Benchmarking, and why it’s important for your business

Every Business Owner regardless of profession asks me the same question…

What is everyone else doing?

See that’s the thing, no one wants to be left out, left behind. Business Owners like to use their peers as a gauge to see how well their doing. How long would it take for the Yankees to make a big off-season signing if the Redsox made a big splash the day before? I’m sure it wouldn’t take too long.

Whether it’s sales, promotion, advertising, and especially their benefits, Businesses want to stay with the pack. The problem is too often the information they receive is clouded. Most businesses, believe it or not don’t know how many people are on their Medical Plan, what the coverages are, or what their being charged. They can pay too much for benefits, carry additional coverages their employees don’t need or want, or simple hurt themselves by not asking the right questions.

That's why benchmarking can be so valuable. My company collects data from every business we work with, big and small. Whether or not we get the client, we take down their information so we can help advise future clients on what’s going on in the benefits world.

Here’s just some of the information you could gain.

• Medical Surveys – Would it shock you to know 50% of employers don’t survey their employees? How do you know what your employees need if you never ask them. You may be paying for benefits they don’t need nor use.

• Eligibility Audits – Over 65% of businesses we interviewed said they never get updates on who’s eligible for benefits. Things constantly change, and that applies to your employees. They get married, divorced; they retire, have children, and even pass away. But the majority of businesses don’t take a moment to even see if there have been any changes in their employee’s lives. It could simply be that your employees are actually unaware that they have to inform you of the change.

BECOME EDUCATED, KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, AND IN THIS CASE, MONEY! JUST BECAUSE YOUR COMFORTABLE DOESN'T MEAN YOUR IN THE BEST POSITION POSSIBLE.

If you have any questions you can always reach me at 631-338-9917.

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