GENERAL AGENCY ADVERTISING by John D. Farr WHAT WE HAVE IN COMMON If there's any one common thread among...

GENERAL CUSTOMER QUESTIONNAIRE Art Dannecker of the Westfield Companies developed this customer questionnaire for use by Westfield agencies: CUSTOMER QUESTIONNAIRE 1. From a personal ...

GEORGE, THE ETERNAL OPTIMIST by Chris Burand This object lesson shows how NOT to grow your agency. A few years ago, an agency principal let...

GET RID OF ABUSIVE CUSTOMERS by the IIABA Virtual University Faculty One of the nice things about being a business owner is that, if a client is abusive and undesirable, you can usually send...

GET THE RETURN ON YOUR TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT by Jack Fries Three trends dominate the agency agenda today: Customers, competition, and change. In customer service, these trends have tr...

GET THE RIGHT VALUATION IN A BUY-SELL TRANSACTION by Chris Burand Valuing an agency can be a highly complex process. Who will read the valuation report? Unl...

GETTING A COMPANY APPOINTMENT: PART 1 by David Stambaugh This first article in a two-part series shows how to get a company appointment that can benefit you, your clients, and your carr...

GETTING A HANDLE ON YOUR AGENCY'S LIFE POTENTIAL One reason agencies shrug off their Life potentials is they have no idea how big that potential may be. In each agency, of course, the precise figure...

Cross-marketing between banks and insurance agencies remains largely virgin territory. Most of the potential has not even been charted, let alone mined.
In working with banks as partners, owners, or co-venturers, insurance principals should recognize the pros and cons of the affiliation to neutralize the negatives and build on the positives.

Ever since independent agencies were invented, their owners have wondered how to find, motivate, and keep good producers. But according to one consultant, most principals still aren't getting a good deal.

'Across the United States, more employee producers are overpaid yet underproduce,' says Jeffrey Wodicka. Wodicka is president of a consulting firm called Directions Agency Management Resources Limited of Rockville, New York, as well as principal of The Greystone Agency, also of Rockville.