How Weisser Engineering's CFO saw the math behind her renewal and switched brokers in 5 weeks

Weisser is a 60-year-old, minority- and women-owned land surveying and civil engineering firm in Houston. Its crews survey roads, bridges, toll roads, and energy and government projects, and the team has grown to about 70 people, most of them in the field. Weisser pays 100% of the base medical plan because survey work puts people in harm's way.

Devan Haub joined as CFO in 2024 and digitized the back office. Benefits came with the job, because at Weisser's size there was no one else to take them.

Weisser's broker since 2025 was a national brokerage that had acquired the smaller firm Devan's original contact came from. In the year after open enrollment, the only outreach Devan got was 2 marketing event invitations.

Devan asked for the Oct 1 renewal on July 22. Usable pricing arrived Aug 11, about 2 weeks before open enrollment and too late to set contributions with Weisser's owners or shop.

"I was essentially begging for numbers from our prior broker, and that's not an exaggeration."

That's common. Only 31% of SMB leaders got a clear breakdown of their increase.

One dental plan was up 20% over a single one-time procedure. The alternative capped coverage at $2,500 a year, ending the no-annual-limit plan most employees chose. Weisser's medical plan is level-funded, so low claims can mean money back, and Devan never got the monthly claims reporting that shows where a company stands. She was also reconciling carrier bills herself.

"I already have a full-time role as CFO, and it's not an appropriate use of my time to take on extra HR responsibilities."

Devan heard about Ignition at a quarterly lunch she attends with a group of women in HR, finance and accounting, where they trade notes on problems and the people who solved them. She took the call planning to get to know Ignition for next year. She didn't believe anyone could fix this renewal in 2 weeks.

Ignition started with the data carriers use to price a group. Devan pulled a census (the list of members, ages and locations that carriers quote from), and on the second call Ignition showed Weisser its own risk profile: a risk score 16% below average, 82% of members below average risk, and no claims over $50,000. It was the first time anyone had shown Devan those numbers.

The data also shaped what Ignition advised against. Leaving a level-funded plan mid-stream can forfeit the money a healthy group earns back, so Ignition recommended keeping Aetna for medical and putting the effort into dental and vision.

James Taylor, Ignition's founding benefits consultant, had options back within days, before Weisser had even signed on.

"Before we even signed paperwork with you guys, James was sending me options for our dental and vision... in a matter of a couple days."

Devan took it to Weisser's owners.

"I felt confident in their ability to handle this for us. They had already presented a comprehensive analysis outlining how they could save us money based on our current staffing levels and performance metrics, something our previous broker never provided."

Weisser named Ignition broker of record (the broker who represents the company to carriers) on Aug 24, about 5 weeks before renewal. Ignition took it from there: carrier paperwork, the data load into Employee Navigator, COBRA, and the move to MetLife for dental and vision with the same no-annual-limit coverage.

Open enrollment kept Devan's format. James flew to Houston and ran a 6:30 AM session so the field crews could enroll before heading out, then a second session for office staff. He and Tiana, Ignition's account manager, took calls with employees one on one.

"James and Tiana were getting on the phone with people and talking to them and walking them through... the only delays that we experienced were from employees finalizing their enrollment."

Weisser sees the math now.

Ignition holds Weisser's risk profile, so next year's renewal starts with the data, early enough to set contributions with the owners and shop if the numbers call for it. No more waiting on an attachment 2 weeks before open enrollment.

The dental increase never reached employees' paychecks.

Most of Weisser's team is on the no-annual-limit dental plan, and Weisser only partly covers dental and vision. Under the old renewal, Devan estimates the increase would have cost employees about $20 a paycheck.

MetLife matched the coverage for less than Weisser was paying Humana, with a stronger provider network.

"They were able to find us a plan with the exact same coverage that was cheaper than what we were paying previously with Humana... it's just an overall improvement for the employees."

Service that follows through.

Ignition now handles the bill reconciliations Devan used to chase for months, and we confirm fixes with the carrier instead of just answering the question. When Weisser's CEO moved and Devan asked how the address change reached the carriers, Ignition answered almost immediately and then confirmed it with Aetna.

"Not just answering the question, but making sure that what they're saying is an accurate reflection of what's happening."

A CFO who doesn't double-check her broker.

"I felt confident throughout every step of the process. I didn't feel the need to second-guess what I was being told or go back and double-check everything. That was a big difference from how I felt last year."

Asked how she'd describe Ignition to another CFO at a company Weisser's size, Devan said:

"If they're having doubts whatsoever about their current broker, give Ignition a shot... they're going to present data to you that you've probably never seen before, and then be able to present pricing to you that you've probably not seen from your current broker."

If your broker already shows you your group's risk data and the math behind every renewal, keep them. If you're chasing your broker for numbers weeks before open enrollment, Ignition will show you what carriers see before you sign the next renewal.

Source for survey figures: Ignition Benefits survey of 503 U.S. SMB leaders at companies with 10 to 250 employees, fielded July 2 to 16, 2026.