BenefitPitch Company Story

 

As a former benefit consultant and as a long-time advisor for early stage companies selling into the benefits space–I recognized the real problem that exists for both parties: the inefficiencies in the process for vendors to get found by benefit pros and for benefit pros to find vendors/solutions. The current process is repetitive, fragmented, inefficient, fractured, frustrating…I could go on.

 

I founded BenefitPitch to challenge the stale, stagnant processes and began to shake up the status quo by delivering a fresh perspective: one benefits community that made it easy for benefit pros to find solutions and for solutions to get found.

 

Life has a funny way of talking to you – IF you’re listening, of course. I didn’t plan to venture off on my own, but a combination of events led me to this point. First, my dad, who had been sick for years with Parkinson's and dementia, passed away in the summer of 2016. When I returned to my corporate job (a high-paying leadership role), I was troubled, restless, and unsatisfied. At first, I thought it was grief. But as time passed, the feeling didn’t go away. I could have ignored this, but I chose to listen instead.

 

Eventually, I decided to start a side company, a business consulting firm, to work with early stage companies. I built the website in November 2016 and on January 2, 2017, I filed the paperwork to officially create the company.  

 

Less than two weeks later, I was laid off due to corporate downsizing. How about that for fate?! At the time I had two properties (rental and home), two vehicles, two kids in private school, and a wife who had a small life-style business. I should have been freaking out. However, I remember not feeling a ton of sadness or anxiety about it. I couldn’t help but feel this was something outside of my own control leading me down the path of really making a run at my own company. Sante Nasc, LLC was born and I began consulting. 

 

Very shortly after that, I realized that I needed to build software that would bring in income when consulting was slow. I’m a big believer in finding solutions to solve problems, and if it can help others, that’s even better. Because of my experience as a former broker and working with vendors and startups, I had a really good sense of the challenges each side faced. 

 

Both benefit pros and solution partners had pain points around the process by which they “met.” BenefitPitch was then born out of that need. It officially launched in 2018 and was moved under a separate company in 2021.

 

​​The original idea for this platform was always a marketplace of sorts, but the evolution has been exciting. There are a thousand ways to fail when starting a business and it can be completely daunting at times.  Am I doing this right? Is this the right approach? What if this strategy doesn’t work? I think this is something everyone who starts a business feels. I learned quickly, failed quickly, iterated quickly and - above all else–listened to my customers. This led me to build the version of the software that exists now, and we’re still growing.

 

For our benefit professionals, it’s a marketplace with more than 800 solutions that sell into the benefits space. It is also available as a vendor management system for benefit firms and HR membership organizations. Current benefit pro users include Gallagher, Brown & Brown, USI, Alliant, AssuredPartners, IMA, Higginbotham, and Assurex Global.  In addition we work with the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions–through their regional coalitions, they represent 60% of the Fortune 100 companies.  We’re on our way to 10,000 benefit pro users!

 

For our vendor partners, it’s a better way to be found. By allowing banner communications called “Smart Messages,” providing analytics on how profiles are performing, and rewarding engaged and highly rated vendors, our vendor partners are well positioned for success.  BenefitPitch allows them an audience of curated benefit professionals–exactly who they’re trying to reach.

 

Most of all, I love hearing from both vendors and benefit pros that the software solves so many problems, that it’s easy to use and intuitive, and that it makes their lives easier. I take joy in celebrating the wins alongside our community members–whenever they’re able to make the right connection. 

 

Today, BenefitPitch is the leading platform to connect benefits professionals with world-class vendors. BenefitPitch is on our way to 10,000 users!  We’re making it easier than ever for our vendor partners to get in front of our benefits professional users!

 

If you want to learn more about how BenefitPitch can help your organization, drop me a line! Email me at dave@benefitpitch.com