We recently surveyed brokers to get some feedback on your plans for fourth quarter – and how we can help you better prepare for what is expected to be a busy Q4. We received terrific suggestions and comments that will help us deliver more of what you are looking for in the months ahead.
Below is a snapshot of some of the feedback from the survey:
Forty-four percent of responding brokers told us that 70 percent or more of their block of business renews during the fourth quarter.
The majority of responding brokers (61 percent) said they have no 51-99 employee groups transitioning to small group under the new small group definition of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and related state legislation.
Among the tools that brokers ranked as most important when working with clients in Q4, more than 76 percent of respondents said “enrollment materials, support, and meetings.” Other top answers included:
- Online enrollment (54 percent of respondents)
- Providers and prescription drug research (50 percent)
- Broker- and employer-focused seminars, webinars, and podcasts (45 percent)
- Customer Care services like assistance with forms and questions (45 percent)
- Legislative, compliance, and carrier updates and trainings (44 percent)
Among brokers with 51-99 employee group clients, when asked about paying for additional services, COBRA and POP were the most popular, with 44 percent and 38 percent of brokers paying for those services for their clients. HR support and ERISA services ranked third and fourth most popular, with 28 percent and 25 percent of brokers saying they pay for those services.
Among employee materials, brokers ranked benefit summaries as most useful during Q4, as chosen by more than 96 percent of survey respondents. A provider search tool ranked a distant second with 76 percent, followed by our “Things to Consider Before Waiving Coverage” flyer with 45 percent. Seventy-four percent of brokers responding to our survey say they have considered moving groups out of Q4.
When asked about quote engines, both Word & Brown’s Quot-O-Matic® quote engine and services from Quotit (our sister company) ranked as the top sources for quotes, with more than one-quarter of respondents using them.
We thank all of you who took the time to complete our survey. Congratulations to Gina Crow, the winner of our drawing from those who responded to the broker survey. She will receive 250 free leads through our Broker Leads program.
We look forward to working with you to streamline your Q4 quoting and business processing.
