I was just talking to a long time friend of mine who is a professor in the business school of a university about Trusted Source Marketing and this blog.

His first comments to me concerned a couple of typos in an earlier post.  I suspect I will make a few more.  But some of our conversation was more important.

He said that not all companies are open to the idea of listening to their employees.  One of the hallmarks of a Trusted Source would be an eagerness to know what people think.  His point was that this system will not work with every company.

We talked about how this program isn’t really necessary in smaller companies since ownership or management is close enough to the trenches that everyone knows what everyone thinks about benefits, how business is going and who just split up with their girlfriend.

But in larger companies that are truly interested in the well being all of their employees Trusted Source Marketing™ can indeed be used to everyone’s advantage.

Employees win in several ways.  Continuous information flow about benefits can highlight how others are being helped.  Seeing how programs work for others can help people see it work for themselves. Two way communication can inform management how current benefits are or are not meeting expectations.  Usually there are cost savings with group benefits using payroll deduction.  This payment method also simplifies enrollment and assures timely payment of premiums with no lapse in coverage.

Employers gain from improved participation.  If benefits are offered to improve moral, aid in recruitment and retention, help employees with life issues, and generally make the company a better place to work then the increase in participation will enhance each of these advantages.

There is another group involved.  Actually it has several layers of stakeholders.  Benefit Vendor Companies, Brokers, and Agents are all part of the current benefit system.  They will likely continue to be part of any systems that develop over time.  Some will continue to do business the way they have always done business.

Brokers and agents who decide to take advantage of Trusted Source Marketing™ and propose it to their client companies may have the most to gain.  By taking their own place as Trusted Source to their clients they can enhance their reputation and increase their income.  Instead of worrying about what is going to happen to their health care insurance commissions they can do a better job for their clients and their employees by bringing much more to the table.  Client companies employees like being treated like adults will tend to stay with the broker who showed them how.