A long time ago I learned that you cannot be an expert about everything in the benefits world. Back then, I wanted to appear to be knowledgeable about everything in front of my clients and prospects and after all, I only had to know more than them.
Early in my career there was a level of uncertainty, doubt, and a lack of confidence about what I knew and how I presented myself to the business community. I didn’t want to appear to be uninformed or uneducated about the specific topics that I was presenting to a prospect. I felt like I needed to know everything about a program or else l couldn’t talk fluently about it.
As I began my consulting practice in the area of partial self-funding decades ago, it was obvious from the very beginning that I was going to experience a whole new learning curve. The concept of an unbundled partially self-funded plan, versus one that was bundled with an insurance company, took a lot more time, education, and knowledge to assemble. There are many “moving parts” within the unbundled plan, and to have the knowledge and understanding of how they work together, as well as independently, is critical to the success the program.
I began to research and investigate the various components needed and it became quite clear to me that some of these “vendor components” were more efficient and operated better than their counterparts. This “vetting process” is very important to enable one to differentiate between a Best In Class provider/component and everyone else.
It also became very obvious to me that I certainly couldn’t know every aspect of those “vendor components” that made them so successful. Sure, I could know what were the big differentiators and why they were advantageous for my clients, but for me to know the intricacies of all those programs was ineffective and improbable.
We rely on our physicians to know how to diagnose and treat our maladies, or our building contractor to know how to build our house. We trust our attorney to provide professional advice and counsel when needed. We can’t possibly know everything about another profession, business, or trade. It’s not about what we know, it’s about WHO we know.
To get to know, who we know, we try to do our own “vetting.” We might rely on friendships, referrals, experiences of others, or possibly Google up someone or some business. However sometimes we have bad experiences – the doctor who has bad bed side manners, or worse a malpractice issue. Or the contractor who has to come back and fix what should have been done correctly the first time. Sometimes we don’t know how to “vet,” and end up settling for second fiddle results.
My years of experience allow me to ask questions of vendors that others may not know to ask. I dig deep into their programs, processes, and results. I initially submit a detailed Request For Information (RFI) about their business and request a site visit instead of submitting a traditional Request For Proposal (RFP). I can always negotiate price, but I can’t negotiate capabilities. My preferred vendors are introduced to my clients and prospects so that they can speak directly about the detailed process behind what they do, along with my opinion about how they are set apart from their competitors.
When dealing with people and businesses it’s more important to know WHO you know more than WHAT you know. In this way I can best serve my clients. Don’t you want to know WHO is the best? I do.
If you’d like more information about WHO is the best, you can reach me at [email protected] or 970.349.7707.
Happy New Year!