I remember when I sold my first 401(k) plan back in…well, let’s just say it was long enough ago that my company at the time required us to fax in the client’s new plan paperwork to initiate the setup process. Yep, I said “fax”. It wasn’t just a few pages and a few signatures. It was 87 pages and dozens of signatures! Think I had it bad? How about the clients who had to go through all that paperwork and time consuming endeavor just to make a new retirement plan available to their employees.
As time went on, things improved bit by bit. Most notably with the creation of document signing technology and other similar services that effectively put office facsimiles out of their misery. But the retirement plan setup process didn’t really improve much beyond that with continued long setup timelines, multiple back and forth communications between client, provider and advisor and an overall antiquated process ignoring the benefits of readily available technology for all of us to use…until now.
Efficient 401(k) Setup
Let me introduce you to one of the many benefits 401GO clients and advisor partners experience when taking their first steps with us—the easiest and most efficient setup process in the retirement plan industry! What makes 401GO’s setup process so easy and efficient for our clients and partners?
Time:
- Initial setup steps that have historically taken hours to complete can now be completed in as little as 15-30 minutes. Small business owners are almost always short on time and the 401GO setup process gives them back the gift of hours!
- 401GO’s entire setup process from initial step to first payroll contribution can be completed in one business week.
- 3 month setup timelines? 6-8 week delays? 45 – 60 day deadlines and cutoffs? Not at 401GO. I personally helped my advisor partners and their clients setup six new Safe Harbor plans on Sept. 30th this year with plan effective dates of Oct. 1st. All in a day’s work at 401GO!
Efficiency:
- All of the new plan documents are generated during the initial setup step and ready for client review and e-signature.
- Speaking of e-signature, with 401GO, the client only has to complete one e-signature for their entire new plan setup. Yep, you read that right. Only one e-signature.
- Once the client completes the e-signature step, the plan is immediately assigned their new dedicated Client Support Manager (CSM) who will then connect with the client within 48 hours and assist with the remaining onboarding steps and remain attached to the new plan as their dedicated CSM moving forward.
Ease of Use:
- 401GO’s setup process is so easy and intuitive to use that it is designed for the advisor to invite their clients to initiate and complete the process on their own. Or, the advisor can complete the setup on their clients behalf and have it ready for signing in minutes!
- Commonly, the approach our advisor partners take is to sit down together with their client and help them complete the initial setup process together.
- The entire setup process is done online without a shred of actual paper – sorry Dunder Mifflin!
A New Approach to 401(k) Setup
So let’s recap what you don’t get with 401GO. No more 87 pages of paperwork. No more multiple signatures required as if the client was buying a new home. No more hours of a clients and advisors time being spent on retirement plan setups. No more getting in line 6, 8 or even 12 weeks in advance to meet the vendors deadline and time frame. No more of the client being passed around like a hot potato during their new client experience.
401GO is truly an advisor-centric platform built by small business people for small business people and their employees. Check us out for yourself and let our team show you firsthand. We have an amazing team from development to operations, from support to marketing and from compliance (yep – we even really like our compliance peeps!) to sales, all more than ready to make 401GO your preferred retirement plan partner.
