Complacency can kill a retirement plan provider and their business. Complacency is a two-fold, being complacent in the retirement plan industry and being complacent with your clients.

Any business whether it’s retirement plan based or not has to change with the time because the fact is that no industry is immune to change. You need to be ahead of the game and understand any new changes that go on. Ask the folks at Blackberry about complacency. If you park your car on the raceway oval, don’t be surprised everyone else passes you by.

Working with your plan sponsor clients, complacency is all about taking your clients for granted and not reviewing their plan for new plan design studies, cost analysis, or plan provider searches. I’ve seen too many plan sponsors lose clients because these reviews come from a competing provider. Time and time again, I would hear the client ask why their current provider didn’t think of a new plan design first or review of plan fees.

Retirement plan and the retirement plan industry are fluid, which means what is good today maybe not good for tomorrow. You can never be too complacent because losing your client or your competitive edge is just around the corner.