Are you showing your clients the love they deserve?
With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, you might be thinking of ways to create a romantic and memorable experience for your significant other or maybe the whole family. Luxury experiences, or even experiences that feel luxurious but don’t cost a lot, are trending in 2026. Luxury retail sales are expected to jump 5.5% worldwide in 2026 after remaining flat in 2025, according to a report from EMarketer.com.
But luxury doesn’t look the same to everyone.
When our kids were younger, a heart-shaped pizza and a box of chocolate showed our love. Now, it’s about experiences, like tickets to concerts or sporting events. Most teens on TikTok wouldn’t turn down the new True Love Shake from Shake Shack in a crackable dark chocolate shell, either. As our kids get older, the whole family enjoys luxury dining at locally owned restaurants, too.
What does this have to do with insurance? Brokers can (and should) tailor the benefits experience to their clients, and The DBL Center can help.
Here’s how our team of experts shows our love to our brokers year-round, and how we help you show love to your clients.
No Business Requirements or Minimum Sales Quotas
Insurance brokers know that to get the lowest premium rates and concierge service from carriers, they often need to meet sales quotas and write a minimum amount of business.
Brokers know the end-of-month or end-of-quarter crunch to meet goals. It’s a lot of pressure and it can lead to burnout or a deep focus on the bottom line, sometimes at the expense of providing the best service to your customers.
We want our brokers to be able to hustle without stress, which leads to better service for your clients and better sales results. That means no minimum business requirements or sales quotas. When you can focus on your job and know you can always deliver the lowest premium rates and best service to your clients, it changes the game for everyone.
Increased Income Opportunities
As Paid Family and Medical Leave programs go into effect in more states, The DBL Center stays on top of this ever-changing landscape. We broke the news in New York when our home state introduced the most robust paid family leave program back in 2017.
As more states introduce laws for required paid leave, The DBL Center has deep carrier relationships and the in-depth industry knowledge to help you privatize these benefits for clients. We can take the cost savings realized with a private plan and use that money to enhance other employee benefits.
The DBL Center can help you create a customized risk-gap analysis for your clients, so they can see which employee benefits will appeal most to their workforce, increasing employee retention rates and satisfaction.
Benefits That Buy Peace-of-Mind
Ancillary benefits shouldn’t be a luxury; but with rising health insurance costs, that’s how a robust benefits plan that includes vision, dental insurance and group life / AD&D feels to many employees.
Speaking in general about consumer purchases and spending habits, Abigail Olivas at No Single Individual told eMarketer.com, “It’s simply the reality of people weighing what feels necessary and smart in a more expensive world.”
That’s equally true for small businesses and corporations considering expanding employee benefits. Which benefits offer stability and peace-of-mind for workers?
In the long-run, effective ancillary benefits can improve employee physical and mental health, reduce sick time and increase retention rates. They’re the quiet benefits most HR managers and business owners don’t think about. Plus, many of these benefits, including dental insurance and vision coverage, can be fully employee-funded through payroll deductions, with no cost to the employer.
Now that many states require Paid Family and Medical Leave, adding ancillary benefits to create a full package feels smart – and doesn’t cost more.
Enriched NY State Disability Insurance in New York
As states add paid family and medical leave for workers recovering from a serious off-the-job illness or injury or taking care of family members, New York workers experience serious inequity between the benefit rates for NY SDI (if they are unable to work due to their own illness or injury) and PFL (to care for a family member or new addition to their family).
New York short-term disability insurance rates have not increased since 1989, remaining stagnant at a maximum of $170 per week. Enriching New York DBL insurance through The DBL Center with one of our top-rated private carriers enables weekly maximum benefits up to $850, with additional in-hospital coverage available, no waiting period, and better service than the state provides.
The Latest Technology to Help You Manage Your Business
Our Broker Dashboard: Net Revenue Tracker lets you view commissions, cancellations, and renewals at a glance. Now available as an app for Android or iOS, this state-of-the-art technology helps you manage your business wherever you may be.
We also send summary reports via email, allowing our brokers to take a proactive role in managing pending cancellations and renewals. Our brokers love us for it!
A Growing Team to Serve as Your Back-Office Staff
As the employee benefits space grows more complicated and company budgets shrink, it’s important to give your clients the time and attention they deserve.
The DBL Center acts as your back-office staff to shop and write policies. We deliver white-glove service and better premium rates because of our relationships with insurance companies. We can spot risk gaps that represent opportunities to up-sell benefits packages. Overall, we help ensure you have the time you need to build relationships with your clients, without getting bogged down in paperwork.
An Enhanced Business Experience for Our Brokers
The DBL Center started in 1976 as a family-owned and operated business. We have never strayed far from those roots. When brokers choose to write their policies with us as their wholesale general agency, they become part of The DBL Center family.
Just as you seek to treat your family to something out of the ordinary this Valentine’s Day, our goal is to deliver an elevated experience to impress you every day.
FAQs
What does a well-rounded employee benefits package look like?
While most employers offer some level of health care coverage to full time employees, a complete package should also include vision, dental benefits, Group Life / AD&D, and other voluntary worksite benefits, along with paid family and medical leave.
When workers are offered benefits like dental and vision coverage, who pays for those benefits?
In many cases, business owners can offer voluntary worksite benefits and ancillary benefits on a voluntary basis. Covered employees pay for those benefits through payroll deductions with pre-tax dollars. Employers can also opt to provide benefits on a cost-shared basis, which means the employer covers a portion of the insurance premiums.
