Many companies provide employee benefits – that’s the good news. However, they, or more particularly their intermediaries that service the business, seem to be missing an opportunity. Having managed an SME and therefore been a client in two ways, I was amazed at the lack of proactive use of technology along with a strange reluctance to actively service the business and people within it. Having spoken to others, it would seem that this is not unusual…! Without wishing to be generalist and judgemental, it may be that after the ‘initial commission’ from setting up the schemes, there is felt to be little opportunity to earn money and so justify the time.
Rather than debate whether or not this is indeed the motive, I would simply say that I believe that many companies are missing out in two fundamental ways. The first is that the client companies are a great affinity group and if they were proactively serviced along with regular marketing, I believe that there would be a mutually profitable relationship for all – employees, employers and the intermediary alike. The second opportunity is to employ better use of technology. With the access to more and more comprehensive POS and Back Office solutions that can operate on and offline along with the new Wrap platforms, it is now possible to integrate these into a Worksite Marketing proposition. It is possible to create processes whereby you can use the systems to gather client factfind data, do some remote analysis [Para planning] and prepare for a more focused and effective client meeting that could be supported by telephone, internet or even video calling. You can enable clients to access their benefit information remotely and even use technology to market more effectively.
The important thing is to be effective and efficient (doing the right things in the right way). Advisers should see and seize the opportunity to apply the use of technology for the benefit of clients [employee and employer] and adviser. Using technology can create new ways of interacting with the Worksite personnel and as a tool that supports the right approach it also makes it more efficient.
