Voluntary Benefits
Published by Justin Feaster on February 24th, 2025
Today, building strong working relationships requires more than playing a couple rounds of golf or going out to a dinner. While the traditional forms of networking have their place in this industry, clients and colleagues today are looking for more authentic connections. Ones that are comprised of understanding, shared values, and show clear, meaningful efforts to forge working relationships.
When you take the time to genuinely understand someone, to step in their shoes, you're able to maximize both your relationships and business results.
Trust often starts by showing a client that you’re listening and that you understand them. This can start small, but it applies to bigger things as well. Here’s what I mean:
Throughout my career, I’ve always enjoyed immersing myself in local experiences. Whether it’s trying new foods, visiting locations, or events, I’ve found it the best way to learn about the communities that we serve with our solutions. It also serves as a great opportunity to strengthen your broker-client relationships by meeting your clients where their hearts lie.
One time I went to visit a new client located in Bozeman, MT. Before the meeting, I researched the community to understand what the locals enjoyed and learned of Elle’s Bakery – a local delicacy known for their hand pies. There was no way I would step foot in this upcoming meeting without greeting the client with a fresh assortment from Elle’s.
Not only did this make it easy to strike up conversation – never mind that the hand pies were delicious – this gesture made it evident to the client that I was invested in our conversation and future working relationship. It showcased that I was someone who could be trusted.
If you can foster a real relationship beyond surface-level activities, it can be worth the extra effort. This doesn’t mean you need to bring a pie to every client meeting (though not the worst idea!), but when you are willing to dig deep and truly understand your clients and meet both their personal and benefit needs, it can elevate your chances to establish yourself as a trusted partner, not just another service provider. It wasn't about the pies, it was about showing my commitment to getting to know them and, to deliver the solutions clients need, you have to first take the time to really understand your clients.
While we work in an industry that is ever-changing, it’s no surprise that change often leads to opportunity. However, there is also a great opportunity in keeping some things constant, such as maintaining the connections we’ve made throughout our careers.
Whether you’re on the broker or carrier side, our industry offers a variety of different ways to meet, interact, and make genuine connections with our peers. But depending on our roles, we might not be able to maximize our connections right away. If you want future opportunities, industry insights, or access to exclusive referrals it’s your responsibility to keep those relationships warm.
It’s important to keep regular check ins with members of your network. Even if they’re brief, it can service as an opportunity to share valuable information that might be beneficial them. And if you don’t have time to be as personal as you would like, engaging on social media can keep a connection warm enough to ignite the relationships if there’s a future opportunity to be had. Again, it’s about the connection!
In my experience, keeping relationships warm is what led to my initial passion for long-term care, and ultimately led me to Trustmark. Through my network, I was introduced to the care crisis a few years ago on a personal level. The more I learned about it – and the products that could help combat it – I knew that many of my broker partners could utilize those solutions. After learning from my network about the care crisis, one of my oldest friends in the industry opened the door for me to join Trustmark and shared an opportunity to address this much-overlooked gap in peoples’ financial security. That’s how I landed at here at Trustmark.
When you take the time to genuinely understand someone, to step in their shoes, you're able to maximize both your relationships and business results.
Establishing yourself as a trusted partner, not just a service provider
Trust often starts by showing a client that you’re listening and that you understand them. This can start small, but it applies to bigger things as well. Here’s what I mean:
Throughout my career, I’ve always enjoyed immersing myself in local experiences. Whether it’s trying new foods, visiting locations, or events, I’ve found it the best way to learn about the communities that we serve with our solutions. It also serves as a great opportunity to strengthen your broker-client relationships by meeting your clients where their hearts lie.
One time I went to visit a new client located in Bozeman, MT. Before the meeting, I researched the community to understand what the locals enjoyed and learned of Elle’s Bakery – a local delicacy known for their hand pies. There was no way I would step foot in this upcoming meeting without greeting the client with a fresh assortment from Elle’s.
Not only did this make it easy to strike up conversation – never mind that the hand pies were delicious – this gesture made it evident to the client that I was invested in our conversation and future working relationship. It showcased that I was someone who could be trusted.
If you can foster a real relationship beyond surface-level activities, it can be worth the extra effort. This doesn’t mean you need to bring a pie to every client meeting (though not the worst idea!), but when you are willing to dig deep and truly understand your clients and meet both their personal and benefit needs, it can elevate your chances to establish yourself as a trusted partner, not just another service provider. It wasn't about the pies, it was about showing my commitment to getting to know them and, to deliver the solutions clients need, you have to first take the time to really understand your clients.
Opportunities through your network
While we work in an industry that is ever-changing, it’s no surprise that change often leads to opportunity. However, there is also a great opportunity in keeping some things constant, such as maintaining the connections we’ve made throughout our careers.
Whether you’re on the broker or carrier side, our industry offers a variety of different ways to meet, interact, and make genuine connections with our peers. But depending on our roles, we might not be able to maximize our connections right away. If you want future opportunities, industry insights, or access to exclusive referrals it’s your responsibility to keep those relationships warm.
It’s important to keep regular check ins with members of your network. Even if they’re brief, it can service as an opportunity to share valuable information that might be beneficial them. And if you don’t have time to be as personal as you would like, engaging on social media can keep a connection warm enough to ignite the relationships if there’s a future opportunity to be had. Again, it’s about the connection!
In my experience, keeping relationships warm is what led to my initial passion for long-term care, and ultimately led me to Trustmark. Through my network, I was introduced to the care crisis a few years ago on a personal level. The more I learned about it – and the products that could help combat it – I knew that many of my broker partners could utilize those solutions. After learning from my network about the care crisis, one of my oldest friends in the industry opened the door for me to join Trustmark and shared an opportunity to address this much-overlooked gap in peoples’ financial security. That’s how I landed at here at Trustmark.
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While my story is not all that unique, it can be a call for us in the industry to lean into our networks, to learn from our peers and to take the time to truly understand our clients. The connections you're maintaining today could be the ones that introduce a new interest, viewpoint, or opportuny that provides the solution you're looking for tomorrow.Share
Author
Written by Justin Feaster
Regional Sales Director
Mountain Region
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