Since being one of the first brokers on thecover of Benefits Selling, David Seay has continued to beone of the leading benefits brokers in the Atlanta area. He's knownfor building strong relationships with his clients and is proactivewith them, especially in keeping them in compliance.

An industry associate said of him: “David has an impeccablereputation not only with his clients but competitors, carriers, andreally anyone in the industry. I'm not sure I know of anyone withmore integrity or compassion and I'm always thankful that I've donebusiness with him.” Now the senior sales vice president of CovenantBenefits Group, David took a few moments to give us some insight onthe state of the industry today, how it's changed and where it'sgoing.

Be a techie

Just in the past few years, technology has dramatically alteredthe benefits industry. It's leveled the playing field between thelarge brokers and the small ones. In fact, the smaller agencies nowhave the flexibility to make quick decisions to customize andpersonalize business plans, and give the client the personalservice they like and expect. Smaller firms can compete byoutsourcing a technology solution for a much more reasonable costthan before and certainly less expensively than building their ownsystem like a larger broker could. There's almost no reason to tryand build your own system now.

Take the time

It takes time to find the right vendor, and often it takessomeone to test two vendors. If properly communicated with aclient, they can be the best test cases to see which vendors candeliver.

Be an HR liaison

Build that strong relationship with a client. But that doesn'tmean just playing golf with the CEO. It also means discussing withan HR director their pain points (ask them what they need and howyou can help). We as brokers need to become an extension of the HRdepartment and create solutions that help an HR director to dotheir job more efficiently.

Be the solution

To be a have a good company partner you have to be a good brokerpartner. That means finding solutions and vendors that can do avariety of benefits-related functions, such as COBRA, payroll, FSA,and  HR specialists. Also help effectively communicate alltheir benefits whether through benefit statements or a strongvoluntary partner.

Over deliver under pressure

Your clients need to know how each carrier will work, what eachcarrier's expectations are and what we can expect from them. Alwaysleave a timeline of expectations. We've got to know these insurancecompanies' strengths and weaknesses before we can even recommend asolution to a client.

It's not about the money

Don't worry so much about the commissions. It will always takecare of itself in the end if we do our job the right way.

Photo by Kevin Garrett