Shutting Down New Sales
It’s bittersweet for me as the senior vice president of growth to announce ClaimDOC is shutting down new sales for the year. We are selectively limiting new sales to exception only until April 1, 2026. We are just hitting the hot sales season for mid-market self-funded groups, and it’s difficult to tactfully and humbly communicate to brokers the message, “We will pass on this opportunity.” We’ve worked on building relationships with some of these brokers for years, and it doesn’t feel good to have to turn them away. I can’t believe I’m saying this as the person responsible for leading our sales, but I was part of the decision-making process and it’s the right call.
Why We’re Pausing Sales
The decision is multifaceted. Our existing clients and their brokers expect and deserve a level of service we refuse to jeopardize by taking on too much business. Secondly, this sales cycle, we’ve added a tremendous group of committed and engaged new clients. Historically, the late-jumping clients join from a place of desperation rather than strong alignment with the goals of our program. These groups often require disproportionate resources and have poor retention. Diluting the pool of new clients currently in the implementation phase with less-than-ideal prospects is unnecessary. Lastly, brokers will sometimes put clients in situations where a weak vendor limits the opportunity for program success. We will not participate in deals that involve vendors unable to deliver at the level clients deserve.
To Our Existing Clients
I hope you understand how much you mean to our organization. I’ve learned so much in my five years at ClaimDOC about purpose, and it starts at the top of our organization. The executive team shows up to work every day alongside the entire staff with a goal of pleasing all of you. Regardless of how the business has grown in the last five years, they are so thankful for our clients and treat every day like an opportunity to take care of you. This is a tough business, and we have built a book of the best clients in the industry. You understand and appreciate the complexity and challenges we face. I never thought a national reference-based pricing solution like ours would be sold via word of mouth, but you’ve played a huge part in our success. Your open appreciation of the quality work we do within your respective networks and industries means a lot. You deserve our best and you’ve earned it with your approach to the partnership.
To Our New Clients
The message you heard in the sales process about our staff’s commitment to your success isn’t an empty sales pitch. Everyone at the executive level knows your name and is committed to delivering a premium experience for your employees. We blew through our sales goal, and now we have blown through our stretch goal. We planned for the stretch goal with aggressive hiring. We have hired, trained and retained more than 50 new member advocates in 2025. And we have two more training classes planned before the end of the year. Ultimately, we value following through on our commitments more than anything. This sales year and the way brokers are now understanding our differentiators have been a blessing. Clients are happy, staff is happy, and revenue growth is better than ever. This isn’t data analytics; this is being conservative and doing the right thing.
Commitment to Service
I know our team can handle more, but my aggressive sales nature has even adjusted to believe deeply in the idea of protecting our brand by taking care of our clients and their people. I hate this for our sales team, whose income depends on new sales, and I hate this for brokers looking to us to help their clients. I’m so proud, however, to work for a company that goes against the grain and operates with such conviction.