Whether you’re just starting your career as an insurance sales professional, or you’ve been at for decades, you are bound to hear objections from time to time from your prospects and clients.
Among some of the most common objections are the following:
1. Cost/it’s too expensive
2. It’s complicated
3. I don’t really need it/my employees are happy with what we have
4. I am uncertain how can I find a plan that fits everyone
5. I am concerned about my return on investment
Health Insurance Tips in Handling Sales Objections
Let’s look at how you might respond to each of these objections.
Cost/expense: We get it. Health insurance is expensive. The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) Employer Health Benefits Survey found annual premiums for employer-sponsored family health coverage reached nearly $24,000 in 2023. For those with single coverage, the average 2023 premium was $8,435. These numbers were up about seven percent as compared to 2022.
Employees’ contributions to their plan premiums were also up in 2023. According to KFF, for workers at small firms, the single coverage premium was $8,722 as compared to $8,321 for those at larger firms. For those with family coverage, premiums for covered workers at large and small firms were comparable.
High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) enrollees with a savings option paid less for both single and family coverage than those enrolled in other plans. Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) plan participants, not surprisingly, paid the most. PPOs generally offer more flexibility than Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) and Exclusive Provider Organization (EPO) plans. PPO premiums averaged $8,906 for single coverage and $25,228 for family coverage in 2023.
If your client is concerned about cost – and most employers are – the key is helping them beat their proposed renewal rate. The right plan comparison quoting platform can make a big difference. Word & Brown’s proprietary quoting software makes it easy to compare current plans with renewal options. It also makes it easier for you to put together the best scenario with the best rates. WBQuote highlights plan differences, so clients can easily see how plans differ. It also features automated deductible and Rx updates to alert you and your clients when deductibles apply before benefits begin. Plus, it notifies you if you pair plan packages that cannot be sold together – saving you time and potential embarrassment when you go back to share the news with your clients.
Our integrated provider search ensures your clients have access to the doctors, specialists, and hospitals in the plans they’re considering. You can run a search on your own or we’ll do it for you.
Our team will help you find a plan or program that offers your clients more, while still controlling costs for their businesses. Focusing on value, convenience, and service is a winning strategy to help you counter an objection about costs.
Too complicated: Staying up to date on all that is happening in the health insurance marketplace can be challenging – for employers, employees, and brokers. However, it doesn’t have to be. We offer an in-house compliance team that works to simplify your life. They are on-call to answer any questions you and your clients may have.
We offer training and education to keep you up to date on the latest rules, regulations, and state and federal guidelines concerning employee benefits, Affordable Care Act (ACA) reporting, product, service, and industry updates, and more. Our valuable employee enrollment, onboarding, and other resources help reinforce your role as a valuable consultant your clients will want to retain for years to come.
Lack of need/happy with current plan: If your prospects or clients have an employee benefits program in place, they may think they don’t need to look around or consider a change. Employees may be happy – or not openly unhappy – about what they are currently being offered. In a situation like this, you can remind them that if they have not shopped and compared plans lately, they may be paying too much. No one wants to think about that happening to them. Again, WBQuote can help you compare plans, benefits, and costs to be sure the employer gets the most for their health insurance premium dollars.
Available exclusively in the Golden State, the CaliforniaChoice multi-carrier, employee-choice private exchange can open up greater coverage options to employees without increasing employer costs. Defined Contribution lets the employer set a monthly budget for employee benefits. They can contribute a Fixed Percentage (50% to 100%) of the cost of a specific plan and/or benefit. Or they can contribute a Fixed Dollar Amount for each employee. (All employees get the same amount.) Employees then apply that contribution to the cost of the plan they prefer. If the plan costs more than the employer’s contribution, the employee simply pays the difference. It’s that easy!
Suitability/finding a plan for everyone: Today’s workplace is more diverse than ever before. That makes it challenging to find a single plan that works for everyone. Whether your clients choose CaliforniaChoice and its eight health plan partners or another program, the Word & Brown product portfolio is diverse enough to allow your clients access to a broad range of options. That gives employees more flexibility to find a plan to suit their individual or family health care needs.
If supplemental coverage like Dental, Vision, or other insurance is needed, we offer both employer-sponsored and voluntary options to address the needs of employees and their families.
ROI/value of health insurance: The benefits of having health insurance is understood by employees. It can help protect them from unexpected high medical costs. If coverage offered is Affordable Care Act-compliant, it offers insured employees and dependents access to free preventive care (like vaccines, health screenings, and more) even before meeting their plan deductible. Your clients’ employees also pay less for covered in-network care before their deductible.
Offering health insurance also benefits your employer clients:
• Helps businesses attract and retain their most-qualified employees
• Generally, employers can deduct 100% of the cost of premiums paid for health insurance for employees and their dependents from their business’s federal and state income taxes
• Reduced payroll taxes – offering a Section 125/Premium Only Plan (POP) can reduce employees’ taxes (with a pre-tax deduction for their contributions to health insurance premiums) and it can also lower an employer’s payroll taxes
In addition, if employees are enrolled in a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP), when they take part in an employer’s POP, they can reduce their taxes further by contributing to a qualified Health Savings Account (HSA). The combination of an HDHP and POP can yield a total payroll deduction in the range of 25% to 40%.
Talk with us to learn more! If you are already working with Word & Brown, you know we offer a dedicated team of sales, marketing, compliance, enrollment, underwriting, and customer care/client experience professionals to help you write and retain more business – and earn more in the process.
If you’re not yet doing business with us, contact us today to learn how easy it is to get started. Call 800-869-6989 or complete our online information request.
