10 tips to help grow your small plan business

You’ve likely contacted your professional and personal networks for referrals. Don’t stop there. Get creative as you look for new contacts. Research entrepreneurial and networking groups like 1 Million Cups, local small business groups, and non-profit boards. Consider joining and asking to get on the agenda for a future meeting. Or propose an article or series of columns for their member publications.

A great referral source may be sitting just across the hall. Check in with other professionals (wealth management and employee-benefits colleagues, CPAs, and attorneys) to see if you might be able to refer one another. If you aren’t already, get connected with top third-party administrators (TPAs). Many focus on custom plan design, plan compliance testing, and loan administration—areas that may fall outside of your expertise.

Search websites like EFAST and FreeERISA. And use Pension Planet, Judy Diamond Associates, BrightScope, or Larkspur Data for information on corrective distributions, highly compensated employees, and strategic provider searches. While some of these have a cost, you may find the services of value. Cross reference different sources to look for pain points and uncover valuable information. For extra insight, ask a TPA to review along with you.

Create a standard approach by clearly defining roles within your team and determining your value proposition. Develop efficient ways to manage your pipeline and prospects. Then segment your clients and prioritize based on how you want to spend your time, not just their size. If your least profitable clients are getting the biggest chunk of your time, should they be?

Many successful advisors take a highly collaborative approach to their practice. Look for functions in your practice you might outsource to third parties, independent contractors, and interns who can boost your capacity and efficiency. Consider tasks that are in technical and operational areas like HR and bookkeeping, IT software and support, ERISA compliance, and marketing.

Investment selection and monitoring offers a potentially big source of efficiency gains in your practice. To spend less time in this area while still providing great service, use industry review/reporting tools and resources, and streamline investment choices and changes across your block of clients (where it makes sense). Consider if adding a target date fund for clients could help their participants. And don’t forget to highlight your practice’s investment management services and/or use third parties to provide 3(21) and 3(38) fiduciary support services.

Automated plan features and services can help simplify your clients’ and prospects’ plan administration. And most importantly, automated plan features often help participants (PDF), which may increase plan outcomes, plan sponsor loyalty, and—depending on how you’re compensated—your profitability. Look for service providers that offer automated feature functions, so you can use the same features across multiple plans.

Starting with a data-driven approach can help you get your foot in the door. For instance, ask prospects to let you review their current plan. Benchmark the results, then show how a new plan design approach can encourage greater enrollment and higher saving rates. Compare plan costs to prove you can add more value and possibly save money.

You may need to change up your sales process for small businesses. Most times the sale will happen with the owner. But those owners wear a lot of hats (PDF) and may not have the time to understand the ins and outs of benefits. Keep it simple by helping employers understand why benefits may be a better investment than a pay raise.

Download these quick tips (PDF) to help reach employers looking to start or improve their plan.

Ready to help small business clients start a retirement plan? We can help with prospecting resources.