Survey Offers Insight On What Employers Want From Their Insurance Brokers

Milwaukee, WI - August 22, 2014

There is a disconnect between what brokers are providing clients and what clients are looking for from their broker, according to the Zywave 2014 Broker Services Survey. As new challenges arise for businesses, their key leaders are looking towards their broker to be a trusted adviser to their business. From benefit statements to legislative updates to employee communications, employers are still demanding these "extra" services from their insurance broker more and more each year.

"Over the years, we've noticed this trend, the trend that employers are looking for their brokers to provide more to them," said Dave O'Brien, CEO at Zywave. "Clients are expecting services from their brokers beyond just the placement of insurance. Most of us will agree this is positive, as it moves the broker to more of an adviser role, supporting business issues such as compliance, HR, risk management, wellness, etc. Agencies and brokers who excel at positioning themselves this way have enjoyed significant growth in recent years."

In many categories that were ranked as highly important that a broker deliver, employers were subsequently unsatisfied with the level of service that their current broker was providing. What's striking is that we've seen this trend for several years, but clients remain unsatisfied with their broker in many respects. In other words, employers are speaking, but the brokers aren't delivering on their needs. Here are a few examples from the survey:

- 65% of employers want their broker to provide assistance with creating or maintaining an employee handbook, but 85% say their broker is not doing a satisfactory job

- 92% want their broker to provide regulatory and legislative updates, yet 53% of employers are not satisfied with their current broker in providing these updates

- 88% of employers want assistance with their workplace wellness program, but 56% feel their broker is not delivering to their expectations

- 92% demand information that will help reduce the frequency and expense of claims, but 59% of employers are unsatisfied with their current broker on this topic

- 90% of employers expect brokers to help create benefit statements, yet 63% of employers are unsatisfied with their current broker's level of assistance.

"As our survey shows, there is a disconnect - often a large disconnect - between what clients want from a broker and what they are receiving." said O'Brien. "What does this mean? In my eyes, it means opportunity! Opportunity for the brokers out there who are willing to fulfill these unmet client needs and differentiate themselves in their market."

When employers were asked their top three risk management and employee benefit challenges, it highlighted additional opportunity for brokers to support their current clients - and target these areas of importance to win new business.

Top three risk management challenges:

- Keeping up to date on regulatory changes

- Controlling workers' compensation costs

- Educating employees on safety

Top three employee benefit challenges:

- Managing health care costs

- Keeping in compliance and up to date on changing legislation, including health care reform

- Benefits administration and employee benefits education

To read more details of the survey, view our whitepaper at www.zywave.com. Full survey results are available exclusively for Zywave insurance brokers.

About Zywave

Zywave is the leading provider of software-as-a-service (SaaS) technology solutions for the insurance industry. The company's products include Web-enabled marketing communications, business intelligence and analytics and agency automation tools. More than 2,700 brokerages worldwide, including 93 of the Top 100 U.S. insurance firms use Zywave's proven solutions to help them differentiate from the competition, enhance client services, improve efficiencies and achieve organic growth. To learn more, visit www.zywave.com.