AVON, CONNECTICUT, USA (February 20, 2007)�Competition has been intense in the worksite market for a number of years and it shows no signs of letting up. To stay ahead of the game, it is important that carriers really understand all of their customers�including the employer/benefit manager. The latest spotlight report from Eastbridge, Worksite MarketVision��The Employer Viewpoint Revisited, provides some insight into what benefits managers look for in a carrier.
Following are some of the key findings uncovered in study.
- When considering which carrier to use for their voluntary products, most benefit managers look primarily at the price of the product, the carrier�s reputation, and the administrative and technical support offered.
- The reputation of the carrier went up significantly in importance (from 82 to 91 percent) in this most recent study.
- Benefits managers are more interested in having �best of breed� products from their carriers than they are in having a carrier with a wide range of products.
- The availability of personalized enrollment materials and carrier help with the enrollment also ranked high in importance to benefits managers.
�Most of the employers in our study use multiple carriers for their voluntary products,� says Bonnie Brazzell, vice president, Eastbridge. Small employers are the most likely to use just one carrier while larger employers use more. �The study showed an increase in the percentage using more than five carriers,� adds Brazzell. �Among the largest employers (over 2,000 employees) almost one-third use more than five carriers.�
Clearly, voluntary benefits have become a mainstay in almost every employer�s benefit program and their importance is here to stay.
The Worksite MarketVision™�The Employer Viewpoint Revisited is available for purchase for $2,750. The study results are based on quantitative interviews conducted with benefit managers during June and July of 2006. The interviews include roughly the same number of employers from each of four different size categories (10-100 employees; 101-500; 501-2,000; 2,000+). Qualitative interviews were conducted with additional plan administrators. For more information on this report call the company at (860) 676-9633 or email [email protected].
Eastbridge Consulting Group, Inc. is a marketing advisory firm serving insurance and financial services organizations in the United States and Canada. www.eastbridge.com
