Written for / Group health and employee benefits

A filing employer's renewal month is public record. Work it.

BenefitsIQ, available for benefits workspaces, is built from Department of Labor Form 5500 filings. You filter employers by state, size, funding type and renewal month, then reach the HR leader on LinkedIn and email from the same login, months before the incumbent sends the renewal.

Get started Drive the live demo
  • $297 per license a month, Spark plan
  • Month to month on Spark
  • 4.7 on Trustpilot

Two things to know first. BenefitsIQ is switched on per workspace for benefits brokers, so ask for it when you start. And the catalog is built from the filings we have loaded, not a live national feed: check coverage for your state and group size with us before you rely on it. Running an agency with several producers? See Revenue operations for benefits agencies.

Fig. 01 / The stack you have

The filing tells you who and when. It does not make the call.

Most brokers already pay for 5500 data. The export goes into a spreadsheet, the spreadsheet goes into an email tool, and the renewal month goes missing on the way.

  • 01
    The data and the outreach never meet. Funding type and renewal month sit in one tool. The message that should mention them is written in another.
  • 02
    Timing is done from memory. January renewals need a first touch in August. Without a system, August outreach happens in November.
  • 03
    Annual data contracts. The employer database is billed by the year whether or not you prospected that quarter.

Honest scope. Swapping the 13 tools on the receipt for Command Center saves about $432 a month per seat at list. The bigger win is one login and one inbox for every reply. It does not replace your AMS, your quoting platform and your benchmarking tool; it works beside them.

THE BROKER STACK
one tool per job, one seat, monthly

  • MiEdgeForm 5500 data199.00
  • Hunter.ioEmail finding + verification49.00
  • HeyReachLinkedIn outreach79.00
  • InstantlyCold email sequences47.00
  • TrulyInboxInbox warmup29.00
  • FrontShared inbox29.00
  • HubSpot Sales HubCRM + pipeline20.00
  • ChatGPT TeamAI writing25.00
  • ZapierWorkflow automation30.00
  • PandaDocDocuments + e-sign29.00
  • HootsuiteSocial scheduling99.00
  • Slack ProTeam messaging8.75
  • DataboxReporting85.00

TOTAL / MONTH$728.75

13 tools · 13 logins · 0 shared records

One common tool for each job. The sales tools are at published monthly rates. MiEdge is sold by quote, so that line is an estimate. It is counted because BenefitsIQ covers Form 5500 prospecting; check its coverage for your market first.

Command CenterOne login$297 / month

YOU KEEP THESE
Command Center does not replace them, so they are not in the total

  • Benchmarking toolCommand Center does not benchmark planskeep
  • Agency management systemclients, policies, commissionskeep
  • Quoting and enrollment platformcensus, quotes, enrollmentkeep

Fig. 02 / How one deal runs

One login, from a name on your list to a signature.

A fictional group, chosen the way you would choose it: fully insured, same carrier for years, renewing in January.

The buyerRenee Castillo, VP of People at a 260-employee regional credit union

  1. BenefitsIQ + enrichment

    Find

    In BenefitsIQ you filter employers from Form 5500 filings: your state, 100 to 500 employees, fully insured, January renewal, same carrier three years or more. The filing names a contact, who is not always the HR leader, so you confirm the right person on LinkedIn. Enrichment then finds and verifies her work email.

    app.grobotlab.com/benefitsiq
    BenefitsIQEmployers, from Form 5500 filings
    State: NCEmployees: 100 to 500Fully insuredRenewal month: JanuarySame carrier 3+ years
    • TC
      Tidewater Credit Union260 employees, fully insured
      Renews January
    • HM
      Hollins Manufacturing180 employees, fully insured
      Renews January
    • PC
      Piedmont Charter Schools410 employees, fully insured
      Renews January
    • GF
      Garner Foods145 employees, fully insured
      Renews January

    From Department of Labor filings we have loaded. Renewal month and funding type come from the filing.

  2. floStudio

    Reach

    You write the sequence in floStudio: a LinkedIn connection request in August, followed by an email that uses what the filing says. LinkedIn steps run from your own account, and email goes out from your own connected mailbox.

    app.grobotlab.com/flostudio
    January renewals, 100 to 500 employeesfloStudioActive
    1. in
      LinkedIn connectFrom your account
    2. 3d
      Wait 3 days
    3. @
      Email, uses the filingFrom your mailbox
    4. in
      LinkedIn voice noteIf no reply
    First message to Renee CastilloRenee, your medical plan renews in January and the filings show the same carrier four years running. Groups your size usually have a level-funded option worth pricing. Open to a 20-minute look before the renewal lands in October?

  3. Unibox + Ezra

    Reply

    She answers on LinkedIn. Ezra drafts a reply that asks for a census and the current plan summaries and offers two times. Nothing goes out until you approve it.

    app.grobotlab.com/unibox
    UniboxTidewater Credit UnionNew reply
    Renee CastilloLast year came in at a double-digit increase and we just accepted it. Who would I be talking to?

    ✦ Ezra, suggested reply Approve and send

    You would be talking to me. Send a census and your current plan summaries and I will show you two alternatives. Tuesday at 10 or Thursday at 2?

  4. Pipeline + deals

    Close

    You create a deal from the thread and set its close date to the renewal. The pipeline shows weighted value by stage and flags a deal that has stopped moving. The renewal month stays in BenefitsIQ; it does not copy itself onto the deal.

    app.grobotlab.com/deals
    PipelineMain pipeline
    1. Replied
    2. Census in
    3. Quotes presented
    4. Won
    Tidewater Credit Union$31,000
    Stage
    Census in
    Owner
    You
    Contact
    Renee Castillo

    ✓ Created from the thread by the rep

  5. groDoc

    Sign

    When she says yes, you send the broker of record letter from the benefits template in groDoc for e-signature. You see when it is viewed, and the signed copy comes back with an audit trail. Quoting and enrollment still happen in the platform you use for that now.

    app.grobotlab.com/grodoc

    Broker of Record Letter

    From the benefits template

    Renee Castillo, VP of People
    SIGNED
    • ✓Builtin groDoc
    • ✓Sentfor e-signature
    • ✓Viewedby the signer
    • ✓Signedaudit trail saved

The people, companies and messages are fictional, and the screens are simplified drawings of Command Center. Each step says what the platform does and what you do yourself. Drive the live demo to click through the real thing.

Fig. 03 / Your buyers, not ours

Your buyer, their moment, and the tools for both.

This page is written for group health and employee benefits. The people below are the ones you sell to: who gets your message, what makes this the week to send it, and which part of the platform does each job. A typical setup for employee benefits.

A

Who

4 titles you sell to

  • HR director or VP of People
  • CFO or controller
  • Owner or CEO at smaller groups
  • Benefits manager
B

When

5 signals worth a message

  1. 01

    Renewal month 120 to 150 days out

  2. 02

    Fully insured, where a funding change is worth pricing

  3. 03

    The same carrier for three years or more

  4. 04

    The same broker for three years or more

  5. 05

    Enrollment growing or declining between filings

C

With

One platform, five steps

  1. 01FindBenefitsIQ

    Employers from Form 5500 filings, filtered by state, industry, employees, funding type and renewal month. Available for benefits workspaces.

  2. 02ReachfloStudio

    One sequence per renewal month, built once and reused each year.

  3. 03ReplyUnibox with Ezra

    HR replies from LinkedIn and email in one inbox with a draft ready for approval.

  4. 04ClosePipeline

    Deals you create, with the renewal as the close date, weighted totals and a stuck flag.

  5. 05SigngroDoc

    Broker of record letters from the benefits template, sent for e-signature.

Know the limits of the data. Unfunded or fully insured welfare plans with fewer than 100 participants are generally exempt from filing (US Department of Labor, Form 5500 Series), so 5500 prospecting is strongest on groups above that line. A new HR leader is a good reason to write, but the platform does not detect job changes: that one you watch for yourself. Go deeper in the Form 5500 prospecting guide, the renewal timeline and the broker of record letter post, or compare grobot vs Benefeature and grobot vs Judy Diamond Associates.

Fig. 04 / Proof

No case study here yet. We will not fake one.

We do not have a published benefits brokerage case study to show you, and we are not going to invent one. Here is what customers in general say, and the library.

Rated 4.7 out of 5 on Trustpilot / All case studies

Fig. 05 / Straight answers

What benefits brokers ask before they buy.

Does BenefitsIQ replace my Form 5500 data subscription?

It can, if our catalog covers your market. BenefitsIQ is built from Department of Labor Form 5500 filings and lets you filter employers by state, industry, employees, funding type and renewal month. It is not a live national feed, so check coverage for your state and group size with us before you cancel anything. It does not benchmark plans.

Is BenefitsIQ included in the $297?

BenefitsIQ is available for benefits workspaces and is switched on per workspace. Ask for it when you start so it is enabled on yours.

Can I filter by carrier?

Not by carrier name. The carrier is shown on the employer record, and you can filter for groups that have kept the same carrier, or the same broker, for three years or more.

How current is the data, and what about groups under 100?

Form 5500 is filed after the plan year ends, so every 5500 source runs behind the calendar: confirm funding and renewal month on the first call. Many small fully insured groups are exempt from filing and do not appear in any 5500 source. For those, upload your own list or build a LinkedIn search and ask for the renewal month early.

What does it cost?

Spark is $297 per license per month, billed month to month. LinkedIn and email sends are included. Credits meter AI actions, email verification and enrichment. There are larger plans for bigger teams; ask us which fits.

Is my LinkedIn account safe?

No vendor can honestly promise zero risk, because LinkedIn sets and enforces its own rules. Sequences run from your own LinkedIn account, so volume and targeting matter: keep daily activity modest, send only to people who fit, and go through the sending settings with us before you launch.

What does it not do?

It does not run SMS, outbound dialing, retargeting or display ads, or payment collection. It has no built-in calendar scheduler, so you use your own booking link. It has no built-in contact database and no native sync to a CRM: data moves by CSV, API or webhook. It does not quote, enroll, benchmark or administer plans.

Fig. 06 / Your turn

Name a renewal month. Check your market in the catalog first.

Before you start, ask us what BenefitsIQ covers for your state and group size: talk to a strategist. Then start on Spark, month to month, and run one renewal-month sequence.

Get started Drive the live demo
  • $297 a month
  • Spark is month to month
  • We reply within one business day