Dear Subscriber,
Happy New Year.
Congratulations, you made it through 2021. We are facing a whole new year and all that it brings. No one knows what direction things will go, but I do know a few things that remain true each and every year.
- Insurance does not sell itself. Advisors are needed to sell it.
- Clients need advice on what they don't know, not what they do.
- We need benefits specialists to protect clients from themselves.
- There will always be someone who can beat your price. Who cares.
- Clients want advisors they trust and can relate to. Be true to you.
- Long term relationships take ongoing work. It's not one and done.
- Reach out when things are good, don't just respond when they aren't.
- There will always be those that lie, cheat and steal. Don't compete.
- Hard work pays off and is recognized. Do it.
- Don't hide behind e-mail, or be afraid to talk to or say no to clients.
Do you have your goals and targets set for 2022?
I have a business plan I've followed for over 25 years. All I need to do is, meet my two targets to be a success (in my mind). In my case it's adding more vacation time (tough during COVID) and ensuring I stay above my target business size.
2021 was tough with only 12 of my 14 weeks of vacation realized (and too many close to home) but I'm going to do my best to get back on track this year. I am already making plans for when it's safe to travel.
The other factor is easier. A combination of client growth, more benefits being added to plans, claims remaining stable and several new clients being added, have ensured the steady growth of my business, in a time many have suffered. I am thankful for my clients making this possible and tell them whenever I can.
Taking action, and making things happen, matters more now than ever. Reach out to clients, make cold calls, ask for referrals, proactively fix problems, share advice and education freely, mentor others....
We are very lucky to be in this business. Let's grow it.
Dave |
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OUR EVENTS
CGIB COFFEE CHATS
Coffee chats are like a virtual breakfast. Log in and talk about what's on your mind. Best done from a computer, with a camera and a microphone. No CE credits, but also no cost, just show up.
Thursday January 6th @2pm (EST) Tuesday January 11th @ 2pm (EST) - CGIB CHIP plan Tuesday January 18th @ 2pm (EST) Thursday February 3rd @2pm (EST) ____________________________________________________________
BREAKFAST MEETINGS CGIB no longer runs the breakfast meetings, but supports the initiative of the volunteers that do.
Please find the details for your closest location below. Ajax, Cambridge, London, Markham, Oakville, St Catherines, Toronto, Vancouver Island, Windsor or the Virtual National Meeting
Virtual meetings through Zoom may be utilized until COVID19 passes. Please contact the event champions to be added to their lists, and receive more info.
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LOOKING FOR PEOPLE
O&A is a leading consulting and brokerage firm that helps global companies establish and manage comprehensive employee benefit solutions for their Canadian businesses. We have been in business for over 22 years and have grown every year since inception. Our team currently consists of over 25 staff members in various roles, assisting over 400 corporate clients across Canada and managing partner relationships in over 150 countries worldwide. We are recruiting for 2 Senior Account Management roles that require high levels of service and technical skills:
- Providing guidance and advise on trends, regulatory requirements and market practices
- Benchmarking and client introductions
- Group benefit implementations
- Group retirement implementations
- Regular and annual reporting (experience, renewal, benchmarking, governance, etc.)
- Addressing client inquiries and managing those relationships
- Maintaining in house CRM
- Other tasks and projects as required
Steven Owen, CPA President c. 705.994.3099 ____________________________________________________________ Upcoming CGIB Events: Due to a reduced interest in "in-person" events we will postpone our upcoming events
Toronto - Wednesday November 3rd - POSTPONED to March 2nd Calgary - Tuesday March 29th- POSTPONED Vancouver - Thursday March 31st - POSTPONED
Watch for more more details. |
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GET ON SLACK
The CGIB SLACK channel is a great place to pose questions, share info and learn a ton from your fellow members. The info and discussions that are posted there are unlike anywhere in the industry. Sadly, about 25% of CGIB members are still missing out on all the info being shared. Others have not taken a look at all the documents, videos and information available in MEMBERS ONLY to make their life easier.
NOTE TO ALL SLACK USERS: We now have 40+ channels in Slack to handle different topics. Please take a moment to add these channels to your menu. To do so, just click on the + next to Channels on the top left. Browse the channels and then click JOIN to add each of them. By doing so you won’t be missing some really great info. |
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SUGGESTED READING
We think the information contained below is of great value and encourage you to read the articles and check out the events that interest you. In most cases, these articles and events are not run by CGIB, so please contact the organizers for more information. We take no responsibility for the websites, events, organizations or their content. |
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____________________________________________________________ SHARE THIS WITH YOUR ONTARIO CLIENTS - great for blog posts, newsletters etc ____________________________________________________________
EMPLOYEES TAKE DRIVER’S SEAT With an increasing number of job vacancies and new policies allowing more flexible work arrangements, employees have taken the driver’s seat, says a Randstad Canada survey. It shows 43 per cent of working Canadians indicate they are likely to look for a new job in the upcoming year. This desire to move on from their current job was even higher among young people as 62 per cent of respondents who intend to change jobs are aged from 18 to 34, compared to 48 per cent in the 35 to 54 age group. Percentages are equally distributed across blue and white collar industries. As well, while 39 per cent of employers are very confident that the vast majority of their employees will want to continue working for them beyond next year, the overwhelming majority (61 per cent) is anticipating the worst. Nearly half (48 per cent) of those employers who are confident their employees will stay with them cite a sense of company pride stating, “we are a great place to work,” and indicate other factors that they perceive as less impactful such as flexible working models (18 per cent), salary and benefits (17 per cent), and hybrid working models (17 per cent). Employers who are not confident that their staff will remain with them cite other jobs having better salaries/benefits (26 per cent), the competitive job market (23 per cent), the prevalence of freelance work (16 per cent), or the fact that some are choosing to reorient their careers in a new direction (14 per cent). A large proportion of employers who are concerned they won’t be able to retain their workforce are aware they will need to adopt drastic changes, with 34 per cent intending to pay more than their competitors, while 23 per cent envision revising their entire business model.
BC EXPANDS BIOSIMILARS British Columbia is expanding its biosimilar program to include two rapid-acting insulins, says an Eckler ‘GroupNews.’ Beginning next June, BC PharmaCare will no longer provide coverage for the biologic drugs insulin lispor (Humalog) and insulin aspart (NovoRapid). Individuals taking these drugs will have six months to transition to their biosimilar versions, Admelog and Trurapi, respectively. Special authority requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis. The impact on private plans will depend on how the plan is integrated with the provincial PharmaCare program. Insurance providers are increasingly following the provincial government’s biosimilar transition policy for plan members resident in British Columbia, which then protects the private plan from potential cost shifting. However, plan sponsors should confirm the approach and the options available and communicate accordingly with their members.
U.S HEALTH INSURANCE COSTS JUMP The average costs for employer-sponsored health insurance in the U.S. rose 6.3 per cent in 2021 to reach $14,542 per employee, following last year’s increase of just 3.4 per cent, says a Mercer survey. Its ‘2021 National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans’ found employers halted traditional cost management strategies – like shifting cost to employees ‒ as they focused on improving healthcare affordability and access to mental health care for their workforce. With the highest annual increase since 2010, health benefit cost outpaced growth in inflation and workers’ earnings through September, raising the question of whether employers are seeing a temporary correction to the cost trend (following last year’s increase of just 3.4 per cent) or the start of a new period of higher cost growth. Employers are projecting – on average – a fairly typical cost increase of 4.4 per cent for the year ahead. However, a number of factors could result in ongoing cost growth acceleration. At the top of the list of concerns are higher utilization due to ‘catch-up’ care, claims for long COVID, extremely high-cost genetic and cellular drug therapies, and possible inflation in healthcare prices. |
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I knew someone who bought skis to match their outfit–the entire set was coordinated, and it ended up being used once or twice.
And when you register for an old-fashioned wedding, they might try to persuade you to make sure your plates match your furniture…
For everything else, the coordination of a matched set is almost always replaced by the utility of things cobbled together over time.
Our career doesn’t follow a perfect arc.
The font on the website doesn’t match the one on the package.
The management team doesn’t look precisely like the stock photos would have us believe.
It turns out that acute angles, rough edges and the imperfect matches of diversity actually make things work better. Especially when we’re dealing with humans.
My Take on Seths Post
Put another way...Our business is not perfect, nor are we. If we don't take a step without perfection, we'd never take a step. Clients like us specifically because we are humans (vs. roboadvisors). You don't perfection, you just need to look like you.
If you open a roadside motel, expect that tired and demanding budget travelers will arrive.
If you run a fancy restaurant, don’t be surprised if people will angle and cajole and lie to get a ‘better’ table.
If you hustle to get market share, you’ll probably end up with customers who insist on ever more hustle and trickery to stay with you.
If you decide to become a coach, realize that most of your prospects will be people who don’t think they need a coach. (Because the people who want and need a coach already have one).
*If you attract new freelance business by being the cheapest, I’m betting that your customers will give you a hard time about your rates.
If you’re a mental health professional, expect that the people you encounter will have issues with their mental health.
Sometimes, things work the way they are supposed to, even if it’s not what we might want in the moment.
My Take on Seths Post
Put another way...and specifically about point 5* above. This is one that comes up on a daily basis in our business. So many advisors try to add value by being the cheapest. That's not adding value, that's commoditizing the product you sell. It means that the client who bought "cheap" from you, will just as easily buy cheaper from someone else. Why? Because you made it about price and programmed them to think that's what matters.
Change the narrative.
Put these two posts together and the takeaway becomes "Be yourself, be human and real add value to have long term client relationships" |
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EDUCATIONAL EVENTS
ONLINE CE CREDITS
Looking for benefits dedicated online CE courses? Want to provide your admin and support staff with basic knowledge? Want to dig into something more detailed for your benefits/insurance business? Business Career College (BCC) has an extensive catalogue of online CE courses with a number of group benefits specific courses covering topics ranging from contractual concerns, plan designs, and underwriting requirements, to product specifics and integration with government benefits. Courses consist of narrated videos with short, online quizzes. The full catalogue includes over 60 courses, podcasts, and videos covering topics from the world of insurance, investments, financial planning, taxation, and ethics with a focus on technical content and real-world application. Courses are accredited for the maximum categories of credits and can include provincial Life and A&S credits, FP Canada, Advocis, and more! Use code CGIB on registration for your first three months free! ____________________________________________________________
The BC Insurance Council now offers online continuing education (CE) courses that are available for registration through Insurance Council’s online portal. Once courses are registered through the online portal, they can be accessed through the newly launched Learning Management System (LMS) with CE certificates ready for immediate download upon course completion.
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As the landscape in all aspects of employment law has rapidly shifted and is expected to continue to do so, in order to keep you and your organization In the Know, the Williams HR Law team is conducting a complimentary 2021 HR Law Year in Review & Trends to Watch in 2022 webinar on January 20, 2021, from 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm.
Topics that will be covered in this Year in Review webinar will include: · The implications of Ontario’s new Bill 27, including the prohibition on non-competition clauses and the requirement for employers to create “right to disconnect” policies · Recent caselaw regarding the enforceability of vaccination policies · COVID-19 related human rights accommodation issues, including accommodation related to vaccination mandates · Key developments related to workplace investigations, including new caselaw on effective investigations and new workplace harassment legislation · The latest shifts in the law on the enforceability of termination clauses in employment agreements · Important 2021 decisions addressing when employee conduct amounts to just cause for dismissal The webinar will conclude with a live Q/A session with members of our legal team.
Please keep an eye out for our annual Year in Review newsletter, which will be released in mid-January and serves as a companion piece to the webinar topics. In the meantime, please visit our In the Knowblog and COVID-19 Resource Centre, which are frequently updated with the latest HR law developments that employers need to know.
Looking forward to seeing you on January 20th. Don’t forget to save the date! ____________________________________________________________ PACE OF CHANGE EXAMINED |
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Need help? Have questions? Looking for something?
Reach out to CGIB - Dave Patriarche - dave@cgib.ca - 905-886-9203 |
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