While employees' top preferenceto learn about voluntary benefits is on their own throughinformation sent by their employer, the next most preferredcommunication method is to speak with someone in person.

With the abundance of technology service providers vying foryour employer clients' attention, making decisions using bad dataor alluring sales propositions can leave employers vulnerable.Payroll vendors, enrollment and benefits-administration platformproviders and billing services promise cost-effective, efficientand effective solutions to ease an employer's pain points. It's notto say that these technologies will or will not deliver what theypromise, but an important element in the decision-making processmust be the preferences of employees.

Bonnie Brazzell and Nick Rockwell,Eastbridge Consulting Group, Inc.

Take payment methods, for example. Payroll deduction is nolonger the only option, with direct employee billing using creditcards, debit cards or ACH emerging as possible alternatives.However, our latest employee research found that almost 80 percentof employees surveyed cite payroll deduction as their preferredpayment method for future benefit purchases.

Read more: 10 tips to improve employee benefits communicationand enrollment

While preference for credit card use has increased since ourlast study in 2013, it doesn't come anywhere close to thepopularity of payroll deduction. Payroll deduction has beenconsistently cited as one of the top reasons for purchasingvoluntary products by around 90 percent of employees for manyyears.

Benefits communication is another example of an area whereconsidering employee preferences can enhance decision-making.Online tools, videos, webinars and mobile apps all offer efficient,low-touch methods to educate employees about voluntary benefits.Our same employee research found that while employees' toppreference to learn about voluntary benefits is on their ownthrough information sent by their employer via email, newsletters,etc., the next most preferred communication method is to speak withsomeone in person.

In addition, a single learning method or tool is likely notsufficient to cover increasingly diverse employee populations. Ifwe look at learning preferences by age, employees over age 50 wereless likely to prefer learning about voluntary benefits on theirown via the internet or intranet, and employees age 65 and olderhave a stronger preference for speaking with someone in person thanother age groups.

To solidify your place as the employer's trusted advisor, armyourself with good data on the employee perspective and bring thisinformation to your employer clients as they navigate and vet thegrowing number of technology service providers.