Congrats to the newest “Brokers Who Excel” team member, Kevin Dupont, CSFS. Kevin is new to the Excel Health Plans broker team, bringing his first client online at the end of 2023. As the Director of Strategic Accounts for ABC Insurance Trust in Washington, DC, we view him as one of their national “fixers” with clients all over the country. Let’s chat with Kevin from his office in Raleigh, NC.
Let’s talk about your first sale. How did that come about?
I have a client that was staring down a hefty renewal with a level-funded plan at one of the BUCA providers (we won’t name names). The renewal was somewhere in the 40% – 50% range. I wanted to ensure I did right by this client, so I didn’t want to leave any stone unturned. I remembered receiving an email from Wyatt introducing Excel Health Plans and explaining what it’s all about, so I reached out to see if it was for real. Boy, am I glad that I did.
The plan went into effect on December 1st, 2023, and the client turned the clock back to what they had been paying three years earlier. Furthermore, once the plan details made the rounds during open enrollment, five new employees signed up. They had previously been waivers because the cost of the previous plan was just too high, but when they saw how reasonable the rates were, especially for the services offered, they elected to enroll. The five new enrollees were a younger demographic with great health, so when they joined, it benefitted the group further by having the rates decrease due to the good risk coming onto the plan.
How did the roll-out go? How has Excel been different?
The roll-out definitely went well. I was very impressed with how quickly Excel got everything together. It was Q4, but it only took 2-3 days for the client to get their group number and for Excel to have ID cards handy. That’s not indicative of the experience that I’ve had with other carriers, especially in such a busy time like Q4. Another thing that sets Excel apart is their cost containment strategies and access to the Care Navigation team. Having access to that level of member support is critical to the success of a health plan and these sort of plan features aren’t something that’s always available in a level-funded arrangement for the small group market.
In the end, it’s great having another player in the game. The installation process in the 11th hour was terrific, and I’ve had nothing but great experiences since day one.
That’s great to hear. What motivates you?
My wife and kids. They motivate me to be the best person that I can be for them.
When it comes to business, it’s the relationships. I like to concentrate on ways to reinforce a relationship with the goal of turning it into a partnership. Anyone who works on a project together does their separate tasks in the relationship. If we can build a partnership, then that means everyone is working together for a common goal. I have to say that this is one of the things I loved about my move from my previous employer over to ABC. I was delighted to get away from the churn-and-burn of the sales cycle and start building true client partnerships. That’s the type of stuff that drives the year-over-year retention.
To close it out, what is something that people may not know about you?
I used to be an avid surfer and skateboarder when I was younger. I grew up in the Long Beach Island area of New Jersey and spent a lot of my time at the beach before moving to Virginia in 2002. When Hurricane Floyd hit the Jersey coast in 1999, me and some friends decided we would go surfing, which was crazy, but fun at the same time. It just so happened there was reporter from a local newspaper on the beach watching us surf during the storm. So, when we came in the reporter did a short interview with us and the newspaper published an article about us surfing during the hurricane. That was pretty cool.
Thanks for chatting with us, Kevin. We appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule. Can’t wait to get started on your next deal so we can continue to build our partnership.
We should also thank ABC Insurance Trust for lending us Kevin to chat for a bit, so thanks! We look forward to doing more business together.
