Julie Fink, PresidentHere’s a conversation that Manage HR Magazine had with Julie Fink, the President of Bentek.
Providing In-Depth and Cross-Training Opportunities
The benefits administration technology space has grown exponentially in recent years, intensified by the Affordable Care Act, then a few years later by the Pandemic—both acting as catalysts for employers to leverage technology even further to more efficiently accomplish their daily business needs.
Many technology companies grew too quickly, and customer support suffered. Some also experienced significant staff turnover, losing product and client knowledge in the process, which ultimately impacted customers the most.
Through our own growth, we had to evaluate our client success model to ensure our client success teams could effectively scale.. Our clients receive white glove service from a dedicated team, not simply the first person to answer the phone. The team approach provides depth and cross-training opportunities, so our clients always have someone to turn to who is knowledgeable about their organization and the product.
Experience and Excellence
Serving the public sector and complex employers for more than 15 years, we have gained invaluable insight from our clients regarding their needs in a benefits administration solution. Client feedback paves the way for success and client retention. We decided early on that we would build solutions to solve problems, which has given way to a highly configurable and flexible product addressing needs other systems don’t. Our goal with each client is to automate and streamline as many processes as possible, which leads to a chain reaction of increased efficiencies and cost savings that span multiple departments, including HR, Payroll, Finance and even IT. And with free, unlimited support and service from a dedicated team, employers can truly focus on their employees and rely on Bentek to manage the rest!
Client Inspired Solutions and Services
A common service model in the technology industry includes a product license, some level of technical support, customer service invoiced by the hour, and blocks of training hours. This model creates challenges, particularly in the public sector space.
Employers need to effectively budget for the project, which proves challenging with so many variable costs. In addition, if a block of training hours was included in the scope, yet it’s later determined more training is needed, employers may incur additional fees or even decide to skip the training they need due to this cost hurdle.
This often leads to misuse of features, manual workarounds, stop gap solutions, and in some cases, abandonment of the system entirely. Our approach was designed to ensure employers and employees are using the platform to its fullest capabilities and have unlimited access to their dedicated service team, training and education without the concern of fees looming overhead. It all begins with our consultative approach that starts during the initial implementation and continues throughout the life of our client relationships. We have proven this model works year after year with a standing 98.5 percent retention rate – a number that is truly unheard of in the technology space!
A Single Source Platform that Manages the Entire Benefit Eligible Population
There are many variables to consider in the administrative processes of public entities depending on the type of entity, retiree benefits, union agreements, and more. A majority of public sector operating systems do not have retiree administration, leaving employers to manage it separately.
For example, a large client with multiple locations turned to Bentek for help in consolidating data from several systems, automating processes, reducing data entry, and, most importantly, producing clean eligibility files. Through our collaborative efforts, we outlined a plan to sunset legacy systems and implemented a single platform for the entire government agency to share to manage their benefit programs and offer online benefits enrollment to employees and retirees, spanning over 50 locations.
Through our own growth, we had to evaluate our client success model to ensure our client success teams could effectively scale with growth
With Bentek, they were able to successfully consolidate systems, maintain clean eligibility data for every line of coverage offered, and automate the processing of payroll deductions and retiree enrollment. Moreover, employees and retirees can access Bentek 24/7 to elect and manage their benefits, as well as access important benefit information and education.
A Consultative Approach and All- Encompassing Process
During our first meeting with new clients, we give them the floor to share with us their challenges and goals for the project. With this information, we can then dive deep into their daily processes to gain a complete picture of daily operations. We do not limit this interaction only to the benefits personnel because we understand that benefits administration impacts several departments within an organization, including Finance, Payroll, Information Technology, and Leadership, impacting each one differently. Based on the information we gather, we propose a customized solution that is built specifically to address their needs and goals.
We also understand that implementing a new system is a significant undertaking, time is limited, and resources are stretched. At Bentek, we do the heavy lifting and take the burden off the client by managing the entire implementation process, starting with: building the project plan; maintaining all documentation; facilitating all tasks with the insurance providers and vendors; completing the set up, configuration and testing; and leading weekly calls with clients to ensure communication and collaboration along the way. We lead every step of the way and guarantee 100% implementation success.
Attracting and Retaining the Best Talent
Our people are the key to the success of our product and our clients! At Bentek, we have developed a unique culture that has allowed us to attract and retain the best talent available in the marketplace. We take great pride in hiring the best individuals and creating a workplace that is empowering. Bentek is a talented, inclusive community of colleagues who treat each other with respect. This is the reason why we have so many employees that have been with the organization for over ten years. Longstanding tenure amongst our employees ensures that our clients receive consistent service that they can count on year to year. Inherent in our corporate culture, Bentek has 30 Keys to Our Collective Success that focus on:
• Fanaticism around culture, values, and principles
• An unfailing commitment to people
• Rigorous attention to detail and execution, and
• Flexibility, creativity, and determination to transcend the status quo.
We strive to create value for our clients in everything we do by aligning our corporate culture and values with the unique needs and goals of our clients. We understand that the best way to take care of our clients begins with taking care of our employees.
