Key takeaways
- Building is a strategy, not a sales tactic. When you manage multiple benefit lines, you are better positioned to build relationships that stick and reduce plan-by-plan shopping at renewal.
- Your clients value simplicity and clarity when benefits work together, especially as portfolios expand beyond core medical.
- Bundling strategies strengthen your role as a long-term benefits advisor, not just a plan selector.
Bundled benefits aren’t about selling more products. They’re about helping you keep accounts strong and reduce churn. When you manage more than one benefit line, your role changes.
Your clients already see dental, vision and voluntary benefits as essential components of a competitive benefits package. So, instead of presenting them one at a time, bundling ancillary together with one carrier, separate from health insurance, gives you a way to position them together from the start.
It also changes your renewal conversations. When benefits are aligned across plans, you’re not stuck defending one line item at a time. You can step back and ask a bigger question: Does this overall setup still work for your client?
And that’s where bundling really makes a difference. Instead of reacting to rate changes every year, you can focus on guiding employers through a plan that feels organized and clear.
The Changing Role of the Broker
What’s changed for brokers is what employers expect from you. Dental, vision and ancillary benefits aren’t “nice to have” anymore–they’re a must. Most of your clients see them as part of a complete offering.
Instead of asking you to quote a plan, they’re asking: How do these benefits connect? How do they support employees day-to-day? How can they be managed more efficiently over time?
Bundling ancillary benefits gives you a way to answer those questions with confidence.
When benefits work well together, you’re not fighting the same renewal or RFP battle every year. Your recommendations feel more thoughtful as clients see that you’re thinking about their full benefits plan.
Your role as a broker shifts from selecting plans to helping shape your client’s overall benefits strategy.
How Bundled Benefits Support Brokers
Brokers, like you, will find that bundling benefits helps you focus your efforts on strategy and problem-solving. When you bring multiple benefit lines together, you create more opportunities to grow within the account over time.
- Keep more clients
When employers get multiple lines of coverage from one broker, supported by a single ancillary carrier, they’re less likely to shop around. It’s simpler for them, better for you. - Grow revenue without chasing new business
It’s easier to add coverage for clients you already have than to constantly find new ones. - Stand out from the competition
Employers notice when you can show them how their benefits work together and explain why that matters for their team and their bottom line. - Build stability
Offering multiple lines of coverage spreads out risk and creates stronger, longer-lasting relationships. Even when health insurance premiums rise, your ancillary plans with likely remain steady with little to no premium increases.
Improving Employer Experience
Benefits can start to feel really messy, really fast. More plans often mean more vendors, billing questions and employee confusion.
Bundling works to improve the employer experience. For you, that means looking at how the account is growing and finding ways to make your client’s plan easier to track and support day to day.
This is where bundling becomes really valuable for your clients:
- Less admin work for HR teams
Fewer vendors and more centralized benefits billing can help cut back daily back-and-forth. Having one bill through a single ancillary carrier can simplify admin work. - Employees understand what they have
When benefits work together, employees have an easier time understanding what they have and how coverage fits into their lives. - Preventive care becomes more consistent
Dental, vision and voluntary benefits naturally reinforce that support long-term wellbeing.
Building Strategy
Not every account needs bundling. And not every benefit line belongs together.
When you recognize that separate plans are creating too much noise, a strong bundled strategy makes sense for your clients.
A few practical principles help keep things on track:
- Start with the employer’s goals
Look at workforce needs, growth plans and pain points. Bundling should solve a problem, not add another decision. - Group benefits that naturally fit
Dental and vision as voluntary benefits work well as a group because employees use them regularly and understand them easily. - Focus on ease, not just cost
Price matters, but employers also care about how easy benefits are to present, understand and use. - Work with partners who simplify the process
Dependable customer service and benefits your clients can actually use makes bundling benefits an easier decision.
Common Challenges (And How to Address Them)
Bundling can raise questions, especially if it’s introduced too quickly or without context. That hesitation is normal.
Some of your clients worry about losing flexibility. They don’t want to feel like they are boxed into a packaged deal. In reality, a bundled approach still allows room to adjust. Think of benefits like LEGO pieces—they’re meant to fit together in different ways, depending on what an employer needs.
Another challenge is complexity. At first glance, bundling can seem like one more thing to manage. But when you set benefits up to work together, it often cuts down on repeat questions and processes. The key is to explain to your clients what’s changing and what stays the same.
Cost is another common challenge. Bundling isn’t guaranteed to lower premiums, but the impact is usually seen in smoother day-to-day operations and fewer vendor headaches. Plus, a focus on preventive care can reduce long-term costs for the employee and the employer.
If you address these concerns early, it can help ensure bundled benefits feel like a solution rather than another challenge, making it easier for employers and their teams to welcome the change and understand how it can help.
Future of Bundled Benefits
Bundled benefits aren’t a trend. They’re a response to how employer expectations are changing.
If there’s one thing that’s clear, it’s this: employers want one bill and dependable benefits backed by strong customer service.
Your clients are looking for guidance and benefits that make sense for their workforce. That shift creates opportunity for you as their broker. When benefits are designed to support the whole person, it’s just easier. And that’s the goal, isn’t it? Easier to explain. Easier to work with benefits that are affordable and in demand.
In the long run, bundled benefits help build a stronger relationship based on clarity, trust and consistency.
Frequently Asked Questions
Bundled benefits bring together specialty coverage such as dental, vision, life and disability insurance, which can be offered as voluntary or contributory benefits. Instead of managing each plan separately, bundling focuses on how coverage fits together within the employer’s overall benefits program.
Managing benefits together helps reduce plan-by-plan shopping at renewal and positions brokers, as a long-term benefits advisor, not just someone who selects plans.
Lower premiums don’t always save employers money. In many cases, the value shows up in fewer vendor headaches, smoother administration and benefits that are easier to support day to day.
When multiple benefits are managed as part of one strategy, employers are less likely to separate plans or rebid coverage independently. That consistency can strengthen client retention for brokers over time.
Dental and vision, whether as voluntary or contributory benefits, are commonly grouped because they naturally complement one another. They support preventive care, everyday needs and ultimately offer financial protection.
Bundling opportunities often surface when clients are working with multiple vendors, fielding repeated benefit questions or looking for a more organized approach to managing their coverage.
We make it easy to partner with us, allowing you to sell Delta Dental of Arizona benefits to groups and individuals from our diverse family of plans. Visit our website to get started.
