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Best Practices: Selling & Servicing Remotely

Getting Started

It's now more important than ever to leverage multiple technologies to help your agency provide the service your clients expect. This page covers some different things you can implement to help make life a little easier during this unprecedented time.

As a reminder, your B&P team is here to help you not just make it through these challenging times, but to excel!

  • Renewal Marketing - there is no need to wait until renewals are released, as long as the rates are in bpQuote, your B&P Sales Team can help run the renewal marketing!
  • Open Enrollment Meetings - since many enrollment meetings will be completed virtually, make sure you start strategizing with your clients on a renewal schedule and try to nail down the dates they want their virtual Open Enrollment held.
  • Bilingual Enrollment Meetings - interpreters and translators are always difficult to book, let your B&P rep know if any of your meetings will need another language so we can allocate our employees or contract out.
  • Ease Setup - whether you have your own subscription or would like to use our bpEnroll, our Ease team can setup your groups' portals and help run the Open Enrollment.

Virtual Meeting Technology

With many employers having their employees work from home for the foreseeable future, you'll need to have a virtual meeting platform to conduct strategy and Open Enrollment meetings with your clients and prospects.

B&P uses Microsoft Teams and GoToMeeting for virtual meetings.

See G2's Video Conferencing Software webpage for more companies.

Tips for running a successful virtual meeting or Open Enrollment:

  • Check your internet speed so you know your setup can handle the video meeting along with any other applications that are running. You can check your speed by Googling "speed test". This Speedtest article can help explain what sort of specs you'll need for clear video.
  • Setup in a clean space or create a virtual background for video calls. If the view from your webcam is clean, then there is no need to use a background. Everyone is in the same situation and it will feel more natural and real if you do not use a background. A virtual background is a good solution if you do not want to share your space with your attendees. A simple background with your company logo can help reinforce your relationship with the client or prospect.
  • Double-check your webcam and lighting for the ideal angle and light exposure for a video call. You can try books, pots, etc. if your laptop is too low, or you can buy a laptop stand to get the best angle. Try to use natural light in front of you or place a light behind the camera so your video is bright and clear.
  • Prepare for your meeting by setting an agenda and outlining the objectives so the meeting stays on track and finishes on time or in the minimum amount of time.
  • Remove distractions so you can focus 100% on the meeting. Try putting your cell phone somewhere far away on silent, close all unrelated applications so you don't get email notifications that can distract you.
  • Record the meeting in case people cannot attend or want to review the meeting. This can be especially useful for future new hires.
  • Set the rules for the meeting like always have yourself muted unless you are speaking or use the "raise hand" feature if you have a question.
  • Engage participants through stories, visual representations, questions and polls.

On engaging participants, if you've been on a B&P virtual meeting (or even have kids in school), you might be familiar with Kahoot! We use Kahoot! to create fun quizzes to finish a meeting that also review some of the information presented.

Easy Appointment Scheduling

Since more meetings are being conducted virtually, an online appointment scheduling service can help you skip the back-and-forth of finding the best time with clients. Plus, it can automatically add the appointment to your calendar and include the login credentials of your virtual meeting through very simple integrations.

B&P Sales Reps have their own Calendly links that make setting appointments easy. Whether it's a quick call or a carrier update meeting, you can schedule a meeting in just a few clicks. Depending on the meeting type, our Reps' GoToMeetings are integrated with Calendly so the meeting credentials are included automatically. Here are B&P's Sales Reps Calendly's if you'd like to see how they work:

See G2's Online Appointment Scheduling Services webpage for more companies that can help make life easier.

Secure File Sharing

B&P is using OneDrive for Business to securely share files with brokers and groups. Contact your B&P Sales Rep if you need a way to securely send us files.

If you are looking to set up a similar solution for your clients, you may already have the technology in your Microsoft or G Suite subscription.

Other vendors for secure file sharing include ShareFile, Dropbox, and Box. See G2's Cloud Content Collaboration Software webpage for more options.

In addition to leveraging OneDrive for Business, B&P also uses RPost to securely send emails with sensitive information. The great thing about RPost is that if a client does not have a way to securely send you a message, you can send them a secure message and they'll be able to reply securely. It's an easy way to maintain security in a pinch.

Scanning without a Scanner

Not everyone has a scanner at home, but most have a smartphone with a camera. Instead of getting individual pictures of an application and trying to piece them all together, share these tips with your clients without scanners:

Ease - Online Enrollment

Ease can reduce the paper involved in Open Enrollments while still communicating all the information employees need to make informed decisions. B&P can help you setup and conduct Open Enrollments on through your Ease account, saving you time and increasing efficiency.

If you do not have an Ease subscription, contact your B&P Sales Rep to see how we can help you enroll groups online for free through bpEnroll.

Ease published A Broker’s Guide to Helping Employers Navigate COVID-19 that provides five things you can do to help support your clients during the pandemic.

Communicating with Employers & Employees

Now that your set up for success remotely, below are some templates to communicate information about how your clients and their employees can understand Open Enrollment, Ease, how to get in touch, and more.

Strategies for Employers to Reduce Costs

We are all aware of how COVID-19 has affected the economy, as such, many employers are probably wondering how they can better control their health insurance costs. Here are a few strategies to consider:

  • Base plan contribution strategy
  • Downgrade options
  • Offering multiple networks
  • Look at HMO or EPO options
  • Bundling specialty with one carrier or offering specialty on a voluntary basis

Here are these strategies in more detail:

Base plan

This strategy allows the employer to pick a base plan that fits their budget. The employer will know exactly what their expected costs will be. Plus, employees will have the freedom to choose a different plan if their needs are different, all without messing with the employer's cost.

While a group can set a base plan contribution strategy with any carrier, our exchange carriers, CaliforniaChoice and Covered CA for Small Business, are ideal. They give employees the choice from many carriers, plan types, networks, and metallic tiers.

Downgrade

Going hand-in-hand with the base plan strategy, adding plans from a metallic tier lower, including HSAs, can give employees more flexibility when it comes to enrollment. CaliforniaChoice and Covered CA for Small Business are great fits for giving employees this flexibility.

Offering different networks

Premium can vary by networks significantly. For employers and employees looking to cut cost, they should consider comparing their doctors across different networks. If all their doctors and hospitals are in the narrower network, then it can be an easy switch to save money. And even if the narrow network is missing a doctor, it might make financial sense for an employee to switch anyway and use their monthly premium savings to pay for an out-of-network visit once a year.

Consider HMO and EPO options

The flexibility of a PPO plan is a huge draw for employees. However, if an employee sees doctors with the same medical group, there may be no reason to pay for this flexibility. Switching to an HMO could provide the similar access to their doctors at a lower cost.

Out-of-network coverage is another important benefit for a PPO even though out-of-network benefits usually come after a large deductible and the actual coverage isn't as rich. An EPO could be another way to get the same full-network plan at a lower cost.

For an HMO plan in the Bay Area that rivals a PPO network, consider looking at UHC's Advantage plans that have the Canopy Health Network. In Southern California, it may be worth looking at Anthem's Priority Select HMO network, Health Net's SmartCare, UHC's Harmony network, among other options.

EPO plans are available through the following B&P medical carriers: Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross, CaliforniaChoice, Cigna + Oscar, Covered CA for Small Business, Health Net (HSP), and UnitedHealthcare.

Specialty Strategies

Groups can still offer specialty coverage and save money at the same time. By bundling with a single carrier, your clients can realize some great savings. Here are two examples of how this works in practice with two of our medical carriers:

  • Anthem Bundling Discount: 5% bundled discount when you buy new dental coverage and add a vision, life and/or disability plan with Anthem.
  • UHC Packaged Savings: Groups receive the following when they bundle their medical, dental, vision, life and/or short-term disability:
    • Dental: $3 per enrolled medical employee
    • Vision: $2 per enrolled medical employee
    • Life: $1 per enrolled medical employee
    • STD: $1 per enrolled medical employee

Another option for groups to consider is offering specialty coverage on a voluntary basis. Voluntary coverage provides a group's employees insurance coverage that works with their life stage, budget, and specific needs.

Video Marketing

Video is more popular than ever before and one way you can remain in front of your clients without seeing them in-person. Some ideas of videos you can use for your clients:

  • Marketing to employers about your agency's services
  • Training and how-tos for employers or employees (like how to use the carrier's search portal, read a benefit summary or SBC, etc.)
  • Recording Open Enrollment presentations

Your clients are your audience, answering the questions they are asking may be the perfect content to include in your video marketing.

One vendor that can help you easily create and distribute video messages to your clients is BombBomb.

COVID-19 Testing Information for Employers

Medically necessary COVID-19 testing is covered by all medical carriers. However, the testing that employers would do to test employees at the workplace is not covered by insurance.

COVID-19 Employer Resources

Here are some helpful resources for employers navigating remote working and returning to the physical office.

HR Guidance

While Human Resources can get messy at any time, it's especially tricky during this pandemic. Here are some resources that may help your groups understand how the COVID-19 is affecting HR: