The Five Star Business Insurance and Benefits Professional program is designed to identify and showcase business insurance and benefits professionals in a local market that score highest in overall satisfaction.

As part of an in-depth research process, business insurance and benefits professionals are evaluated by small businesses (for the purposes of the research, a small business is defined as a business that employs 10-250 employees) based on customer service, integrity, knowledge and experience, employer communication, employee communication, offers a variety of options, quality of recommendations, and post-sale service.

10,000 to 30,000 small businesses (depending on market size) are asked to name and evaluate business insurance and benefits professionals whom they know through personal experience. Both positive and negative responses regarding each professional are accepted. In addition to the survey results, other evaluation criteria such as acceptable disciplinary action and evaluation results by a panel of local industry experts are incorporated into the overall evaluation process.

The final list of Five Star Business Insurance and Benefits Professionals includes the professionals, of those evaluated, in the local market that scored highest in overall satisfaction; representing less than 7% of the business insurance and benefits professionals in the local market. See the Research Methodology Summary for more information on the research process.