How Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas delivered for us.
6 Article
Not long ago, Brady Franklin, Heidi Mark and Chris McGee made the decision to leave their large firm and venture out on their own creating Endeavor Private Wealth to help a select number of clients build, manage, protect, and transition wealth.
Endeavor Private Wealth is a financial investment advisory firm in downtown Topeka, KS. Many of their clients either want to retire or are retired, and they aim to build legacies for them, the kind that can last for generations.
After opening their office a little over a year ago, they have grown to seven full-time employees.
According to Chris, “We’re just really proud to have a firm that is locally owned and managed here in Topeka. We serve clients in two dozen states; but most are here in Topeka and across Kansas. Part of our mission it to support the local community, non-profits and foundations. We really focus on being a part of the community.”
When they were establishing their firm, there were many decisions to make. As many small business owners can relate, they had at least 30-40 vendors to make important decisions about: workspace, software, e-mail encryption, compliance, and everything in between.
According to Brady, “Health insurance was right up there in the ‘big decision’ category. And we really did our homework. We talked with several brokers, and then we got connected with Cole Huerter, a sales consultant at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas.”
Brady wears the ‘human resources’ hat for their team, and he took this decision very seriously. “I didn’t want any of our employees to have to question whether or not they should see a doctor when they needed medical care. I wanted a health insurance plan our employees could count on. We have some people on our staff that we were really watching out for; we knew health insurance was critically important to them. So, we thought through all the various scenarios, and the impact on our employees. And of course, we thought about the impact health insurance would have on their paychecks.”
The three of them came from a large company with a competitive benefits package. They knew it would be difficult to compete with benefits of their former employer, but Cole helped them come up with a competitive plan that was affordable and met their needs.
“In the end, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas blew the other options out of the water. It just made the most sense: the cost, the access, the network. It was really the best decision we could make,” stated Chris.
According to Brady, “We asked a lot from Cole. We were so new to this, we had so many questions. We just really put him through the ringer, and he delivered. We had a flurry of questions as we were comparing plans, and so many ‘what if’ scenarios. The thing about Cole—he is knowledgeable, patient and you could tell he really cared.
For example, we did not even have our ID cards yet, and one of our employees had scheduled a time-sensitive medical test. We did not want that employee to have to reschedule—it was that important. Cole got things rushed through, and our ID cards delivered in time. I mean, he was there for us. After we were enrolled, he did not walk away and hand us off.”
In today’s competitive recruiting environment, it is not all about salary. A robust benefits package is key. Having quality, affordable health insurance for their employees was a must. At Endeavor, they were looking for high-caliber people to join the company. In every recruiting conversation they had, healthcare benefits was key.
For Brady, Heidi and Chris, when it came to purchasing health insurance, it came down to this: They recruited great people they really care about. Having a quality healthcare plan was one way to show their employees that they really care. They want to take care of the whole person and they needed a healthcare plan that would help them do that.
“If I were to give advice to other companies facing this decision, I would encourage them to go through the same process we did. Talk to multiple companies. Weigh all the costs and benefits. Do the investigation, make the spreadsheets. I think it’s going to be clear who stands out,” stated Brady.
“This decision really was a journey, and Cole stuck with us. I would say Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas has good people on the front line. Overall, Cole didn’t seem like a salesperson. He felt like a partner who was coming up with solutions that fit our needs.”
See how the power of Blue can help your business. Get a quote online today or talk to our small group sales consultants at (866) 403-1514.