FAQ for Benefit Guides
What benefits can we include in the guide?
How do I obtain the cost for a guide?
How do I provide the benefit information to you to include?
What customization is done to make the guide specific to my company?
What is best—to include lots of details on each plan, or just the main points?
I see some language in one of the sections that I want to change—is that possible?
Can we change photos?
Can we add a logo?
Can we change the colors inside?
We want our own cover design—can you do that?
How long does it take to get our publication ordered and delivered?
How many drafts are included in your price quotation?
Do we get an actual copy of a draft or a PDF?
If I find an error after we print, can we fix it?
Why is there not a standard pricing?
Should we include premium rates that we pay or that the employee pays in each benefit section?
Can we include rate tables, for example for life insurance or disability insurance?
If we ask you to add a single page, why do you tell us you can’t?
Can you bind with a “perfect bound”—the flat spine like they have on National Geographic and other high-end publications?
Can you ship to more than one location?
Can you ship directly to the employee?
Should we update the guide when changes occur?
Can you provide us with a PDF and let us print ourselves?
I am a broker or insurance company. Can you create a completely unique publication for our clients—100% different from your standard, so that we can use it for our clients and only for our clients?
What benefits can we include in the guide?
We have over 30 sections already created for most standard benefits. If you have a benefit that we currently don’t have in our portfolio, we can always create a new section just for you. In most cases there are no additional charges for creating a new section, because we can add this to our portfolio. This may not occur for obscure benefits, like free soccer balls or hang-gliding lessons.
How do I obtain the cost for a guide?
Click here for the form (PDF)
How do I provide the benefit information to you to include?
Click here for the forms (PDF)
What customization is done to make the guide specific to my company?
Each benefit section consists of a general description of the benefit, along with an explanation of why the benefit is important. Most employers do not need, nor do they ask for changes to this standard information. For each benefit that is included, we add one or more pages of specific information that describes YOUR actual plan—your insurance company/administrator name and contact information, your deductibles, your plan number, your waiting periods, etc. The number of pages needed depends on the amount of detail desired.
What is best—to include lots of details on each plan, or just the main points?
Most employers choose to include just the main points. The purpose of the guide is to be light and informative—something that you can expect an average employee to really want to read, from start to finish. If you add too much information, they won’t read it. They won’t know what points are key and which are obscure. The best results come with providing the key points and referring the employee to the SPD for full information. NOTE: If you choose our web-based version of the guide, we can include as much detail as you would like, by linking to a “more detailed information” section for each benefit.
I see some language in one of the sections that I want to change—is that possible?
Yes. We can change images, photos, verbiage—anything. The fee for changes is most often quoted on a hourly fee basis.
Can we change photos?
Yes, we can use your internal photos, or we can substitute existing photos with others that more represent your age group, ethnicity, sex or diversity. It is your guide, so feel free to ask.
Can we change the colors inside?
Yes.
We want our own cover design—can you do that?
Yes, a custom cover is generally $300 - $450 additional
How long does it take to get our publication ordered and delivered?
The average time is about 30-60 days. We can produce and deliver a finished, quality publication in about two weeks. The additional time is generally added because the employer or broker wants to bounce ideas around and see additional drafts. The longest production time to date has been about 14 months, for a client who wanted to make sure the final publication was the best possible.
How many drafts are included in your price quotation?
We create a single proof including all the details that you request. We then submit that to you for approval. Changes to this proof should be “adjustments”, not revisions, or changes in style. Changes to the guide that deviate outside of the original request are billed on an hourly basis. Prior to the design stage, if you inform us that we should expect more revisions, we can build this into our design fees.
Do we get an actual copy of a draft or a PDF?
We supply a PDF which can be marked up manually or online. We can provide a physical printed copy for $100.
If I find an error after we print, can we fix it?
Yes and no. After you sign off to print, any errors (outside of printer press errors) cannot be fixed. We can always reprint, if needed, or create a supplement page. Be careful and proof every page carefully!
Why is there not a standard pricing?
There is, but there are so many variables that the chart showing standard pricing is overwhelming. Final costs are based on the design modifications, how many pages are in the final copy and how many copies are printed, as well as the distance to ship. For example, an order of 100 copies with 88 pages will not be the same as an order of 500 or 500 copies with 48 pages.
Should we include premium rates that we pay or that the employee pays in each benefit section?
That’s up to you. If you want to let the employee know how much you spend on benefits, include the costs. Some employers do not include rates for some plans because of the difficulty in calculating the cost for each employee.
Can we include rate tables, for example for life insurance or disability insurance?
Yes. Complex rate tables will often add from ½ of a page to 4 pages.
If we ask you to add a single page, why do you tell us you can’t?
If you ask us to add a single page to your guide, we will tell you that it might not be possible. He is why: You can’t add a single-sided page to a publication. It is impossible. Take a piece of paper and imagine we design that page. Now, what goes on the other side? That single piece of paper is always going to have two sides. That’s one obstacle. The second obstacle is that the paper used in printing is not 8.5” x 11”. It is 11” x 17” –a long piece of paper that folds in the middle giving 4 “sides”. So, if you ask for us to include “a page on our sick-time policy” it will end up being at least 4 new pages.
Can you bind with a “perfect bound”—the flat spine like they have on National Geographic and other high-end publications?
Yes. There is an additional fee and this can only be done for guides of 44 pages or greater.
Can you ship to more than one location?
Yes. Separate shipping charges are incurred and billed.
Can you ship directly to the employee?
Yes. Separate shipping charges are incurred and billed.
Should we update the guide when changes occur?
Yes. Most employers do a new version annually. If the change is mid-year and minor, should we really reprint mid-year? No. We can prepare an insert, however, if desired.
Can you provide us with a PDF and let us print ourselves?
Not normally. Our printing fees are generally substantially lower than other printing facilities because we buy thousands of roles of paper in bulk at a discount and have these available for immediate use.
I am a broker or insurance company. Can you create a completely unique publication for our clients—100% different from your standard, so that we can use it for our clients and only for our clients?
Yes.