Help Clients choose the absence solution that best fits their needs

If I’ve learned one thing in my sales career it’s that the path I know or the path I think I want, isn’t always the right path. Kind of like when you have four kids and you want a sports car, when a minivan is what’s best for the family. Because how are you going to fit four kids in a sports car?

Finding the right absence solution for Clients isn’t all that different. While many Clients find outsourcing absence to be attractive, there are Clients who have needs that are more or less complex. For anyone who needs some level setting on best client fit for absence, I offer a few tips or you can read this whitepaper.

Consideration 1: What are the Client’s goals? Clients have specific goals for their absence program and it’s important to understand what’s occurring for them and what their needs are so that you can solve their problems. A few questions during the initial conversations can be key to recommending the right solution. The importance of compliance and/or their level of need for leave integration can be good places to start

Consideration 2: What are their IT capabilities? You’ve heard it takes a village to raise those four kids, right? Well, it takes an eligibility file to stand up an outsourced absence program. First-time outsourcers need to know that building an eligibility file takes time, that they’ll need to coordinate with payroll/HRIS platforms, and that any additional request can change the IT specs. To reap the many integration rewards of outsourcing, Clients must commit to the eligibility file early on. If they can’t, you can revisit their initial goals and explain their options.

Consideration 3: Where do their employees work? This is an emerging concern particularly for groups with employees working in the northeast and northwest. “Integration and private plan exemption,” is what I say all day long for most Clients with significant numbers of employees in paid leave states. Otherwise, HR will be playing the role of traffic cop, directing employees to various state plans for paid claims and trying to coordinate leaves among several sources.

Consideration 4: Do they need ADA support? It’s easy to think every Client wants ADA administrative help and individualized case guidance, and many absence Clients do. This is a fantastic service! But some Clients feel that their ADA incidence is manageable and that they do just fine on their own. It’s okay to unbundle ADA support for Clients who don’t need it right now. And perhaps it’s added later when you’re having benefits discussions in year two or year three.

Consideration 5: Will the experience meet their needs? Remember that list of goals? Clients will want to know what is or is not solved by the proposed absence program and what level of change management will be required to implement the program.

Your Clients range from low-to-high in absence needs complexity. Please let someone from my team help you determine Best Client Fit among the Sun Life suite of absence solutions. Get more information from our whitepaper.