retirement from mega-broker Arthur J. Gallagher, Inc. In order to continue to compete with national brokerages, he knew he had to augment his own decades of experience with other service providers that can provide competitive resources.