Customer Profile

As one of the leading employee benefits brokerage agencies in Ohio, Group Benefits Agency, Inc. (GBA) has specialized in employee benefit programs since 1981. With one of the highest client retention rates in the industry, GBA focuses entirely on group insurance products, including Health, Life, Dental, Disability, and Vision. GBA has worked with nearly every size and type of employer throughout Ohio, ranging from non-profit organizations to large firms with union contingencies. GBA's dedicated and experienced staff offers organizations and their employees high-quality, personalized service, and creative benefits solutions.

The Challenge

In 2005, GBA was looking for a way to grow its business two ways - by improving its current client satisfaction and thereby client retention as well as driving new client acquisition. After evaluating its operations, the agency realized it needed a better way to organize and track key customer and prospect information. It also needed a way to reduce the amount of time clients spent on administrative tasks associated with employee benefits management.

The Solution

After evaluating several vendors, GBA selected EbixBenergy (formerly known as Benergy Interworks) as its online benefits management solution provider to help them grow their business and expand their relationships with existing clients. GBA now has access to latest technology tools and assets to help them streamline agency operations, while delivering an online benefits resource to their clients.

GBA uses the company's AgencyWare solution to automate its sales process and workflow - managing everything from sales and service to commission tracking. With Client Community, GBA gains instant access to relevant HR tools, resources and information, and can communicate with clients through an online community. In addition, they can offer their clients a full suite of TalentWorks solutions, which give GBA the competitive edge they need to enhance existing client satisfaction and drive new client acquisition.

The Result

With AgencyWare, GBA is able to better manage its operations - streamlining proposal, client onboarding, renewal and service processes - which help GBA reduce costs, improve office efficiencies, and increase productivity.

As a result, GBA has recovered almost $85,000 in lost commissions.

"AgencyWare has changed the way we do business here at GBA," said Sean Morrisey, IT/IS generalist of GBA. "We used to track commissions in an excel spreadsheet, clients in one Access database, and prospects in another. But now everything about the client or prospect is in one place. EbixBenergy provides a full spectrum of services to help us better manage our operations and our clients - from the prospect phase all the way through to servicing our clients and providing ongoing communications."

With the TalentWorks solutions, GBA can offer a range of solutions to help their clients attract talented employees and keep them informed, engaged, and connected, while significantly streamlining the benefits administration process including:

• EbixBenergy Communications provides employers and employees with 24/7online access to benefits, health and wellness, and HR information.
• Enrollment Services provide a complete online enrollment solution that helps employers streamline the open enrollment process and ongoing life event changes.
• Real Value Statement shows employees the total value of their employment.

"One of our primary concerns is client satisfaction and retention, and our clients - especially those with one HR representative - love Benergy," said Morrisey. "With so many of our clients doing more with less, the EbixBenergy solutions reduce the number of administrative activities and benefit-related questions from employees, helping them save time and money."

Case Studies - McGohan Brabender

CUSTOMER PROFILE

For more than 40 years, McGohan Brabender has helped employers select, understand, and communicate their employee benefits. As one of the five largest independent employee benefits brokerage and communication firms in the country, McGohan Brabender has the knowledge, skills, and most importantly, the people, to help employers take care of their most - valuable asset - their workforce.

McGohan Brabender provides brokerage, account management, consulting, and communication services to more than 1,200 public and private employer groups in the Dayton, Cincinnati, and Columbus regions. The brokerage and consulting services are provided by a staff of 100-plus full-time professionals - all experts in their chosen field of work. Each McGohan Brabender client is assigned to a specific team to ensure personal, responsive service. Other McGohan Brabender staff work to offer employer groups ongoing value-added services - capitalizing on the talents and energy of each other to create a unique synergy.

THE CHALLENGE

Recognizing that its clients needed to reduce the amount of time they spent on routine benefit administrative tasks and focus on more strategic HR and benefit issues, McGohan Brabender decided to offer its clients HR outsourcing services in 2003. As part of its offering, the company wanted to invest in online benefits management solutions to help their clients eliminate paper-based benefits administration and enrollment processes that were too labor intensive and cumbersome.

THE SOLUTION

After evaluating several benefits technology solution vendors, McGohan Brabender chose EbixBenergy (formerly known as Benergy Interworks) solutions including EbixBenergy Communications and Enrollment Services. With these solutions, McGohan Brabender is differentiating itself from the competition by delivering clients a complete benefits management system online, including information on benefits, health and wellness issues, and HR policies and procedures. By providing employees and their families easy 24/7 access to centralized information, they are able to make better, more informed decisions.

McGohan Brabender uses Enrollment Services to help employers manage open and new hire enrollment, qualifying life event changes, and voluntary benefits campaigns. Enrollment Services' intuitive election screens help employees review and update personal and dependant data before they make each benefit election. The eligibility rules and logic configured into the system eliminate mistakes that often plague the paper enrollment process. When finished, employees can view and print a confirmation statement.

Enrollment Services is integrated with EbixBenergy Communications, a robust communications platform that gives employees access to plan-specific information, multimedia plan tours, needed forms and contact information, modeling tools, and extensive health and wellness resources. Filled with extensive consumer-friendly information, images, videos and interactive tools, the health and wellness resources help to educate employees and their families on a variety of medical and wellness topics.

THE RESULT

With EbixBenergy Communications and Enrollment Services, McGohan Brabender is able to deliver a better benefits experience to its clients, reducing time associated with administrative tasks by 50 percent, and eliminating paper-based processes that help them improve the entire employee lifecycle process.

"We liked the solutions, including the features, functionality, and market¬ability, and our customers agree," said David Homan, vice president and shareholder of McGohan Brabender. "Our clients tell us they get time back in their day as soon as the solutions are implemented. In fact, some HR managers have, for the first time, been able to go home during open enrollment at 5 p.m. Without a doubt, EbixBenergy has helped us with client retention - our clients can't stop using it."

With the Enrollment Services, McGohan Brabender clients have complete control of their enrollment process and plans, including the plans and options that employees are selecting. Once elections are reviewed, Enrollment Services then reports employees' decisions to carriers, as well as to the employer's payroll system.

"With new health care reform rules going into effect, it will be more important than ever for employers to maintain compliance," continued Homan. "EbixBenergy helps organizations achieve HR compliance with the latest regulations through a robust reporting package and required benefits documentation, all of which minimizes a company's risk of security violations, giving them peace of mind."

Case Studies - USI

CUSTOMER PROFILE

Founded in 1994, USI is a growing and diversified insurance and financial services firm focused on providing fully integrated insurance and financial services, such as employee benefits outsourcing and related consulting. With 80 offices across 20 states, USI is one of the eight largest insurance brokerage firms in the United States. USI is a nationally focused insurance firm capable of delivering high-quality insurance and financial products and services throughout the United States.

THE CHALLENGE

With employee benefits as one of the fastest rising expenses for many companies today, USI wanted to position itself as the single source for insurance to middle market U.S. companies - offering convenient access to a broad spectrum of insurance, risk management, financial management, employee benefits, and asset management products and services. After evaluating its operations, USI decided to invest in an online benefits management solution that would differentiate itself from the competition, while helping its clients save time and money associated with paper-based benefits processes.

THE SOLUTION

In 2003, USI selected EbixBenergy (formerly known as Benergy Interworks) as its online benefits technology solution provider. With EbixBenergy solutions, USI helps its clients maximize their HR administrators' time while empowering their employees to make smart benefits decisions.

Branded under the MyUSI name, USI can offer a range of solutions that help their clients attract talented employees and keep them informed, engaged and connected, while significantly streamlining the benefits administration process. USI offers clients the following solutions:

• MyUSI Communications provides employers and employees 24/7 access to a centralized location for information about benefits, health and wellness issues, as well as human resources forms, policies, and procedures. Employees use their own secure log-in to gain access to this personalized portal anytime, anywhere.
• Real Value Statement shows employees the total value of their employment, including compensation (salary, bonus, and commissions), employer paid benefit contributions, and pre-tax benefit savings.
• Client Community gives USI instant access to relevant HR tools, resources and information, as well as the ability to communicate with clients through an online community.

THE RESULT

With MyUSI Communications, USI is able to successfully reduce the amount of time and money their clients spend managing employee benefits, while freeing up time in their HR administrators' day so they can focus on more strategic tasks. As a result, USI enhances current client satisfaction while driving new client acquisition.

"Most clients only see their broker at renewal time, but Client Community gives us an opportunity to engage with our entire client base on a more frequent basis and demonstrate the value of our comprehensive suite of benefits solutions," said Steve Kelly, technology services specialist for USI. "Once they start using the solutions, they love the robust functionality, ease-of-use, and flexibility."

USI also offers its clients a number of add-on solutions, including Enrollment Services, Helpline, FSA and COBRA administration, designed to improve their benefits management process.

"The EbixBenergy solutions are extremely easy to work with," said Kelly. "I can quickly update benefits information and documents with just a couple of mouse clicks to keep our clients' sites up to date. Plus if I ever need help building a client site, I can resolve the problem right away by contacting the support team through live chat or a quick phone call."