PPB December 2017

FEATURE | Wellness Programs Winning this type of client business requires more than just knowing how to sell products. It involves a deeper level of engagement, teaching clients the benefits of wellness programs and how to foster and manage a health-focused environment within their company. By acting as a consultant, not only are you positioned to sell more products that reinforce their brand, but you are seen as a valued expert in your clients’ eyes by helping them achieve a healthier lifestyle that will pay off with fewer sick days and lower insurance premiums, as well as more productivity by healthier and happier employees. With this approach, you are demonstrating your commitment to your clients’ long-term success. That is a game-changing relationship builder that is hard to replace. What Is A Wellness Program? A wellness program is built on a corporate culture where the employer encourages employees to engage in a healthier lifestyle through activities and challenges. These include positive changes in nutrition, weight-control and exercise, but they can also extend into overall health and quality-of-life improvements such as tobacco cessation and health screenings. Information is usually shared with employees in a variety of formats such as brown bag presentations, videos, brochures, signage, health assessments, display boards and other methods. There is no cookie-cutter approach to creating a wellness program. Each program will develop its own distinctive personality based on a variety of factors including the number of employees, the company’s budget and the program’s goals. It takes a savvy distributor to evaluate a client’s needs and then develop a program and product mix to best meet their requirements. But don’t let the challenge of doing something different deter you from pursuing these lucrative business opportunities. You can rest easy knowing there are tools available to help you facilitate these programs. Steps To Help Clients Create A Culture of Wellness 1 Believe in the value of wellness programs for your clients. Your first step is gaining confidence that a wellness program is a smart move for your client. If you don’t buy into why this investment of time and dollars is positive for them, they won’t either. 2 Determine who to approach. In larger companies, the program will likely be handled by the Human Resources department. In smaller companies, owners or managers will make the decision to implement a wellness program. 3 Get buy-in. The programwill need management backing to be successful. Share the benefits of wellness programs (see sidebar on page 53) with company decision makers. If the company’s leadership shows they are on board, their buy-in will encourage employees to participate. Most leaders will understand that what you are proposing is a good thing, but they likely have no clue how to implement the program and will look to you for guidance. Show them how encouraging healthier improvements in their employee’s lives will positively affect more than just their bottom line. 4 Offer solutions that involve people . An important part of any wellness program includes setting challenges and goals, as well as tracking changes and improvements. A company may feel this is more than they want to take on, or that they don’t have the staff to handle it. STATS Percentage Of Companies That Offer Wellness Programs Use this information to help determine the sizes of businesses to target. EMPLOYERS WITH: 50-100 employees 101-1,000 employees 39 % 62 % EMPLOYERS WITH: 1,001-10,000 employees 10,001-50,000 employees 85 % 86 % 48 | DECEMBER 2017 |