What if your competition was doing something that made their process cheaper, easier, and more accessible. Would you want to know the secret ingredient to their sauce in order to level the playing field? After all, why let them gain a competitive advantage if you can help it?
Here it is, that secret ingredient, in just one word. Paperless.
Insurance agencies are switching to online, paperless systems because it saves time, money, and offers agents and their clients the ability to access information anytime from anywhere.
Even more importantly… consider that right now we are navigating a new normal as we deal with a global health pandemic.
We all know the health implications and concerns that have arisen during COVID-19. With so much uncertainty in how the virus is spread, many agents are deciding to give themselves and their clients peace of mind by switching to a paperless system. Prior to a physical reopening, each business is being required to draw up new policies and procedures for dealing with COVID-19. Keep in mind that even if you aren’t concerned about transmission of the virus, your clients might be. It’s important to address those worries head-on by adjusting protocols.
Think about it: How many groups do you have to renew in the next months? Let’s say that you have a group with three different carrier options, and it’s one piece of paper per option. 30 people are in attendance. That means you’re handing out 90 pieces of paper for just 1 meeting. How are you able to commit to social distancing with the paperwork, the seating of your audience, and even adhere to current laws where groups are prohibited from gathering?
Using paper is unsafe and unnecessary.
Today is the perfect time to switch all of your current groups to paperless. If you aren’t going paperless, someone else will. You’ll lose your clients to agents who offer online benefits where people can access the systems from the safety of their home. Remote work continues to be a trend that employers are embracing and offering for their employees, meaning that they’ll expect (and potentially require) open enrollment and their benefits administration to be online. Savvy agents know that online access is the new way of the industry, and it’s here to stay.
Smarter and Safer for Agents and Clients
An online benefit portal helps agents and their clients in the long run. Agencies assisting clients through an online benefit administration portal are:
- More likely to retain the client
- Reducing client administration
- Increasing commissions
- Attracting new business
- Consolidating human resources efforts
Agent Benefits
The list of benefits for agents goes on (and on and on)! Online access:
- Saves Time. How often are you forced to dig through your documents looking for a specific item? How much time is wasted filing and organizing?
- Saves Money. The cost of paper (especially in color), having clients mail or fax in documents, and the use of a copier adds up.
- Saves Space. Storing paper documents in clunky file cabinets is no more.
- Eases Transfer of Information. Answer those client queries quickly and easily when you can bring up their accounts immediately.
- Improves Collaboration. File sending, document uploads, and more are all digital, making it simple to review, sign, and save information.
- Boosts Security. Paper methods and storage are not secure compared to monitored online systems. Having these personal documents secure is a level of compliance, too!
- Capture Data Automatically. Data quality is improved with automatic data capturing and is also more reliable.
- Quicker Approval Processes. Electronic documents are able to be signed, sealed, and e-delivered in a flash.
- All Documents Are Together. Agents know that they have to assemble and distribute many different documents. Online enrollment options let you pull a single custom document from multiple other documents, making it faster to combine and share everything you and your clients require.
- Customize Documents to Meet Your Clients’ Needs. Documents can be personalized and formatted for your audience, as well as updated in real-time.
- Helps You Stay Compliant. Regulations are easily adhered to, including maintaining data confidentiality, managing data, and providing a data trail.
And let’s not forget a very real benefit that goes beyond one person…going paperless helps the environment.
Client Benefits
Your clients will reap their own benefits through yours, and through unique perks of their own, including:
- Quicker Access. Clients can find their information in their accounts easily, and won’t have to ask you for copies.
- Continuous Access. Wherever the client is, so is their information. Smartphones, laptops, and apps all make their online portals available whenever they want and need.
- Accurate Information. Clients are responsible for inputting and confirming their choices and plans, so they have multiple opportunities to confirm input accuracy and to review their submissions.
- Change Submissions. For life events that require changes, clients can do the updates on their own, making it more efficient.
- Self Service. Who doesn’t get sick of waiting for information and answers to inquiries? Instead of having clients waiting for responses, online portals provide searchable information.
- Increases Client Satisfaction. If it isn’t easy to do, a client becomes quickly disenchanted and disinterested in moving forward. Take away the labor of going through paper documents with clear online enrollment portals that they can do whenever, wherever.
We know that a transition to paperless can seem daunting. At GRA Benefits Group, we’ve helped countless agents transition to our 1Enroll program, a paperless solution that streamlines the online benefit administration process. There’s no hassle and no stress when you have a superior system that supports you wherever you are, whenever clients need you.
Still worried about how to transition from your paper-based process to a software-based digital solution? We’ve got you covered! During our seamless onboarding process, we analyze your current processes and create a streamlined solution to help you scale and simplify. With 1Enroll, we use Employee Navigator, the benefit administration service you already know and trust, servicing over 1,200 brokers with 27,000 employers and 5 million lives. 1Enroll simplifies the agent’s world and the client’s world, allowing you to focus on what you do best. It’s time to reap the rewards of ditching paper. Contact us today to get started!