Company: BenefitPoint

Another valuable part of Aptus involves close ratios, Weisbecker believes. I can identify to the local office level what the success rate is, he says. Equally important, we have a variety of preferred relationships with some brokers, so [Aptus] allows me to better understand how were doing in those relationships.

Aptus also has permitted Principal to minimize some of the processes that previously were performed manually. A lot of the manual pieces went away, and the remaining manual components are much easier to use, asserts Weisbecker. As an example, he points out rather than populating the system manually with customer data, benefits planners can attach proposals online, so the broker gets the proposal and needs to perform only a few manual keystrokes instead of the 15- to 30-minute task previously required. Were going out to our offices to get them to centralize the process to make it more efficient and more responsive to the brokers, he says.

The value of technology is increased when nontechnical people are comfortable operating the systems, Weisbecker maintains. That is what he sees in BenefitPoint. Based on the changes to Aptus, were committing to getting our people at a variety of levels up and running because of this products capabilities, he says. The key is its usabilitymaking it easy for people who are not technology experts to be comfortable.

BenefitPoints Aptus already has achieved widespread industry adoption with more than 310 broker and consultant offices using the product, managing more than 40,000 employer clients with 22 million employees and approximately $90 billion in premium. More than 420 carrier organizations use BenefitPoint to access broker and consultant RFP and renewal requests.
With an established network of brokers, BenefitPoints platform presents an option to carriers wanting to retain a competitive edge by making rates and information immediately available through the Aptus online portal. To enhance differentiation, Aptus enables carriers to deliver critical information throughout the RFP process and also affords customization and links through Web services integration.

Aptus provides brokers, consultants, and carriers tools for customer relationship management, marketing, and procurement and is customizable at the organization, office, and user level. Features include: automated marketing and renewal workflows, business intelligence derived from data and reporting, revenue tracking and management, and various product integrations. It equips employee benefits professionals with a channel of marketing and communications as well as streamlined internal processes that strengthen cross-industry partnerships and interactions. Administrative time saved allows firms to pursue new opportunities by focusing on development and communication of particular areas of expertise, employing Aptus revenue-generating features.

By simplifying back-office tasks, Aptus enables employee benefits professionals to spend more time designing better benefit strategies and programs, negotiating rates and fees, and supplying ongoing consulting and advice. The platform supports a full spectrum of employee benefits offerings, expanding marketing and partnership opportunities, increasing operational efficiencies via business intelligence, and providing delivery of quality information to employers.