Running an employee benefits consulting firm means clients are counting on you to cut through complexity and deliver real value. The firms that grow fastest aren't the ones offering everything—they're the ones packaging the right services clearly and confidently. Here's what to offer, and how to think about building a service lineup that attracts clients and closes deals.
Core Benefits Plan Design & Strategy
This is the backbone of most engagements. Clients need someone to assess their current benefits package, benchmark it against industry norms, and recommend improvements that balance cost with employee satisfaction.
Concrete deliverables here include:
- Benefits gap analysis comparing current offerings to competitors in the client's industry and geography
- Plan design recommendations across medical, dental, vision, life, and disability
- Carrier and plan comparisons with clear cost-per-employee breakdowns
- Renewal negotiation support (typically saving clients 5–15% on premiums when done well)
Pricing for this work often ranges from a flat project fee ($2,500–$10,000 for small to mid-size employers) or a retainer structure for ongoing advisory support.
Compliance & Regulatory Guidance
Benefits compliance is where many HR teams quietly panic. ACA reporting requirements, ERISA filings, COBRA administration, and state-specific mandates create real liability for employers who get it wrong.
Offering compliance services positions you as a risk reducer, not just a plan picker. Services in this category include:
- ACA affordability calculations and 1094/1095-C filing support
- Summary Plan Description (SPD) drafting and review
- ERISA compliance audits
- COBRA notice and administration oversight
Small and mid-size businesses (50–500 employees) are your best targets here—they have enough complexity to need help but often lack a dedicated benefits attorney or compliance specialist in-house.
Open Enrollment Support
Open enrollment is chaotic for most HR teams. You can charge separately for hands-on support, or bundle it into an annual advisory retainer.
This service includes building enrollment communications, running employee education sessions (in-person or virtual), coordinating with carriers and brokers, and troubleshooting eligibility issues. Employers with 100+ employees often need 4–8 weeks of pre-enrollment prep support, and they'll pay $3,000–$8,000 or more for a consultant who makes that process smooth.
Voluntary Benefits Consulting
Major medical gets the attention, but voluntary benefits—supplemental health, accident insurance, critical illness, pet insurance, legal plans—are increasingly important to employees and to your revenue.
Many consultants earn broker commissions on voluntary product placements in addition to fees. Be transparent with clients about how you're compensated, but this layer can meaningfully add to your income while genuinely expanding value for the employer.
HR Technology & Benefits Administration Platforms
Employers are drowning in disconnected systems. Helping clients select and implement a benefits administration platform (think Ease, BenefitPoint, PlanSource, or similar tools) is a high-value add-on service.
You don't need to be an IT consultant—you need to understand what each platform does well and which fits a 75-person manufacturing firm versus a 300-person tech company. Charge for the evaluation and RFP process ($1,500–$4,000), then optionally earn referral fees from platform vendors.
Executive & Key Employee Benefits
C-suite and key employee benefit planning is a lucrative specialty. This includes:
- Supplemental Executive Retirement Plans (SERPs)
- Executive disability insurance
- Group carve-out life insurance arrangements
- Deferred compensation plan design
These engagements are smaller in volume but higher in fee size and relationship stickiness. An employer that trusts you with executive benefits rarely shops around.
How to Package and Market Your Services
The way you package matters as much as what you offer. Consider three tiers:
- Essentials – Plan benchmarking, carrier comparison, renewal support
- Advisory – Essentials plus compliance review, open enrollment, and quarterly check-ins
- Strategic Partner – Full-service advisory, executive benefits, HR tech consulting, and employee communications
Publishing your services clearly—with scope, pricing ranges, and target client size—removes friction from the buying decision. Getting listed on a marketplace or directory like Mercoly helps potential clients find you actively searching for exactly what you offer, turning your expertise into inbound leads without waiting on referrals alone.
What Clients Actually Care About
Before pitching a service lineup, know what keeps your target clients up at night. For a 100-person employer, it's usually cost control, employee retention, and not getting hit with a compliance penalty. For a fast-growing 250-person company, it's scalability and making their benefits competitive enough to recruit top talent.
Build your services around those outcomes. Name them that way in your proposals. "Benefits Plan Design" is forgettable. "Cutting Your Per-Employee Benefits Cost Without Losing Top Talent" is a conversation starter.
Pick two or three services from this list where you have the deepest expertise, build clear packages around them, and start marketing those before you try to offer everything.