Benefits Company

Benefits made simple

MetLife partners with independent agents to deliver benefits solutions to P-C clients

By Elisabeth Boone, CPCU

Remember when life insurance and employee benefits products were: (a) few, simple, and straightforward and (b) sold by life and group agents who had little if any interaction with property/casualty producers?

That was then; this is now. Gone are the days when “employee benefits” meant “group health insurance,” with maybe a modest term life policy thrown in, and when P-C agents’ involvement with life insurance and benefits seldom went beyond a phone call to a local life producer who would take it from there.

Today’s life insurance and employee benefits menu features a smorgasbord of products that go far beyond the traditional group health and life offerings. What’s more, these products are no longer the exclusive province of life and health insurers and their dedicated agency forces. Independent property/casualty agents increasingly are expected to deliver sophisticated life and employee benefits solutions to their commercial clients, and for many P-C producers that continues to be a daunting challenge.

With 30 years of combined property and casualty and life insurance experience to his credit, MetLife Auto & Home Vice President Rudy Loney has witnessed firsthand the sweeping changes that have taken place over the years in the design and distribution of life insurance and employee benefits products and services.

In 2000, Loney was named to head the Agency Distribution Financial Services division of MetLife Auto & Home. In his position, Loney is responsible for the leadership, development, direction, and distribution of MetLife non-P-C products through some 2,000 independent agents who offer MetLife property and casualty products to their clients. The portfolio includes life, long term care, disability, employee benefits, and MetLife Bank for savings, money market accounts, CDs, and IRA accounts. Annuities and other more complicated financial services products are available through partnerships with local MetLife sales firms.

“We have field marketing managers located around the country who work closely with our property/casualty managers to identify opportunities to market our life and financial services products through independent agents who are licensed to sell life insurance,” Loney explains. “Our division also has an internal life sales and administrative support team to assist both the field managers and the agents in their sales efforts.

“As we all know, while P-C agents talk about wanting to sell life insurance and benefits, they often feel uncomfortable because it’s not their main focus,” Loney comments. “Our field managers are responsible for training and educating our P-C independent agents so they understand our retail life and financial services products. Our goal is to put those producers in a place where they feel comfortable initiating the transitional discussion with a client from property/casualty to life insurance, financial services, and benefits needs and solutions,” Loney says.

For ease of doing business, he explains, “We keep our retail non-P-C products, online platforms, and marketing processes as streamlined as possible. This takes a lot of the burden off the shoulders of our independent agents and makes it easier for them to sell these products to consumers.”

Benefits menu

The independent property/casualty agents who offer MetLife’s non-P-C products can choose from a wide range of individual and group offerings. On the employee benefits side, Loney says, “Life, dental, and disability are the core products. We also have individual disability and group voluntary universal life plans and key-man executive carve-outs; these are value-added products for high wage earners like business owners.”

MetLife offers both employer-paid and voluntary benefits to companies. Pointing to the increasing popularity of voluntary benefits among employers, Loney says, “That’s one of our fastest-growing areas. In today’s difficult economy, employers are shifting more of the cost of benefits to employees, and that’s creating opportunities for MetLife and its agents.

“At the same time, employers are looking for ways to add value to what they offer employees beyond a salary and basic benefits. By offering voluntary benefits, employers can give employees the opportunity to purchase products that meet their lifestyle needs, often at attractive group rates,” Loney points out.

Of the benefits available to clients of the MetLife property/casualty independent agents, Loney says, by far the most popular is disability insurance. “We offer a range of plans so employees can choose the one that best meets their needs,” he says.

Benefits products are distributed through independent agents by the MetLife Small Group division. “Our sweet spot is between two and 500 lives,” Loney says. “Some agents may have commercial accounts where employees number in the thousands, and MetLife has a Mid-to-Large division to accommodate those needs.”

Support in the field

As noted earlier, the Agency Distribution Financial Services division of MetLife Auto & Home is committed to working with the independent agents who sell its products to ensure that they understand those products and that they receive the support they need to explain what is being offered to their property/casualty clients.

“Our Smal Group and Voluntary Divisions have sales consultants and account executives who work one on one with our P-C agencies to help them build volume and profits in the life insurance and benefits space,” Loney says. “These consultants focus particularly on plan design. MetLife does a lot of data mining to help us understand what employees are looking for. We sponsor studies on employee benefits and have a good grasp on the kinds of products and services employees want at the worksite.

“Using that information, the independent agent can sit down with an employer and initiate a conversation based on the attributes and desires of that specific employee population,” Loney explains. “The employer’s census data is analyzed so that the appropriate underwriting decisions can be made.

“From there, a plan is designed that responds to those needs and supports the agent in presenting the plan to the employer. The next step is to work with the employer to create a marketing plan to present to employees so they can learn about the benefits being offered and make choices that meet their needs.” MetLife representatives are available to assist in the enrollment process, which, Loney observes, is far less cumbersome today than it was in the pre-automation era.

In the course of mining data to identify the kinds of benefits that are most attractive to employees, Loney says, MetLife uncovered an unmet need. “We found a high level of interest among employees for pet insurance, so we began to offer the coverage,” he says. “We certainly didn’t realize there was a demand for this product, but veterinary care, like human health care, is becoming increasingly expensive, and employees place a high value on being able to purchase pet insurance through their employer.”

Because they are carefully tailored to meet the needs of a specific employee population, the MetLife employee benefits products that independent agents offer their clients have the potential to significantly increase retention. “When employees feel good about what their employer is providing them, they tend to keep the coverages in force,” Loney observes.

“This is such a natural market for independent P-C agents, who have the perfect opportunity to discuss employee benefits with their commercial clients,” Loney says. “Agents work closely with business owners and often talk with people in the client’s human resources and risk management departments. Having that relationship already in place gives the P-C agent a tremendous advantage, because the business owner is always willing to listen to the agent’s ideas about offering more for less: controlling expenses while also offering more in the way of benefits,” he comments.

“Offering employee benefits and retail life products is a proven way to help a P-C agency grow its customer base, not only during tough economic times but also in boom times,” Loney says. “For independent agents, expanding beyond the traditional product set can translate into improved retention, increased revenue, and additional opportunities to prospect for new P-C customers.”

For more information:
MetLife
Contact: Stacy Hongsermeier
E-mail: shongsermeie@metlife.com
Web site: www.metlife.com