Advisors often ask me how to close their sale with a client. I always recall the last deal I closed as a benefits consultant, before focusing on myHSA. It was a large not-for-profit group, and a difficult sale. How did we win it? The

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

I proposed.

The funny part is that they had an EAP already but they were missing one key feature : the resources for the Plan Administrator. What I realized, especially in the not-for-profit, is that the managers are desperately trying to keep the employees healthy and happy in a very stressful occupations. They try to gear the benefits towards their employees, rightfully so.

But who is looking out for mid-management and the leadership?

Companies of all sizes have the HR manager running multiple areas such as payroll, legal, recruiting, leadership growth, training, budgeting, etc. the list goes on. I proposed our EAP to the VP and pointed out the services we could make available for the HR team. The VP, who obviously valued the HR team immensely, loved the idea that there was added tools available to HR plus a great Employee EAP!

Through our discussion we knew she needed help and, being not-for-profit, the resources were not available. That help came in the form of a specific EAP provider that had a great service for employees but there was an HR component to the program. When we were looking for EAP partners for myHSA, the name that kept coming up in our advisors' circles was Arete. The feedback from advisors was genuine and confirmed that Arete, as a company, actually cared most about helping people. This was major to us.

We took a closer look and discovered they have a program that is specifically for the HR Plan Administrator inside the overall EAP program. My eyes lit up, knowing first-hand how valuable that is. It was the same type of plan that helped get me that large group.

You can position this Acumin (this is the HR portion of Arete’s Arive EAP) as a conversation opener with the Plan Administrator to discuss not only the employee aspect, but also how you as an advisor can help someone in HR and others employees that are probably wearing a lot of hats. Here are some of the highlights of what you get with Acumin:

Legal Advice – for example, areas like terminations and employer/employee rights.

Financial Advice – help with accounting problems, compliance, and other corporate financial needs.

HR Advice – wide range of people issues, including performance management, absenteeism, conflict and difficult behavior, managing sick leave, and return-to-work strategies.

We are very excited to share this product with our advisors and help their clients have a more robust benefits offering. We will be hosting a Webinar to learn specifics of this awesome product soon. Any questions in the meantime please reach out to us!