How to Sell Service-Oriented Benefits in Today's Workplace

Let’s face the facts: These are tough times economically, and when you present your benefits proposal to any workplace, you may find that their final decision comes down to one word — price.

Now more than ever, businesses are focused on the bottom line. Therefore, you must show potential clients how your employee insurance programs will provide them with the best value. However, that does not mean that they should simply receive your cheapest options or deals that will end up costing you more than you make in return.

You need to show them that enrolling in your benefits programs will result in long-term savings for the company. To make that pitch effective, observe the following steps.

Be proactive from the start
When you initially meet with a firm’s decision-makers, do not waste your time and theirs rambling about how great your company is. Those people — typically the human resources director, the chief financial officer, and the owner — most likely will have already researched your company’s credentials and will ask you questions if they feel it’s necessary.

Instead, you should focus on how you can help them stop their existing troubles from creating more serious problems down the road. Audit the company’s entire benefits program, looking particularly at these elements:

• Current benefit plan design
• Compliance
• Duplication of HR services

You should be able to locate some obvious oversights in these areas from the start, particularly complying with federal and state labor laws. For example, the intricacies of I-9 forms concerning immigrant workers have been a vexing problem to many employers. Your initial insights will gain their attention immediately and result in your later work being taken seriously.

Be professional and courteous
If you are dealing with an HR director, they may feel that you are stepping on their toes with your review. After all, they deal with their employees’ needs on a daily basis. You cannot afford this and should not allow the director to feel that way.

To diffuse any possible tension, take this approach: During the interview, say to the HR director, “Let me see what you are doing. Maybe I can learn something from you.” Then, employing what you have learned from your years of training, tactfully suggest what might have been overlooked and how your plans can address these issues. You will make that person your ally and thus smooth the way for your recommendations to be considered seriously by the CFO and owner when you finalize them.