The cluster concept has been a popular one for doctors, dentists, realtors, and others for many years. Insurance agency clusters have been around for a few decades, but interest in them intensified during the hard market of the early 1980s. At that time, smaller agencies banded together to protect themselves against increasing carrier demands brought on by tighter market conditions.

COMBINING INCENTIVE COMPENSATION WITH EMPLOYEE EVALUATIONS by Al Diamond An effective Incentive Compensation Program will benefit your staff - and your agency. An Inc...

COMBINING INSURANCE AND FINANCIAL SERVICES: REALITY CHECK by Carol Hammes After the Barnett decision in Florida and the subsequent passage of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financ...

Most agencies plan, measure and record the sale of new business, but very few take the time to really control the loss of business to the agency. It is the opinion of our firm that no agency really profits if business keeps coming in the front door and going out the back.

COMMERCIAL LINES INSURANCE CHECKLIST by Jack Fries Use this checklist by Jack Fries to see which Commercial Lines coverages your clients have, those that they need, and those that you write. ...

Successful marketing of Commercial Lines requires a detailed plan. The first step is to assess where you are right now. In this first of a three-part series, Jack Fries examines the preliminary steps that an agency should take in marketing Commercial Lines.

The previous article (Creating A Successful Plan For Marketing Commercial Lines Part I), presented information about the matrix of the agency book of business, the review of the book of for account development, and a review of company programs and products. In this second of a three-part series, Jack Fries focuses on selecting a proper market.

COMMERCIAL LINES MARKETING PROGRAM by Al Diamond This documentcovers issues as diverse as agency budgeting, how to post an effective classified advertisement, and marketing carr...

COMMERCIAL LINES PRE-APPROACH Dear (Customer Name), HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW YOUR INSURANCE? With so many demands on their time, many business owners find it difficult to learn enough about t...

Dear (Customer Name), ARE YOU FED UP? By insurance, that is. If so, I understand. Quite frankly, so is the rest of the world. That's why... NOW,...