Say This, Not That

John Iekel

Effective communication is key to understanding to productive interaction — and third party administrators can attest to its importance, argued industry experts at an Oct. 24 session of the 2022 ASPPA Annual Conference. 

Justin Bonestroo, Senior Vice President, CBIZ, and 2023 ASPPA President, and Melissa Terito, Partner at Sentinel Pension, offered their insights and illustrations concerning why communication is so central to the work of the TPA. 

“How do you act with the care and skill you need to if you don’t understand the language?” asked Bonestroo. And TPAs have a role in engendering understanding, Bonestroo and Terito posited. 

Acronyms and their common use are a prime example, Bonestroo suggested. “How often have you used acronyms with people sitting across from you?” he inquired, then asked attendees to put themselves in the opposite position, continuing, “or had someone sitting across from you use them with you?”

TPAs as Educators

We have to remember as TPAs and administrators that we use terminology that has very specific meaning and is defined by the law; however, most clients are not aware of the actual meaning of these terms and they will take that word and create their own definition of understanding. It is critical that we translate these terms in language easy to understand, Bonestroo and Terito told attendees. 

Further, functions such as plan document preparation are themselves teaching opportunities, they argued. For instance, this includes discussion of eligibility and entry dates, safe harbors, loans, distributions, vesting, allocation conditions and definitions of year of service. Terito stressed the importance of including discussion of what’s included in and excluded from compensation as well. “If you don’t tell them compensation is specifically included, they’re not going to,” she remarked. 

And Terito literally was an educator — before becoming part of the retirement industry she was a high school math teacher. She has parleyed that experience into becoming conversant in the language of the field and has developed an appreciation for the importance of others understanding the language she is using with them.

An Ongoing Process

There must be ongoing communication, Terito said, as well as an annual plan review. She and Bonestroo suggested questions that a TPA should ask clients, such as: 

• Are you planning on buying another company or selling your company in the near future?
• Are there any plans of additional business owners buying into the company?
• Are there any family members working for the company?

Terito stressed the importance of asking questions. “TPAs are always the last to know,” she commented. 

Say This, Not That

Bonestroo and Terito offered some suggestions regarding terms that would be better to use with clients than others:

“Being able to tailor communication will help you be a better overall service provider,” Bonestroo told attendees.