In a previous article, we discussed the rise of ‘platforms-as-a-channel’ and the implications for companies across all industries. While there is a multitude of …
As of 2020, “digital transformation” is a hot topic in corporate America. But “digital transformation” of a salesforce – actual people – is almost an oxymoron. …
With only one day to go before AEP closes, consumer fatigue with MA advertising appears to have set in. Despite significant advertising and marketing investment, KFF just released a study that shows how few people actually voluntarily switch plans during AEP. Consumers get smarter about …
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The last few weeks we have picked up a lot more discussion around emerging categories of enhanced benefits as new products are “digested” by the market throughout this open enrollment; a continued focus on cost control and driving employee engagement; and ultimately, discussions about the …
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Not surprisingly, the rhetoric has heated up as consumers began to react to the multiple messages and plan options being received around Medicare Advantage across nearly all media channels as AEP shifts to full speed. The “improved” CMS Star Rating system results were released on …
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Welcome to week two of our Fall 2019 Group Benefits Open Enrollment Digital Listening Bulletin. Even more of the benefits conversation turned to the rising costs of the healthcare portion of group benefits over the last two weeks as the reality of 2020 plan options …
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To meet the needs of small businesses, it is important to remember that inside that account there are individuals making the decisions. And just like consumers, small business buyers have distinct communication preferences, servicing needs, and day–to-day pain points. For example, in our survey of …
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Welcome to week one of our Fall 2019 AEP Digital Listening Bulletin. In this bi-weekly e-mail, we’ll take a look at the trends, conversations, and themes that we are seeing dominate the Annual Enrollment Period discussion as carriers, brokers, agents and enrollees go through this …
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In this article, I’ll walk through the history of customer-centricity, and how digital technology has ushered in a new era of customer-first marketing and support—at least potentially. I’ll then walk through some of the technological and people-related challenges companies typically face as they attempt to …
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Welcome to week one of our Fall 2019 Group Benefits Open Enrollment Digital Listening Bulletin. In this bi-weekly newsletter, we’ll take a look at the trends, conversations, and themes that we are seeing dominate the group benefits discussion as many carriers, brokers, heads of HR, …
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As of 2020, “digital transformation” is a hot topic in corporate America. But “digital transformation” of a salesforce – actual people – is almost an oxymoron. Yes, we can provide sales reps with more software tools but essentially, they are still managing human-to-human interactions to …
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In a previous article, we discussed the rise of ‘platforms-as-a-channel’ and the implications for companies across all industries. While there is a multitude of factors driving the rise of platform marketplaces, the underlying driver that makes it a sticky trend lies with the customer. Customers are looking …
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Brokers are successfully building relationships with small businesses, but they shouldn’t get too comfortable… For individuals buying and managing employer-sponsored benefits at small businesses, the support a broker provides is vital. In most cases, it is even more important than the carrier providing benefits …
Read MoreSales and Marketing Management, Strategy
Customer centricity has never been more important to the success of both B2B and B2C companies. In just a few clicks, today’s customers have the power to shop around for the best price, compare features and even consult customer and influencer testimonials. The shift in …
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As the technology industry landscape continues to shift towards XaaS recurring revenue models, the role of the channel is changing dramatically and forcing a new model for the vendor-partner relationship. While there are clear financial benefits of the recurring revenue transition, the underlying driver is …
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I’ve noticed a funny trend among marketers. We tend to talk about younger consumers in terms of their generation—for example, the term “millennials” has been a stand-in for a nyone under 35 for what seems like a decade or more—seniors are always seniors. I imagine …
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Defining the Traditional Channel Partner In 1997, MarketBridge’s CEO Tim Furey published The Channel Advantage. It became a best-selling business book, and a go-to resource for executives looking to navigate a new world in which technology was lowering the cost-per-touch every year. Smart companies realized that they needed to move away from …
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Offering a health plan is no longer enough. Today’s employers are adding dental, life, long-term disability and other innovative ancillary benefits in order to attract and retain the best talent in the tightest labor market in years. This means brokers and carriers need to follow …
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As tech competition heats up, those that innovate and work faster, better or cheaper, may win, yet while they focus on reinventing or optimizing what they bring to market, businesses that focus on how to position their solutions might be more successful in attracting buyers. …
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One of our clients recently came to us with an issue that we immediately diagnosed as a friction problem. A product had been conceived and built which should have been selling well, but uptake was slow. There was nothing functionally wrong with the product; it …
Read MoreAnalytics, Cross-Selling, Sales Enablement
Our nine requirement guide for financial services companies to build effective and scalable cross-selling programs.
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With the rise of e-commerce and the decline of the shopping mall, the last two decades have seen massive shifts in the world of retail. Consumers are migrating online and demanding more from their purchases: lower prices, faster shipping, sustainable practices. Amazon looms large and …
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The “last mile” of revenue generation (getting a qualified lead to close) is always the biggest hurdle. Whether B2B or B2C, this ultimately requires some level of personal relationship development and product customization. Yet many times, businesses don’t realize the costs associated in qualifying a lead …
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There are two competing AI narratives bouncing around the internet. On the one hand, AI is seen as a future scourge, a technology that once unchained will push humanity past a singularity. Past this singularity, we cannot predict what will happen—but many think it won’t …
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Today’s typical buyer journey was best described as, “…a big bowl of spaghetti,” at the Gartner Sales and Marketing Conference in Las Vegas. Thanks to constant innovation in digital and mobile technology, buyers now have the freedom to self-serve by researching information online and engaging …
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I had the opportunity over the Holidays to reflect a bit on our Financial Services client experience over the past year, and to think ahead to some of the key industry Go-to-Market challenges we see for 2019. I went through our blogs for 2018 to …
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At the AWS re:Invent conference a few weeks ago, AWS CEO Andrew Jassy made a major announcement outside the norm for the public cloud behemoth. Jassy said AWS would begin taking on traditional data center hardware vendors with its on-premises service AWS Outposts. One response …
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