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Also in this issue:

• Cover
• Sustainable industry leadership by Gil Lowerre
• MarketVision™ 2006—The employer perspective
  by Bonnie Brazzell
• Confidence in the voluntary market is up!
• Who can we buy?
• ROP products in the voluntary market
• Enrollment practices in the voluntary market
• Enrollment: selling vs. advising
• It’s almost time to see how your 2006 sales measured up!
• Are voluntary underwriting guidelines loosening?
• Company executives vs. company strategy
• Manufacture and distribute

Past Issues

• 2007
• 2006

Winter 2007 / No. 70

Enrollment practices in the voluntary market

Enrollment is considered by most carriers to be an important part of the company’s voluntary business strategy, yet not much has changed since 2000. This was one of the findings of the latest Eastbridge Spotlight Report, Enrollment Practices for Voluntary Products. Among the findings in the report are:

• Enrollment is key to ensuring good participation and high employee satisfaction. Yet, there have been few innovations or changes over the last five to six years.
• Despite the fact that carriers believe enrollment should be an area of differentiation, few carriers do anything truly unique from an enrollment standpoint.
• “Control” over the enrollment process is still more or less in the broker’s hands, though many carriers have tried to offer support and/or incentives to encourage brokers to use the carrier’s processes.
• Carriers believe enrollment is something brokers consider when choosing a carrier for their voluntary products. However, carriers recognize that not all brokers want the same thing when it comes to enrollment.
• About half of all carriers surveyed offer and/or allow web and telephonic enrollments (the same percentage as in 2000), but most say it is used in less than ten percent of all cases.

The report looks at market trends in enrollment from four different perspectives: employers, employees, producers, and carriers. With data from 27 different carriers, the report provides insight on the following issues:

• Enrollment set-up and management
• Enrollment methods
• Enroller type
• Enrollment support, including use of laptop, web, and telephonic enrollments
• Post-enrollment services, including re-enrollments
• Broker attitudes and opinions on enrollment
• Consumer enrollment preferences (both employer and employee)

With this information, carriers can compare their own enrollment practices to those of competitors and make enhancements, as needed. The report is now available for purchase for $1,500. Buyers of either of our past two enrollment reports receive a discount and can purchase the new report for just $1,000.

For more information or to purchase the report, call (860) 676-9633 or email us at info@eastbridge.com.