How to evaluate benefits placement technology: A guide for brokers

Brokers are trained to take a discerning eye to carrier proposals. They know how to poke holes in plan designs, when to push back on renewal terms, and what levers to pull to negotiate the best deals for their clients.

What they’re not trained to do is vet software. Yet as more of the benefits placement process moves online, knowing how to assess digital platforms is becoming an increasingly essential skill for brokers. 

And it’s not enough for software to check the right feature boxes. It has to integrate with existing systems and offer reasonable support SLAs. Above all, it has to maintain strong security and compliance standards—otherwise, you’re putting your data and your clients’ data at risk.

Below, we’ve outlined nine questions to ask, gotchas to look out for, and criteria you can use to find platforms that actually drive efficiency and keep client data safe in the process.

9 questions to ask before signing a contract

It’s easy to be impressed by a polished demo and assume that’s how a tool performs in practice. But that’s not always the case. These questions can help you separate reliable partners from ones that can cause headaches (or worse, compliance issues) later.

1. How will this change the way we work?

When you’re evaluating a carrier, you’re thinking about what’s best for the client—their budget, their employee population, their compliance requirements.

When you’re evaluating a tech vendor, you need to be thinking about what’s best for you and your team. As you’re talking to a seller or watching a demo, ask yourself:

• Will this platform fit your workflows without forcing you to reinvent them?
• Will it be easy to implement and intuitive to use, or will it turn into a months-long rollout with endless training sessions?
• Will it make your team faster, or will it slow them down?

Recently, two major employee benefits firms asked about adoption and carrier participation in their RFP for an employee benefits placement tool. While relevant, those numbers aren’t that meaningful in and of themselves.

When we responded, we focused on the outcomes ThreeFlow delivers: greater efficiency, fewer errors, and shorter renewal timelines—results that put the platform’s impact into perspective.

2. Does it fit how we work today?

There’s a fine line in buying software: you want a platform to be innovative enough that it enables end users to be more productive, but not so advanced that it’s too hard for them to learn. The best tech will meet users where they are and give them the nudge they need to improve their workflows.

Before you evaluate a vendor, map out your current process and your ideal one. Then, ask vendors for a “day in the life”-style demo to see whether the platform can adapt to real-world use cases. Better yet, include your must-haves and nice-to-haves directly in your RFP, so you aren’t wasting your time on vendors that don’t meet your needs.

One of our recently closed customers did just that. They needed multi-line RFP support and scheduled renewals, so they stated those requirements upfront, which made it easier for them to identify best-fit vendors right away.

3. How does this platform protect my clients, my data, and my reputation?

Compliance is one of the most chronically overlooked parts of a tech evaluation, but it should be one of the first things you ask about. If data gets leaked or stolen, you and your clients are in big legal trouble. And tech vendors aren’t regulated like carriers are.

So, when vetting their compliance posture , look for:

• A SOC 2 Type II certification, which confirms a vendor has undergone a third-party audit of how they protect and manage customer data. A strong vendor will be able to describe how client and carrier data is encrypted (in transit and at rest).
• HITRUST certification, which proves an organization meets key security controls and standards across HIPAA, SOC 2, NIST, ISO, and PCI frameworks. Given the depth of these requirements, fewer than 1% of HITRUST-certified organizations report data breaches.
• Access controls for PHI. Ask how the vendor handles sensitive data and who can access employer group information.
• Audit trails. Every quote, edit, and communication has a timestamped record.
• An incident response plan. Vendors that take security seriously have documented, tested procedures that outline exactly how quickly they’ll act, who they’ll notify, and how issues will be resolved in case of a breach or system-wide issue.
• Clear liability. If the vendor uses AI, its contract should specify who is accountable in the event of an error. At ThreeFlow, we publish our service commitment to carriers and brokers and promise specific system availability, support response time, and even monetary compensation due to extraction errors.

4. Who is using your platform and how?

If most customers are smaller firms, the platform may not be ready for the complex, large-scale operations you’re running at your org.

On the other hand, big logos ≠ active users. Plenty of tech vendors sell into enterprise accounts, and their end users rarely log in post-implementation.

If the platform is embedded in real workflows, reps should be able to tell you:

• How many active users they have, not just licenses sold or contracts signed.
• The kinds of brokers, carriers, and employer groups that use the tool daily (ideally, there’s a wide variety).
• Usage and volume trends. Steady growth in premium flowing through the system is a reliable signal of platform maturity and long-term value.

5. Will this software grow with us?

As your book of business expands, you’ll need new integrations and new workflows to keep operations running. The right partner will:

1. Show examples of customers who’ve grown substantially on the system. They’re willing to go into detail about where the customer started and how they adapted the tool to new ways of working.
2. Preview their product roadmap, pointing out upcoming features and integrations that will help you scale as your data, product lines, clients, and team grow.

6. What truly sets this platform apart?

Every vendor will claim they’re different from their competitors. It’s your job to find out how they’re different, and whether those differences truly matter.

The real differentiators aren’t always flashy. Think:

• Robust reporting
• Direct integrations with your specific AMS (e.g., BenefitPoint, Salesforce, Epic)
• Full lifecycle support, from data collection through placement
• AI-driven workflows (like smart proposals)

These are the kind of features that help your team make better business decisions, not just faster ones.

7. How does the pricing model align with our revenue model?

Pricing is obviously a factor when you’re buying new tech, but the goal isn’t to find the cheapest tool on the market. It’s to find the one that gives you the biggest bang for your buck.

To do that, you need to understand a vendor’s pricing model:

• If it’s carrier-funded → Costs are typically built into the carrier’s distribution or placement budget, which makes the cost burden lower for your firm. This model puts more weight on platform flexibility and features, so it’s critical to choose a system that can support your team’s workflows.
• If it’s broker-funded → You’re paying out of pocket. That gives you more control, but also puts more pressure on you to prove ROI through time savings and client retention.
• If it’s a hybrid model → You’re sharing costs with carriers. When both sides have skin in the game, accountability for adoption and performance.

8. What happens after go-live?

The best tech partners don’t leave you high and dry after a contract is signed. They invest in onboarding, training, and ongoing support meant to get your team up to speed and excited to use the tool. That means their plans come with:

• An in-house implementation team
• A dedicated customer success manager
• Market director support

Ask how often product updates happen and what steps the vendor takes to minimize downtime or disruption. Confident vendors will be transparent about their release process and how it might affect end users.

9. How does the platform use AI right now?

Every tech vendor is offering some sort of “AI-powered” feature, but not all of them will actually help your team work faster. Look for tangible use cases, like AI-assisted policy buildouts, that can save brokers hours of manual work. 

Be sure to ask how these features are built and tested, too. Credible vendors will be able to explain the guardrails they have in place to maintain high accuracy, preserve privacy, and mitigate bias.

Evaluate tech like an operations investment

Brokers who treat technology as a core part of their operations are setting a new standard for client service: faster renewals, stronger carrier relationships, and safer data practices. The key is finding the right provider.

ThreeFlow gives brokers a single platform to manage the entire employee benefits placement process—securely, efficiently, and in one place. Schedule a demo to see for yourself.