New Survey Reveals Brokers Top Pain Points All Center Around Technology

A survey of benefits brokers conducted by Wellfleet Workplace and EIS found that brokers’ top pain points all center around demands for better technology from their carriers. The survey, conducted to gauge broker sentiment on partner technologies, also examined factors that impact broker satisfaction and their ability to be successful partners with carriers in the current workplace benefits market.

What Are Brokers' Top Carrier Pain Points?

According to the survey, respondents’ top six carrier pain points are all IT-Related. The specific pain points include:

• Commission structure (52%)
• Billing errors (48%)
• Lack of real-time data insights for the broker and client (44%)
• Time to underwrite the group (43%)
• Limited plan customization and slow data-processing time (42%)

The survey’s results also reveal that while brokers are increasingly embracing their roles as advocates for employer clients, they find themselves in an uphill battle with legacy technology. This finding is critical because technology is the No. 1 reason brokers will recommend a carrier to a client, according to the survey's researchers.

“Employers are stretched thin with the management of their current benefits programs, as well as crafting and implementing benefit strategies that resonate with their employees. When you add in a poor technology experience, the pressure HR benefits managers feel grows exponentially,” said Samantha Chow, LAH Markets Lead at EIS in a statement. “The survey findings reveal the carriers that are able to provide meaningful solutions are going to excel.“

The aforementioned survey also found that, after technology, the other top factors that influence brokers’ carrier recommendation are financial rating (57%) and the claims submission process (36%).

Why Is Technology Needed to Support Client Needs?

In order to meet the growing demands of clients and the changes caused by the ongoing pandemic crisis, brokers have pointed to a need for strong technology enablement from their carriers. Data from the survey reveals that in order for a broker to recommend a carrier to a client, there first needs to be confidence that the carrier will provide a seamless digital experience for both broker and employer.

What’s more, brokers want to be able to provide their clients a digital-first, customer-centric experience; this includes the ability to access portals and microsites, as well as the power to easily integrate with client benefits administration systems.

When asked about the importance of a carrier’s ability to provide a robust digital experience with features such as a broker portal, client analytics, and educational materials, 93% of respondents ranked it as “very important.”

Looking for more content related to brokers and digital transformation? Read on for “How to Choose an HR Software System.”

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