Publication	Description and link to article
Benefits Selling December 2011	The mind of a retailer "Voluntary is fundamentally a retail business."
Benefits Selling November 2011	Employers want affirmation—so give it to them What type of enrollment method gets the best results?
Benefits Selling October 2011	Can brokers predict the future? The voluntary business is an important economic bellwether.
Benefits Selling September 2011	Segment sales: don't blame the broker Take a look at 2010 sales results by distributor segment.
Benefits Selling August 2011	Recession hampers voluntary sales Take a look at how the economy affected product line sales.
Benefits Selling July 2011	Blame the economy for lower voluntary sales For the first time since tracking began, voluntary/worksite sales suffered a decrease.
Best's Review July 2011	Recovery Time Voluntary work site benefits sales slid last year due to layoffs and economic worries.
Benefits Selling June 2011	How to keep those customers How do we improve our 5% conversion rate?
Benefits Selling May 2011	Keep those customers In the voluntary market, conservation takes many forms.
Benefits Selling April 2011	The only opinions that matter The majority of benefit managers say they use a broker for their benefits package.
Benefits Selling March 2011	Climbing the curve Take a look at the list of criteria employers use to evaulate carriers.
Solutions Outlook 2011	The Economic Wave in Employee Voluntary Spending The recession is over and the economy is on the mend. The equities markets are improving and lending is starting to show signs of life, but workers are still hurting.
Benefits Selling February 2011	Any color—as long as it's black Do you offer many choices in your voluntary portfolio?
Benefits Selling January 2011	Sailing past the tipping point Brokers who believe voluntary is unnecessary have missed the boat.
Benefits Selling December 2010	Enrollment is key Enrollment plays a central role in the sales process.
Benefits Selling November 2010	Employees rule Employers are motivated by whether their employees are interested in voluntary options.
Benefits Selling October 2010	The rock and the hard place The world is changing. Fast. Brokers need to respond and for almost all, voluntary will be part of that response.
Benefits Selling September 2010	Benefit brokers take control Our last two columns discussed the results of our Annual Worksite Sales Report. This month, we wrap up our review of the 2009 sales results with a look at distribution.
Benefits Selling August 2010	Sales trends in voluntary products Voluntary life sales accounted for 24 percent of all voluntary sales in 2009, according to the U.S. Worksite Sales report.
Best's Review July 2010	Going Up! Voluntary worksite sales increased 3.3% in 2009.
Benefits Selling July 2010	Voluntary sales avoid the slump Eastbridge's annual U.S. Worksite Sales Report for 2009 was recently released, and despite the recession, the results look quite favorable for the voluntary market.
Benefits Selling June 2010	Still a bright future for voluntary Voluntary benefits have grown consistently over the last 10 to 12 years (since we've been tracking them), and 2009 was no exception.
Benefits Selling May 2010	Start from scratch It's no surprise that voluntary coverages are spreading throughout the landscape.
Benefits Selling April 2010	Putting their needs before ours It's not news that the level of stress in human resources departments have been rising for years, especially during open enrollment time.
CDHC Solutions	Flexibility Makes Voluntary Benefits Attractive More Employers Expected to Offer Option
Benefits Selling February 2010	What's the difference? For years we've asked brokers in our research surveys what platform they prefer for their voluntary products.
Benefits Selling February 2010	Build with boldness A recent Eastbridge study revealed some interesting tendencies among employee benefits brokers.
Benefits Selling January 2010	Best of breed products — What does it really mean? Brokers can help employers provide the best options for employee-paid benefits. But what does "best of breed" mean for voluntary products?
Benefits Selling December 2009	Goldilocks and the voluntary benefits Many businesses succeed or fail based on their ability to master a "Goldilocks" ingredient.
Benefits Selling November 2009	Playing offense—A benefit broker update Take a look at the selling behavior of the four phases of broker maturity.
Benefits Selling October 2009	Voluntary sales continue to grow— Part 2 Last month we talked about sales growth in the voluntary market in 2008. This month we're going to look at the product trends.
Benefits Selling September 2009	Voluntary sales growth rages on— Part 1 New voluntary sales (United States) totaled an estimated $5.225 billion in 2008, an increase of just under four percent over 2007 results.
Best's Review July 2009	Still Growing The increase in voluntary sales at U.S. work sites shows the line is recession-proof. Copyrighted A.M. Best Company, Inc. 2009 All Rights Reserved, Reprinted with Permission
Benefits Selling July 2009	A golden opportunity — are you seizing it? Brokers writing voluntary cases with traditional group carriers are far more likely to be taking over an existing case than are their individual counterparts.
Benefits Selling June 2009	ARRA and the good news During a recent industry meeting, we were repeatedly asked by attendees if we thought the new COBRA subsidies are going to negatively impact voluntary.
Benefits Selling February 2009	Your other (essential) customer The plan administrator can control the success or failure of your voluntary efforts.
Benefits Selling December 2008	The Marketplace for Employer Advice Brokers have to rethink their approach to account-level advice.
Benefits Selling September 2008	Climbing Up The Curve Brokers selling voluntary can be divided into two camps.
Benefits Selling June 2008	More Employers Are Having A Change of Mind HR officers are changing their attitudes toward their benefits programs, signaling a shift in benefits management. The tipping point is at hand.
Best's Review July 2008	Growth Factors Voluntary/work-site insurance carriers recorded another year of healthy growth in 2007.
Benefits Selling March 2008	The Power List: The 10 Most Influential Players in the Industry Eastbridge president, Gil Lowerre, is named to the Benefits Selling 10 most influential players in the benefits industry.
Benefits Selling March 2008	The Broker's Voluntary Dilemma There are signs that carrier attention is expanding, focusing more on support for brokers, employers and employees, and hopefully ending the belief of many brokers that they were being forced to choose between two evils.
Benefits Selling December 2007	Voluntary enrollment is not an implementation step In the employer-paid benfits arena, success is defined at the account-level sale . After that sale, the typical sales rep often hands off the case to an account manager or an enrollment coordinator to handle the implementation.
Benefits & Compensation Solutions Outlook 2008	Outlook 2008—Consumer-Driven/Voluntary Benefits As voluntary sales soar, we will see more products, options and designs, with more manufacturers, vendors and administrators squeezing into the marketplace, adding more choice and flexibility to benefit packages.
Benefits Selling September 2007	What's Next? The voluntary market is growing rapidly and becoming the heart of the benefits business. Unfortunately, not all brokers take full advantage of the ongoing transition and, surprisingly, it’s the larger and smaller brokers who lag furthest behind the curve.
Leader's Edge July/August 2007	Myopic Marketing Brokers miss the chance to move into voluntary benefits because they view them as an afterthought instead of an opportunity.
Benefits Selling June 2007	Positive Trends in Voluntary-Worksite Learn how seven of the top ten sellers experienced double-digit sales growth in 2006.
Benefits Selling March 2007	The Voluntary Evolution—Where Are We? Look at how the Eastbridge predictions made in 2002 about the voluntary benefits market are panning out.
Benefits Selling August 2006	Voluntary Benefits—The Employer Viewpoint Competition has been intense in the worksite market for a number of years and it shows no signs of letting up.
Benefits & Compensation Solutions June 2006	Voluntary Supplemental Life Benefits Brokers of supplemental life insurance understand the desire of employers to maintain attractive benefits offerings while keeping control of benefits costs and have expanded their voluntary life offerings.
Benefits Business Solutions June 2006	Where Benefits Demand is Heading Among Employees Brokers selling voluntary benefits need to be sure their portfolio is broad enough to satisfy the growing appetite employees have for voluntary products.
Best's Review November 2005	Worksite Marketing Keeps Growing and Growing and ... Worksite carriers recorded another year of growth in 2004 with new U.S. worksite sales totaling an estimated $4.22 billion.
Leader's Edge July/August 2005	2020 Vision An expert predicts benefits industry changes by 2020 for brokers, carriers and third-party administrators.