“The Benefit Company is Committed to Remaining Privately Held”, one brochure stated. We recently had an internal discussion about employers being better off as a client of our firm because we are Privately Held.
One of our team members asked, “Do employers care if we are Privately Held?” An immediate response included, “…nimble, flexible, entrepreneurial – we don’t have to form a $1,000 committee to solve a $100 problem…” Someone else finished their sentence with, “blah, blah, blah.”
So why is an Employee Benefits Consulting firm’s private ownership relevant to employers?
- Client Service Culture: Teams focus on clients and their employees before the bottom line and their future employment.
- Team Stability and Consistency: Client team retention is high and service culture is preserved. Happy employees provide better service.
- Decisive: Clients have direct access to decision makers.
How do you tell if your Employee Benefits Consulting firm is preparing to sell or has sold?
- Increased turnover of staff
- Inaccessible employees; “9-5 mindset”
- Reduced innovation
- Increased “nickel and dime” fees
- Waves of disruption – email changes, rebranding, database changes, etc.
- Long-term contracts required
- “Tone” changes from employees.
When numbers are crunched and ridiculous multiples are being offered to sell, one thing that never hits the P&L is the human side of the equation. Why should this matter to employers?
Exhibit A: Over the past seven years, The Benefit Company has not lost an Account Executive;
Exhibit B: Our seven-year persistency is 97%, and it increases to 99% when excluding clients acquired; and,
Exhibit C: A common refrain for our employees is, “I plan to retire here.”
Bottom Line: People over Profits – culture! That’s why the Benefit Company chooses to follow the path of private ownership, and such is directly impactful to employers looking for long-term strategy and execution.
John Hearn
Principal
- Self-funding
- Employee Benefits Captives
- Data Analytics
- Population Health Management
- Absence Management
- Ancillary Benefit Procurement