Do Your Clients Understand their Maternity Leave Benefits?
Customer education goes a long way when it comes to selling employee benefits
As an insurance agent, you understand the intricacies of the employee benefits you sell, including maternity leave benefits available through Paid Family Leave (PFL) in New York. You can show customers how to file a DBL or PFL claim, tell them when their disability leave benefits will kick in, and how much money they are eligible to receive.
When you don’t know the answer, The DBL Center Ltd is just a phone call, email, or text away.
We sell employee benefits packages to the decision-makers, but employees don’t always receive the information they need to make important life decisions. For instance, maternity leave benefits may be a deciding factor in how soon a parent returns to the workplace, or even whether a couple can afford to have a child or not.
As an industry, we have an obligation to ensure that information on PFL and other benefits is being passed on to our customers – the company executives, HR departments, and the employees we serve.
An Insider Look at Maternity Leave Mistakes
An eye-opening article in Glamour magazine shares a “worst-case scenario” of what can happen when an employee doesn’t understand their maternity leave benefits.
Like any employee would do, the writer of the article spoke to her boss regarding her maternity leave benefits. She found out that she was eligible to receive 60 percent of her salary through her company’s short-term disability insurance plan. (The writer lived in Florida, so DBL was not a “given” as it is here in New York.)
She also learned she was entitled to 12 weeks off under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, which protects employees’ jobs while they are out on leave after having a baby or to care for a sick, aging, or disabled family member.
However, the writer never thought to ask (and her employer didn’t volunteer the information) if her insurance paid for a 12-week leave. When she realized it didn’t, it was too late. The couple’s savings had run out. She began freelancing when her son was only four weeks old to supplement her husband’s income and make the money her family needed to live.
The story resonated strongly with us here at The DBL Center, as a family-friendly company with many employees who are also parents. It underscored the importance of educating not just brokers, but the employers and employees who use PFL benefits.
3 Ways to Educate Customers About Maternity Leave
As a broker, you can (and should) take steps to educate your customers on maternity leave / PFL and other employee benefits. You’ll become a trusted resource, and the company they turn to when they want advice on other insurance-related topics.
If you aren’t already being proactive about educating your customers about paid family leave, here are some steps you can take.
- Work with HR Departments to Host a Lunch-and-Learn
There is nothing like making yourself available to your customers, in person, to answer their questions and explain their employee benefits packages. Set aside an hour of time to host a live seminar with the HR department and any employees who would like to hear about their options for employee benefits.
- Host a Webinar
You can also reach out to your customers without ever leaving your office. Host a webinar detailing the new PFL benefits, as well as any other ancillary benefits your customers receive.
Invest in low-cost, cloud-based software like Zoom or GoToMeeting to host webinars for up to 100 people. Or your organization may already have videoconferencing and webinar software already in place. Most of these programs are easy to set up and simple to use.
Hosting a webinar makes it easy to accommodate the schedules of multiple employees and eliminates travel time and expenses. You may even be able to provide recordings of the webinar, afterwards, for employees who could not attend.
- Provide Resources for Your Customers to Read or Watch Online
A personalized touch, either through live meetings or webinars, is often best to connect with your customers and upsell enriched DBL or ancillary benefits.
But you can make the information your customers need available to them when they need it by launching a resource center or blog on your website. Providing written information explaining the differences between PFL and FMLA and the extent of PFL benefits will help establish your insurance agency as a trusted resource.
You can even get creative and produce videos that you post on your website as well as on YouTube and Vimeo.
Not only do these articles and videos deliver the information your customers need when it’s convenient for them. It can also give your search engine rankings a boost, making it easier for people in your area to find you when they do a Google search for an insurance agency.
When it comes to marketing, it’s a win-win.
Join the DBL Center in Taking a Leadership Role in Customer Education
PFL is so important on so many levels, and it is crucial for employers and employees to understand the benefits. It is the responsibility of brokers to educate their customers, and the Glamour article details what can happen if insurance brokers don’t take a proactive stance. Employees don’t necessarily know the right questions to ask to make the right decisions for their financial future.
Fortunately, what is good for employee retention and for working families is also good for your bottom line. And customer education in the digital age is easier than ever.
If you can be the resource your customers need, your business will continue to grow through the sale of enriched benefits packages and word-of-mouth referrals.
Broker Spotlight: Corporate Synergies
DBL Center’s strengths complement Corporate Synergies’ insurance lines
Corporate Synergies is a full-service insurance brokerage, providing health, ancillary benefits, P&C coverage, and DBL / PFL for companies with as many as 10,000 employees.
“We have about 600 customers total and we have office in Melville, Long Island; New York City, New Jersey, Maryland and Florida,” says Peter Tonna, vice president and benefits consultant for Corporate Synergies. “We primarily operate in the middle market, serving businesses with 50 to 1,000 employees, but we also have customers with 5,000 to 10,000 employees, especially in the fields of not for profits, education, and financial services.”
Digging Deep into Practical Matters Concerning PFL 
Experts in the field of health and ancillary benefits, as well as DBL, Corporate Synergies has relied on DBL Center’s knowledge and expertise when it came to navigating the often-muddy waters of New York State’s new PFL coverage. “The DBL Center has come to us many times with educational materials to help us understand the new law and how it’s implemented. If I have questions, I can pick up the phone and Mike [DBL Center President Michael Cohen] will explain it,” says Tonna.
“It’s one thing to talk about PFL in broad strokes, but when you get into the weeds, talking about a specific situation or a real-life experience, Mike has helped explain the differences and overlap between PFL and FMLA in ways we can convey to our customers,” he continues. “Most importantly, DBL Center gives us ways to make sure that knowledge and insight is communicated to the employees and HR directors.”
Analyzing Ancillary Benefits
Corporate Synergies also leverages DBL Center’s relationships with carriers to get the best rates by bundling DBL and ancillary benefits. “We promote dental and group life as the power players for ancillary benefits,” Tonna says. “Voluntary group life is typically low cost, and employees many not have to go through medical underwriting, which saves time and hassles.”
Corporate Synergies and DBL Center: A Mutual Focus on Service
With a new website focused on educating customers about the ever-changing landscape of employee benefits, Corporate Synergies shares DBL Center’s philosophy of providing exemplary service and consultative selling to drive repeat business and referrals.
With offices just minutes away from each other in Melville, The DBL Center and Corporate Synergies have maintained a relationship any business owner dreams of. The DBL Center is more than just a wholesaler for Corporate Synergies, but a trusted partner, sharing advice and referrals.
“The whole DBL team is local, knowledgeable and experienced,” Tonna says. “And that translates into increased value for my customers. My customers are the most important thing in my world, and I want to make sure they are educated and informed. DBL Center has been a great resource to help us cut through the fog and confusion surrounding DBL and PFL in New York.”
Brokers: Is Your Insurance Firm Ready to Be Next?
Are you enjoying our Broker Spotlight series? Reach out and let us know!
If you have a unique and interesting story to tell about your relationship with DBL Center or how we have helped you grow your business, contact us now to be featured as our next “Broker Spotlight.”
5 Reasons to Buy Private TDB Coverage in NJ
Private TDB coverage in New Jersey delivers faster payouts, better service, cost savings, and easy commissions
Did you know 85% of business owners buy TDB in NJ (temporary disability benefits) through the state?
If private TDB coverage is so much better, why aren’t more business owners and HR directors switching?
Most New Jersey business owners simply don’t know there’s a better way.
That’s where DBL Center brokers come in.
You can gain your customers’ trust, increase business referrals, and earn commission on a mandatory insurance product by showing your customers the benefits of private TDB coverage.
1. Employees enjoy faster payouts with private TDB.
When your customers make a TDB claim through a private carrier, they can start receiving a check in as little as 7 days. Employees who make claims through the state insurance fund might wait months for their first check.
In addition, employees can choose to receive a debit card or check and even determine the schedule of their disability income, so they can stick to the budget they’ve established when they were working.
2. Get your questions answered faster with extended service hours.
Have a question about a NJ TDB claim after normal office hours? The Department of Labor Temporary Disability Insurance call center is only open from 8 am to 5:30 pm, Monday and Tuesday, and from 8:30 to 4:30 Wednesday through Friday.
Most insurance carriers have extended hours, and many even offer the ability to check claim status online 24/7. Plus, DBL Center brokers will be able to reach out to the DBL Center directly, 24/7, through the broker dashboard once it is launched this fall. There is no reason for anyone to stay awake wondering about the status of their disability claim.
3. Work with carriers who care.
We’ve all done business with state and federal agencies. The DMV. The state IRS. The post office. There is a reason Amazon uses its own delivery company. Government services typically involve a lower quality of service, slower response time, and lots of red tape.
When you work with top carriers to buy private TDB coverage, you can deliver a higher level of service than your customers would receive anywhere else.
You’ll gain access to the DBL Center’s back office staff to answer your customers’ questions, help process claims, and ensure your customers are getting the best rates.
4. Lock in low rates.
Will the state of New Jersey increase TDB rates? Every November, the insurance industry plays a guessing game before the NJSIF announces its rates for the coming year. If rates go up, you’ll be scrambling to write your customers’ policies with private carriers for more competitive pricing.
Why not beat the rush and help them switch to a private carrier now? You may even be able to lock in low rates for two to three years.
You can only switch to privatize TDB coverage on the first day of every quarter. Now is the time to start thinking about helping your customers make the switch on October 1.
5. Save money by bundling TDB with ancillary benefits.
From small businesses to large corporations, most companies want to save money. Even if the NJSIF premiums remain the same next year, your customers could still save money with private TDB coverage.
Most TDB carriers also provide voluntary ancillary benefits packages, including vision, dental, and group life coverage.
That’s something your customers won’t find with the state insurance fund. And if you bundle ancillary benefits with a TDB package, your clients can save money all around, while providing employees with an enticing benefits package that may help retention rates in their company.
Let The DBL Center Help Your Customers Switch
Making the switch to private TDB coverage isn’t easy. But it’s worth it.
When you work with DBL Center, we will shop around for you to find the best terms and service for your customers. Once you’ve made the sale, The DBL Center will provide your customers with the paperwork they need, walk you both through the process, and make sure the switch to private TDB coverage happens seamlessly. Your customers will feel good about the money they saved and the service they are receiving.
Learn more about how New Jersey insurance brokers are using private TDB coverage to increase their bottom line. Then reach out to your friends at The DBL Center to get started.
Are You Profiting from Insurance for Non Profit Organizations?
Follow these tips to grow your book of business in the nonprofit insurance sector
More than 1.5 million non profit organizations are registered in the U.S., says the National Center for Charitable statistics. And they all need nonprofit insurance coverage.
With 20.3 million people living in the New York Tri-State area, it’s safe to say a proportionate number of those non profits are based right here. And, just like your small business and large corporate customers, they are looking for low premiums, high-quality insurance coverage, and stellar service from their non profit insurance brokers.
Employee Benefits Help Compensate for Lower Pay
Non profit workers are traditionally paid less than their counterparts at for-profit companies. Owners of non profit organizations must tread carefully because they could face fines if the IRS deems their employees’ salaries “excessive.” Not only do nonprofits have less money to pay out—because their funding comes from supporter donations—but employers opt to err on the side of caution with employee salaries.
In order to find the best people to help them achieve their mission, non profits must look at other ways to attract and retain top employees. And that’s where insurance for non profit organizations comes in, especially when you are talking about enriched DBL and ancillary benefits. Most non profits have smaller operating budgets than corporations, including less money to pay out for employer-funded benefits like healthcare. But voluntary, employee-funded benefits like group life, vision, and dental coverage deliver great value at a low cost to employees.
Why You Should Consider Selling Insurance for Non Profit Organizations
Non profits go beyond foundations and mission-specific charitable organizations. They may include hospitals and universities, and other important business-oriented organizations with large teams and hefty operating costs.
Not only can non profits be a valuable sector by themselves, but selling not for profit insurance can also attract local business leads and new clients when your non profit customers spread the word to their members and volunteers about the service you deliver. Local networking groups such as your Chamber of Commerce, Lions’ Clubs, and Kiwanis are all non profit organizations.
Are you ready to start selling insurance for non profit organizations?
4 Easy Steps to Selling Insurance for Non Profit Organizations
To successfully sell not for profit insurance benefits, you need to understand what motivates the employees. Value-driven millennials often seek work with non profit organizations, because they want a career that makes a difference in the world along with providing a paycheck.
Employees are often willing to accept less pay because the intrinsic benefits of the job win out in the end. But, once reality sets in and the rent comes due, top talent may quickly be recruited away with promises of a hefty salary, ancillary benefits, and exciting perks in the corporate world.
A non profit may not be able to match a Fortune 500 in terms of pay. But non profit insurance brokers can offer something equal in intrinsic value and help organizations recruit and retain top talent by following these four steps.
- Research the mission and values of the organization.
Any good salesperson knows how it important it is to understand your audience. And the non profit group tends to be passionate about their beliefs. If you are working with an animal rights organization, for instance, mention your family pets you adopted from a rescue.
If you are working with an organization that supports eco-tourism,, and can off-handedly mention your Prius, they will understand you are aligned with their values. They will also love the efficiency of getting nonprofit insurance quotes online, without the hassles of paperwork.
Once you’ve made that personal connection, how do you make the leap to insurance products? By tapping into what’s important to non profit employees, you can show them the employee benefits that will help enhance their lifestyle by saving them money.
- Sell employees on the lifestyle benefits.
Millennials — especially those who choose to work for non profits—treasure a work/life balance and want to make a difference at work and at play. Saving money on dental and vision costs may free up cash so they can travel more, for instance, or adopt another pet from the animal rescue.
A good life insurance policy will provide peace of mind to employees starting a family. And a 401K will give them the financial freedom they need to continue supporting their favorite causes, through donations or volunteerism, into their retirement.
- Educate employers about the advantages of low-cost ancillary benefits.
Recruiting and retention is a major challenge for executives in the non profit sector. Smaller organizations may not have an HR director who understands the specifics of employee benefits packages, how they are structured, or what’s available.
They need a non profit insurance broker they can trust to explain how ancillary benefits can be bundled with mandatory coverage for maximum savings, and how these benefits can be used as important recruiting and retention tools to keep top talent.
- Make sure employees and employers understand exactly what they’re getting, how much money it can save them, and how it can enhance their lives.
Don’t assume anyone in the organization understands the value of employee benefits. Hold a lunch-and-learn seminar, make information available on your website, let employers and their employees, alike, know you are available for questions.
Bottom line: Making insurance for non profit organizations part of your book of business involves a large amount consultative selling. Make sure prospective clients understand that these are employee-funded, voluntary benefits that cost very little compared to the money they will save over their lives.
Broker Spotlight: ComTon, Inc.
DBL Center Helps ComTon Convert Self-Insured DBL Clients to Major Carriers at Low Rates
ComTon Inc. in Fairport, NY, specializes in Employee Benefits insurance for organizations with over 200 lives. Serving upstate and western New York, from Rhinebeck to Lake Placid and across the state to Buffalo and Rochester, ComTon has been in business since 1998. “Most of our business is through word-of-mouth and referrals,” says ComTon Principal Gregory D. Singleton.
“One of our biggest compliments is when we have an HR director or a finance person who leaves an organization we’ve worked with and moves to another organization and immediately brings us in,” adds Principal Rob Commisso.
ComTon has carved out a successful niche working with large organizations to provide employee benefits, including DBL / PFL, group life, health insurance, dental insurance, workers’ compensation, short-term and long-term disability, and other voluntary benefits. Unlike many brokers, ComTon offers packages for self-insured businesses and is certified by the state of New York as a third-party administrator of workers’ compensation and DBL / PFL benefits.
As an administrator for self-insured DBL policies, ComTon faced an unusual challenge when PFL was first introduced in the beginning of 2018. “Some of our self-insured clients weren’t necessarily comfortable with the unknown costs of PFL, so they wanted to pursue fully insured options,” recalls Commisso. 
That’s when ComTon realized the true benefits of working with The DBL Center as their white-glove, white-label insurance wholesaler. “DBL Center provided us with a lot of help so we could offer our clients options for a fully insured program,” says Singleton. “Because DBL Center has such a big book of business and great relationships with the existing carriers, they were able to get us very good rates for our clients who wanted to move to a different carrier or to go from self-insured to fully insured.”
Singleton reveals that ComTon provided quotes for all their existing clients to transition to fully insured benefits, so that their customers could choose the best path for their situation. The DBL Center expedited the process, shopping around for the best rates.
ComTon clients who decided to switch to a fully insured program reaped the rewards of low rates as well as fast claim payments and the stellar service that ComTon has been known to provide to its self-insured clients for two decades. The DBL Center made it easy for ComTon to quote rates from a variety of carriers, write the policies, and deliver excellent service through top-name carriers capable of writing DBL policies with the PFL rider.
“DBL Center streamlined our quoting process for our DBL prospects and existing clients considering fully insured options,” says Singleton.
“But what it really came down to is the cost,” adds Commisso. “DBL Center was able to help us get better rates than we may have been able to do on our own, with a variety of carriers.”
He continues, “The whole team has been wonderful to work with, very responsive to our questions and our needs, and helpful in offering solutions or ideas we may not have thought of. The DBL Center team is very good about explaining the capabilities of one insurance carrier over another, and of helping us market the benefits of various carriers to our clientele.”
Singleton adds, “I thought we had a great knowledge of DBL coverage here at ComTon, and the DBL Center’s knowledge is as good—if not better—than ours.”
Broker Spotlight: Meeker Sharkey & Hurley Writes More TDB with DBL Center
New Jersey insurance company delivers better service for statutory and ancillary customers
Although Meeker Sharkey & Hurley has been in the insurance business since 1864, the full-service broker is one of the newest in The DBL Center family. The company is already realizing the advantages of buying state-mandated TDB through DBL Center’s vast network of private carriers.
“The DBL Center knows the statutory market. That’s their specific field,” says Richard Am
brose, Meeker Sharkey & Hurley Senior Vice President-Practice Leader, Employee Benefits. “While we could go to the carriers ourselves, The DBL Center is more tuned in to the TDB market. They can be more aggressive in the pricing because they have such a large block of business with the statutory companies, and that helps us.”
Private TDB Coverage: Sales Based on Service
Since New Jersey’s TDB coverage pays a living wage to employees on short-term disability or maternity leave, there is less reason to enrich policies the way New York brokers do for businesses in their state. New Jersey pays a maximum of $637 per week for employees, with affordable premiums. “In New Jersey, more than 85 percent of the employers write TDB through the New Jersey State Insurance Fund (NJSIF),” says Ambrose.
Yet, he views this as an opportunity rather than a challenge. “Most employers don’t know they can switch, and the state, by design, makes it difficult to switch,” he explains.
Employers must get signatures from 50 percent of their NJ employees explaining the change before they can switch, and they can only make the jump from the state on the first day of any quarter. But once employers do make the jump, they enjoy better service, faster payouts, and more flexibility.
The DBL Center simplifies the process and helps Meeker Sharkey customers switch to a private carrier by shopping around for the best rates, sometimes getting those rates locked in for two to three years, and then helping with the paperwork to switch from NJSIF.
“With a private carrier, our customers get a dedicated account manager, as well as people from my firm who can help them, people from the DBL Center who can help them, and service by phone even after 4 o’clock in the afternoon—which you won’t find with the state,” says Ambrose.
In addition, claimants can receive their first check in less than one week, with flexible pay periods so they can maintain the budget and lifestyle they had prior to filing for disability coverage. “I’ve heard of people not getting their first check from the state until after they’ve gone back to work,” says Ambrose. “We tell our clients that if we can get them the same rate as the state, they should make the jump because they will appreciate the better service. And The DBL Center helps make it easier to find an equal or lower rate.”
Adding Ancillary Benefits to Save Even More
In addition to writing Temporary Disability Benefits for New Jersey customers through The DBL Center’s large network of carriers, Meeker Sharkey also focuses heavily on ancillary benefits, including vision, dental, life, and long-term disability. Often, The DBL Center can find the best rates by bundling these important ancillary benefits with a statutory TDB policy.
Communicating the Advantages of Ancillary Benefits
Ambrose reveals a great deal of Meeker Sharkey & Hurley’s revenue comes from employee health and ancillary benefits for businesses with over 50 lives. “We have a hospital client with 2,000 lives, but the majority of our revenue are clients with 50 covered employees up to about 400. We have quite a few financial institutions, manufacturing firms, and not-for-profits.”
Ambrose notes employers in these fields are always looking to entice employees and benefits packages are an important part of those recruiting tactics. “DBL Center is very aggressive with customer education, and that’s important when we’re selling ancillary lines. Michael Cohen and his team are very tapped into what’s happening in the industry, whether we are talking about Paid Family Leave in New York, TDB, or ancillary benefits,” says Ambrose.
“They are also very proactive with follow ups, and responsive to our needs,” he says. “I’d been talking to Mike for at least a year before we signed on with The DBL Center and my only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner.”
How You (and Your Customers) Can Benefit from a Company Census
Some carriers may require a company census in the future for DBL coverage. Here’s why it’s worth your customers’ time to complete one now.
If you are a broker who sells ancillary benefits such as life, dental, and vision coverage, you are already familiar with the paperwork required to complete a company census. Your customers have to submit a company census showing the number of employees, their ages, genders, and salaries.
Now, with the introduction of Paid Family Leave, some insurance carriers may require a company census for their DBL insurance, too.
Even if it isn’t required by your carrier, having an accurate and up-to-date census can benefit brokers and their customers, alike, resulting in money savings for customers and increased opportunities for brokers to cross-sell ancillary benefits with DBL coverage. Read on to find out how.
Benefits of a Company Census
With a census in hand, business owners will receive more accurate insurance rates that are based on the exact head count of covered employees. They won’t overpay for their insurance coverage, which can enable the company to better manage cash flow without tying up funds needlessly.
And if you have to break the bad news that their insurance premiums will go up slightly, at least your commission will rise proportionately. They will now be paying for the actual coverage they are receiving, which is difficult for any business person to argue.
How to Use The Company Census As the Doorway to Ancillary Coverage
With a company census for each one of your customers in hand, it is easy to request a quote for ancillary coverage through the DBL Center. In order to accurately quote ancillary coverage, you need the census. Now that your customers have that information, you can show them how affordable it can be to sweeten their employee benefits package with group life, vision, or dental coverage.
If you’ve already shown your customers you can save them money on their DBL and PFL, now you can show them how to take that extra money and invest it into ancillary policies that will make all their employees happy, build loyalty, and help attract top talent.
Making Time to Complete the Census
For small business owners, completing a census shouldn’t take much time at all. They can delegate the task to an office manager or set aside a few hours to gather the information from their employees. It could even be as fast as sending out a company-wide email.
For larger corporations with more than 50 lives, and even up to thousands of employees, gathering census data will, admittedly, take more time. But the cost savings could really add up for larger companies.
Once the census data is in place, it doesn’t take long to update it, annually, with new employees and to remove employees who no longer work for the company.
“It makes sense to calculate accurate insurance premiums based on the actual number of lives in a company and can result in cost savings for customers,” says DBL Center’s Selena Kutschera. “It also makes it easier for brokers to get an accurate quote in order to enrich their customers’ benefits packages with ancillary benefits.”
How To Get Started
Pinpoint a few customers, especially corporations over 50 lives, who would benefit the most from a census and be most amenable to ancillary benefits if it was fast and easy to get a price quote. If carriers begin requiring a census for DBL coverage with a PFL rider, these customers will have the information in hand.
“Filling out census forms for more accurate insurance billing is new and unfamiliar to many brokers,” says Kutschera. “But the DBL Center is here to help our brokers and their customers complete a company census. It’s also important to remember that this a one-time-only process that will allow the carrier to better serve brokers and their customers.”
Broker Spotlight: Total Management Corporation Focuses on Exemplary Service
New York insurance agency, Total Management, doesn’t sell a business policy without disability coverage
Total Management Corporation, an independent insurance agency with offices on Long Island and Manhattan, has built a successful business for more than 40 years by focusing on two things: stellar service and customer education. TMC wants to be the first to tell their customers about new benefits and opportunities.
Likewise, TMC recognizes the advantages of selling DBL insurance to every business customer. Many small business owners are unaware of this mandatory benefit. TMC serves their customers’ best interests by educating them about DBL coverage. For the broker, DBL provides residual commissions every year, and represents opportunities to grow their book of business through consultative selling.
“DBL business never goes away,” says Total Management Corporation’s Phil Bilello. “The client gets a bill once a year, pays it, and doesn’t think twice. We insist all our business clients carry disability insurance. We won’t write an account without it.”
Rather than ignoring the mandatory coverage, TMC puts disability insurance side-by-side with other group benefits packages, providing a page on their website where small business owners can request a disability insurance quote online.
It sounds simple, but in a world where DBL coverage is often a forgotten benefit, this page helps keep disability insurance on the minds of busy business owners and HR directors who visit the TMC site.
The Secret to Reaching High-end Clients with Enhanced DBL Plans
To increase DBL revenue, the Total Management team has become adept at recognizing customers, usually higher end service professionals like real estate agencies, doctor’s offices, and law firms, who may be amenable to enhanced DBL coverage.
“We find that service professionals are the most likely to agree to enhanced DBL benefits, so we come back to them every year and discuss the possibility of providing a better benefits package to their employees,” says Bilello. “We will also discuss it over the course of the year. You want to have multiple touchpoints when you’re trying to enhance a policy.”
These customers who recognize the value of robust business insurance policies, Bilello says, are his ideal customers. “We want to sell to the true business professional who values insurance, values the coverage and values the services an independent insurance agency can provide,” he says.
Service: The Key Differentiator for Total Management Corporation
For more than 40 years, Total Management Corporation has focused on delivering exemplary service to business professionals, as well as individuals and not-for-profit organizations.
“It’s hard to say what differentiates one insurance agency from another,” Bilello admits. “But we have a hard-working, conscientious staff that takes ownership of their accounts and cares about the agency. We work hard for our clients, earning their business every year, and maintaining their trust and loyalty. Those are the keys to our success and our future success. If you don’t work hard every day to keep your business growing, you won’t be in business much longer. You can never get complacent.”
Shared Values, Emphasis on Education
Total Management Corporation recognizes that DBL Center shares these values of hard work and exemplary service, resulting in a 20+ year partnership between the independent insurance agency and the wholesaler. “We started out working with [founder] David Cohen and [VP of Sales] Richard Slavin, and now we have the whole team behind us,” says Bilello.
“DBL Center has been wonderful because they get out in front of their brokers, and let us know they’re supporting us,” says Bilello. “They’re always very helpful, very professional, and very educated about their products.”
The DBL Center provided support when New York State first implemented Paid Family Leave laws, permitting Total Management Corporation to better educate their customers, show their knowledge, and build trust. The DBL Center offered seminars and lunch and learn programs, sent out informational emails, and launched its Paid Family Leave Resource Center to educate brokers about the upcoming mandatory benefit.
“If it weren’t for DBL Center, we wouldn’t have known anything about Paid Family Leave,” says Bilello. “Michael [Cohen] and his staff took the ball and ran with it. PFL is confusing enough, but they made the transition so much easier for all of us.”
Net Revenue Tracker: The Next Phase of Growth
In Q2 2018, Total Management Center will be looking to The DBL Center for additional resources in the form of an app that enables brokers to track all of their accounts from one intuitive, easy-to-access dashboard. “We’re looking forward to Net Revenue Tracker,” says Bilello. “Real-time information is always important and having data and analytics at your fingertips is invaluable for an insurance agency.”
He concludes, “DBL Center has become a trusted partner and we look forward to a continued relationship.”
Want to become our next Broker Spotlight? Contact us today.
DBL Broker Spotlight: Hometown Insurance Agency
A focus on customer education and diverse offerings set Hometown Insurance Agency of Long Island apart
Hometown Insurance Agency, based in Bohemia, New York, has been serving Long Island, upstate New York, and parts of the New York tri-state area since 1979. Hometown provides a full line of insurance products, with a 50/50 split of personal and commercial customers. Hometown’s business insurance lines include individual and group health, ancillary benefits, and, of course, New York State mandatory DBL insurance.
Within that commercial demographic, Hometown serves a wide range of businesses, from Main Street small businesses to municipalities, fire departments, towns and villages, local libraries, as well as not-for-profit organizations, and larger companies including manufacturers and contractors.
But one thing is consistent in the way Hometown approaches every one of its clients. “One of the areas we pride ourselves on is educating our customers,” says Hometown President and CEO Rebecca Weber, noting that DBL coverage and especially Paid Family Leave still require a lot of attention when it comes to customer education.
“I still am convinced that not everybody is talking about it like they should be,” says Weber. “And that education we provide is what sets us apart. Most agents go in and are focused on the meatier parts of the policy, so it is very easy to overlook DBL coverage.”
She adds, “At Hometown, we’ve made it part of our routine. Our agents need to go in and talk about enriched DBL—and the new PFL rider is a great place to start.”
As a female executive in a male-dominated industry, Weber sees the appeal in the personal stories behind the groundbreaking and culturally significant benefit. “We have two family members who work in our company, in two different departments. When the mother returned after eight weeks taking care of her newborn, her husband was able to take time off. We see, as a company, how important this benefit is to our employees. To be able to share that story with our business owners really brings it home to them.”
Hometown Insurance Agency has worked with DBL Center for two generations; Rebecca’s father, Dan Weber, began doing business with DBL Center President Michael Cohen’s father, David, decades ago. “Our relationship has grown along with our management and ownership,” says the younger Weber, who took over leadership of Hometown in 2007.
Even as both companies have grown, they remain focused on personalized service. “In working with DBL Center, there is a sense of dealing with people that you trust, and people that you know. You’re not treated like a number,” says Weber. “Invariably, the service is absolutely wonderful and exceeds our expectations.”
Weber notes that DBL Center caters to small to mid-size agencies, providing not just exceptional service but bleeding-edge technology to help the agency operate more efficiently.
Hometown Insurance Agency is one of a handful of DBL Center brokers who have already previewed the proprietary Net Revenue Tracker (NRT) software.
“We are very excited to begin using the software,” says Weber. “We believe it is going to help streamline our process and be more efficient. Our reports will be more reliable.”
By automating renewal notifications and tracking functions, the software will free up employees who are currently focused on manual data entry so they can complete more complex, high-touch tasks.
“It’s a win-win for our agency,” Weber says. “And we are very fortunate to have access to the software and to have The DBL Center in our corner.”
Would you like to be featured in our next DBL Broker Spotlight? Reach out today.
Insurance Agency Tax Time: How Are You Tracking Revenue?
Use this tax season to reflect on how you can improve processes in your insurance agency
It’s tax season once again and for insurance brokers, it’s also a good time to reflect on ways to improve business efficiency in your insurance agency.
For small to mid-size businesses in New York and New Jersey, including many DBL Center brokers, March means working with your tax accountant, sorting through receipts and expenses, running QuickBooks reports, and reviewing your annual revenue.
But there is a lot of data hidden inside those numbers besides just how much you owe the I.R.S. Are you tracking and leveraging your business analytics to their full capacity? The DBL Center is introducing a tool that will allow property & casualty and other licensed agents the ability to do just that.
DBL Center Offers Net Revenue Tracker Software to Insurance Brokers
QuickBooks and other accounting software provides reports to help you track income and expenses, but it is not tailored to an insurance agency. You can’t view the profitability of different types of insurance or different types of customers. You can’t track cancellation trends so you can improve customer retention. And you can’t reliably predict cash flow or opportunities for growth without a way to track renewals.
CRM software can help your insurance agency sales team track leads to generate new business. But someone in your office has to input the data and your sales team has to be invested enough in the process to use it.
Our new Net Revenue Tracker is tailored to P&C insurance brokers to help you manage all your accounts and spot opportunities for growth. It connects directly to your DBL Center back office so all the analytics you need are at your fingertips at any time, wherever you may be. The cloud-based software functions seamlessly and securely on any internet-enabled device, including a desktop PC or Mac, laptop, or Android- or iOs-based smartphone or tablet.
Grow Your Book of Business with NRT
The Net Revenue Tracker provides the information most important to help you grow your book of business, enabling you to track the profitability of specific accounts, track policy renewal dates so you can be proactive about renewals and up-sells, and view important business metrics at a glance.
You can view accounts by carrier to see where you might want to diversify to protect your business interests, and where it might benefit your customers to consolidate for better coverage and lower premiums.
And because it is based on software we’ve used here at The DBL Center for years, we know it is user-friendly to help you increase efficiency and streamline your business processes.
How Will The New Tax Laws Affect Your Insurance Agency – And Your Customers?
As you’re assessing your business processes to increase efficiencies and track your revenue more effectively, it’s also important to begin thinking about tax strategies for 2018.
This year’s tax season should be straightforward for most insurance brokers, or at least business as usual. The big changes went into effect beginning this year and will be reflected on corporate taxes filed in March 2019. Talk to your tax accountant about the new tax laws and how they may affect your business — and your customers’ businesses, for that matter.
With reduced or eliminated deductions for fringe benefits like transportation, meals and entertainment, employers and HR directors may be looking to enrich disability coverage and ancillary benefits to recruit and retain top talent. Our Net Revenue Tracker can help you spot these opportunities for increased sales with existing customers at your New York insurance agency.
Be one of the first brokers to catch a sneak preview of the software in a live webinar demonstration.