Business Innovators Radio - Interview with Paul Castner w/C & K Healthcare Advisors- Becoming the Business Owner’s Trusted Advisor

Episode Date: July 24, 2025

Paul Castner is President and Co-Founder of C & K Healthcare Advisors, one of the insurance industry’s most innovative agent-focused organizations. With extensive experience at top Medicare carriers and a passion for helping seniors navigate healthcare costs, Paul has revolutionized how insurance professionals serve their clients. Under his leadership, C & K Healthcare Advisors has grown from a regional operation to a nationally recognized organization known for its cutting-edge technology, comprehensive training systems, and unwavering commitment to agent success. Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Paul continues to mentor agents while building the future of insurance services. His first book is set to launch on Amazon in the next few weeks.Learn more: http://www.ckhealthcareadvisors.com/Plans and products may not be available in all areas. Certain exclusions and limitations may apply.Our Website serves as an educational invitation for you, the customer, to inquire about further information regarding your health insurance options, and submission of your contact information constitutes as permission for a Licensed Insurance Representative to contact you with further information, including complete details on cost and coverage of this insurance. Contact will be made by a licensed insurance agent/producer or insurance company.We do not offer every plan available in your area. Any information we provide is limited to those plans we do offer in your area. This is a solicitation for Insurance.C & K Healthcare Advisors, LLC and their agents are licensed and certified representatives of a Health and Life Insurance organization. Enrollment in any plan depends on contract renewal.Influential Entrepreneurs with Mike Saundershttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/influential-entrepreneurs-with-mike-saunders/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/interview-with-paul-castner-w-c-k-healthcare-advisors-becoming-the-business-owners-trusted-advisor

Welcome to influential entrepreneurs, bringing you interviews with elite business leaders and experts, sharing tips and strategies for elevating your business to the next level. Here's your host, Mike Saunders. Hello and welcome to this episode of Influential Entrepreneurs. This is Mike Saunders, the authority positioning coach. Today we have back with us Paul Cashner, who's president and co-founder of C&K Healthcare Advisors, and we'll be talking about becoming the business owners trusted. advisor. Paul, welcome back to the program. Hey, Mike, it's always a pleasure to be here. Thanks for having me back. You know, I love your just one-stop shop approach to caring for the agents that you're bringing on to help them succeed. And you're bringing all of these things together in one system and one training from mindset to education to having the right products to sell. But now

looking here at becoming the business owners trust advisor, I would suspect that that's a massive opportunity because business owners represent the most lucrative market in insurance. But I don't think that agents know how to break into it. What are you guys doing to help them, you know, make that break? So let's start at the forefront of it. So let's talk about what that business market advantage is like for actual agents. Okay. So let's start there.

Business owners, they have higher incomes and greater insurance needs than individual consumers, right? Multiple revenue streams that we can offer them from group benefits. to individual coverage and to tax strategies, and building long-term relationships with them help grow your business and their business. And one of the key kickers there on the advantage of that side, referral opportunities. With businesses, they're in networks inside of their industry, inside an industry associations that can lead to organic growth. What other agencies aren't providing, they're focused heavily just on individual sales.

We don't only teach the individual sales aspect. We also teach business development strategies. Other agencies, you know, they're providing basic product training. And we actually create strategic business advisors. And our competitors, they're focusing on the transaction. We work on building long-term business relationships. Because again, like I said, those guys all swim in the same pot. It's like, think about it if you're out on the ocean and you see a pot of whales out there, right? And with these large clients like that, In our industry, you sometimes hear them refer to as whales. Well, when you're out in the ocean, you see whales swimming together, right? So through our business services, you can help not only protect the people and strengthen their future that are the employees, but you can also help the business owner attract talented employees and prove employee satisfaction. We can help them reduce their tax liability and help them build tax-free wealth by focusing both on business protection and personal wealth building for, owners, you can integrate into groups that can help benefit, you know, tax strategies and succession planning and estate planning. And, you know, for the experienced agents that are out there that

might not have ever gotten to this realm. Okay. If you're tired of competing out there on price in the individual consumer world, business owners value expertise and they're willing to pay top dollar for strategic guidance. Your expertise in the individual market also translates over to business owners who need personal coverage alongside that business protection. Positioning yourself as a business advisor, not just an insurance agent. You can focus on business growth and wealth preservation rather than just coverage. Okay. Integrating with business owners also gets you into existing professional teams like attorneys

and accountants and financial planners. So you really need to become the go-to resource for everything business protection. including that tax strategy need. Yeah, you know, it's kind of like what we're talking about in a previous conversation about, like, the roots of a tree, like they just spread, spread, spread. You know, you can work with a grandparent, the grandson, the brother, the sister, with a business, you can become embedded in there and have so much opportunity to succeed. And in a little way, you know, small business owners are the backbone of our economy.

So when you help them to succeed and be stronger, you're doing a greater good there, too. Can you think of an example or a case study where you coached an agent to really get their foot in the door with a high value business owner? There's one that I'm actually working on right now in the state of Maryland. You know, he's had several conversations with them and back and forth and we got a custom quote in front of him. And now today he reached out and said, hey, I need some assistance. The guy sent me his current policies and what it looks like for his employees. And then we showed him how ours was different. And, you know, most businesses, we do a lot more on the whole life on the business side.

I know that's going to sound weird, Mike, because most group plans are term. Okay. Meaning when the employee leaves, it's over. Most of us, if you're listening to this and you're not an insurance agent, you're probably thinking yourself, yeah, look at my life insurance. You know, what's up with that? It's term. They're cheaper.

And generally, the employers, it's more beneficial to the employer. But we do a lot with whole life and it becomes portable. So if somebody retires or they leave, they can hold on to that plan and still benefit off of that group rate that was done to them. And you brought a big thing up about small businesses. Let's talk about that for a second. Small businesses, they represent the largest underserved market for comprehensive insurance solutions in the United States. Business owners are already increasingly concerned about employee retention and tax efficiency, succession planning. They have critical needs.

And as these baby boomer business owners approach their retirement, they need suggestion. So we can help with all of that. And we'll help you navigate the complex regulations that create demand for expert guidance and strategic planning. Yep. That's awesome. You know, it's just huge. I think that people don't know what they don't know. And when they see these opportunities, I think that it just feels like you're drinking

out of a fire hose. And I know your training and your, you know, one-stop shop approach to supporting your agents helps them, you know, learn a little bit, apply it. Learn a little bit, apply it. But talk a little bit about these group benefits and employee retention, how those two aspects are big concerns for business owners because, you know, I've heard it said that it might cost thousands and thousands of dollars when an employee leaves a company because now you've got to have your HR person go recruit and find and hire and interview and then benefits. So group benefits and employee retention, huge concerns. How do you help agents become partners with those business owners to solve those challenges? Sure. So first off, for those businesses, their people are

their greatest asset, right? And by having the ability to offer robust benefit packages, it helps businesses thrive. It helps them bring in talent. It helps them retain top talent. You know, companies with solid benefits see up to 70% higher employee retention. Small businesses compete with large corporations all the time for the same talent pool. So how do you separate that? How do you help that small business compete with large corporation?

Benefit packages. They often determine whether or not a top candidate accepts the job offer or declines. It's not always the money, Mike. Yeah, money plays the big factor, right? How much an hour am I getting? Or what's my salary? But the other next question that follows that are, well, what benefits come with it? Right.

And so while our agents sell group policies, our agents, you know, actually solve business problems, okay? We teach them the position the benefits as business investments, not as expenses with the business owners. we help them understanding the ROI calculations and employee satisfaction matrix. Integrating benefits with overall business strategy and tax planning is one of the biggest piece of when you're working with some of these groups. Now, we don't do a lot of group health right now, but some of the small businesses can't even offer group health. Maybe they can't afford it, but we're also in that ACA market.

You know, you can help offer small businesses, you know, a way. for their employees to get health insurance. Maybe even the employer contributes something or not. Same thing with small nonprofits. ACA can come with competitive premiums and also customizable coverage. The group life, like we were talking about previously,

it helps protect employee families and also builds company loyalty. And then we add in things like the ancillary products, dental and vision and accident, disability, and critical illness. And by stacking that all together, those voluntary benefit, They help provide value to the employer without cost, and maybe the employer kicks in.

You don't know the way they're going to set it up, but even if not, even if at the least, they're offering the ability to the employee to purchase those, to cover their family and protect their family, it does something between the relationship with the business itself and the employee. We have advanced training systems around this. We have specialized trainings on group business. sales and B-to-B sales and implementation. We have trainings around understanding how ACA life insurance and compliance requirements and regulations work and how to present those skills to the employer so you can present

to the employee during the enrollment meetings and business center consultations. You know, it also reminds me, too, that there's a certain percentage of business owners that are family businesses. You know, it's like, hey, mom and dad started this business 30 years ago, and now their kids are all in the business and uncles and cousins and nieces and nephews. And so that ties back into what we've been saying here when you take care of a business for the purposes of a business, key person or, you know, secession planning, all of that. There's a wide impact that it makes. And I love that you're bringing that up. So it's not just, you know, I made this sale next.

It is a relationship. You're not closing business. you're opening a relationship. Well, and that's correct. The biggest part here when you're dealing with businesses is building relationships with the HR consultants or the business advisors. Networking within that business organization.

Chambers will help lead you to other businesses. You know, educational seminars on employee benefits and retention strategies help get you in front of more business owners. All those things become referral systems within the business service providers. Talking about marketing about marketing, when it comes to it, you want to position yourself strategically with that HR partner, not just as an insurance vendor, right? You don't want to be the guy that's just there to pump

another product into that business. You want to actually be that strategic partner and focus on employee satisfaction and retention rates rather than just the coverage. You want to demonstrate understanding of the business and the challenges and listen and bring advice on solutions. again, becoming that trusted advisor for everything and all things, employee-related insurance needs, definitely helps you out. And then you got to start tracking your metrics, right? How do you track success in this? You know, our business specialist consistently outperform individual-focused agents all the time. Okay.

Average, they got higher than average case sizes and commissions per sale. And again, that's all built off of those long-term relationships that you grow with inside that business. and it also leads to referral opportunities within that business's network and industry associations. Mike, I've got some parts in my book at Lead Advantage, blueprint for agent success that's out on Amazon. I detail those strategies for positioning group benefits as business investments rather than expenses, helping you to translate over to business owners who understand the ROI of becoming long-term clients and referral resources. Yeah, yeah, I love it.

You know, it's interesting. I think that a lot of times when you can find something to offset a cost, the sale can be made easier. And I know that when you're talking to these business owners about certain strategies, there's cost or premiums or payments that are being talked about. But if you can help them find that cost in what they're already paying out, it doesn't cost them anything in essence. So talk a little bit about tax mitigation strategies that you help. your agents go in with and maybe even do you have opportunities to get with some business consultants to say, hey, not only are we going to work with your CPA or tax mitigation strategies, but also

we can look at your whatever accounting, accounts payable, accounts receivable, your long distance, you know, whatever the bills and whatever these things are to find, you know, leakage. Is that something that you're able to help your agents become really confident in to help these business owners really, really feel like, wow, that is a trusted advisor. Sure, absolutely. And Mike, that's a great question. Tax mitigation is probably one of the biggest hot topics with those business centers, right? They want to keep more in their pocket, just like we all do, than giving it in to Uncle Sam's pocket.

And there are ways that you can teach business owners to keep more of what they earn legally and strategically. So I know what everybody's probably thinking. Well, don't they have an accountant for that? Well, let's be honest. Most accountants focus just on current deductions. We're going to help them learn strategies to help unlock long-term tax savings. Most business owners are always looking for legal ways to reduce those taxes and build

wealth. And tax strategies create high-value conversations. They lead to significant sales. So when we bring somebody in, they have an interest in doing these type of products, we're going to teach them and educate them on certain tax codes like IRC-7.7. 702 or section 162 and other tax code provisions. Understanding business tax structures and implications are a big piece. Coordinating with those CPAs and attorneys that work with those business owners on complex strategies is highly important.

I don't know how many meetings I've been in Mike that, you know, I'm talking to a business owner. I'm giving some strategy and the first thing they go is, well, can I invite my CPA or my attorney? I always, always welcome that. Because as the insurance side professional, you know, you're right away going, okay, this guy, these CPAs and attorneys or financial advisors are going to view me as the enemy right away. And I don't want to be the enemy. I'm not trying to change what they're doing because obviously this business owner is successful for a reason. But I want to join the team because I might have some strategies that they don't know.

So we also help agents with ongoing education when it comes to tax law changes and new opportunities. And most other IMOs and FMOs, they're not really focusing on this piece. You know, agents are taking it out there on their own to try to learn, you know, by stuff they're reading on the internet or seminars that are attending or classes that they find, you know, the biggest thing when it comes to key tax strategies, section 162 executive bonus plan is probably one of the biggest ones. And most of these business owners don't know it. and they've never been informed of it. But it's a legal way to shift money back from paying Uncle Sam back into the business

owner's pocket, particularly funding a tax-free retirement. And I know what everybody's thinking. Ah, this is some hairbraiding scheme. No, that tax code's been around for very, very long time. And I'm going to name three names right here on this that utilize that. And you probably are going to recognize them, Mike. Walt Disney, Ray Cross, and J.C. Penny.

J.C. Penny used that tax strategy to keep J.C. Penny, the corporation, in business, and float payroll during the Great Depression. So, no, these aren't new, some brand new scheme out there. This is where your millionaires and billionaires have been utilizing this tax strategy to park money and grow tax-free wealth for over 100 years. And also that same strategy is something that would help you kind of put a bullet point in your recruiting of new employees to get high value employees to say, hey, we've got something like this in place where you have this special plan. And, you know, think of it like a personal pension, you know, even though we don't have a pension plan. But these unique things, if you've got a high value employee that you're looking to recruit, they might be talking to some competitor and how are they going to choose between them and you. or maybe retaining employees.

If you've got some plan like this in place, they feel cared for. They feel like, wow, this is a nice perk that other companies don't provide. So that becomes another benefit, not only just for the dollars. Well, here's something that we offer when you join our team.

We have a tool called Comra. It stands for color of money risk analysis. And that tool comes free to all of our agents that are working in this space. So not only could you do it for the business owner and show them their risk analysis. And then if they go one step farther with that advisor, they can then put in where their money's situated and we can give them, show them how it breaks out and what their future looks like and when to draw Social Security and all those pieces. But you can offer that to every employee as a consultation.

Think about what that does to the business center. So, you know, we've been talking about, you know, group life sales and group ancillary sales and, you know, really helping those benefits. And there's some, there's some FICA tax savings there, depending on. how that's strategized. So you're helping the business center. You're helping the employees. But what if you could do a color money risk analysis, not only for the business owner,

but every employee, making sure that their future and what they want to retire with actually could happen. Yeah. It's pretty powerful money. Yeah, huge. Hey, so let's wrap up with this thought, Paul, for agents looking to take their careers to the next level

by focusing on business owners, what are they going to get with support from C&K Healthcare that really makes this a game-changing partnership. So, of course, you can check out more about the business owner strategy on www.c-healthcareadvisors.com. There's a section in the agent resources, but I would tell you, if this is a subject that you're looking at, going to the client services and check out the whole portfolio of what we do for business owners. We have our integrated training, or what we call TBT technology-based training, and we have stuff around B2B sales and life sales, and you,

name it, it's in there. It's available to our agents 24-7. You can always schedule a consultation with us. You can do it right off of my website and find out more. And again, I can't emphasize if you really, really want to know more. Check out my book and Lead Advantage Blueprint for Agent Success on Amazon. It includes comprehensive strategies for business building owner practices. You know, you can, don't wait, start serving those businesses in your community, build those practices you've always wanted. We're here to encourage you and check us out. We're a great place to partner and we'll help you along the way.

I love it. Well, Paul, thank you so much for coming back on. It's been a true pleasure talking with you again. Thanks, Mike. Always a pleasure to talk with you. You've been listening to Influential Entrepreneurs with Mike Saunders. To learn more about the resources mentioned on today's show or listen to past episodes, Visit www.

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