THE NEEDED REVOLUTION IN RISK MANAGEMENT! by Mike Manes Use risk management to control uncertainty in your clients businesses. INTRODUCTION Risk management (RM) is not only an im...

THE ONE-MINUTE MARKETER by Mike Manes 'I expect to pay more to get less.' You wouldnt expect to hear this from your customers that often. Yet Mike Manes manages to derive ...

THE PERFECT TEN: GOOD UNDERWRITING SUBMISSIONS GUARANTEE MORE SALES by Thomas Carpenter, CPCU The better your underwriting submissions, the better for you, your companies and your clie...

THE PHONE: CURSE OR COMMISSION INCREASE? by Preston Diamond You conduct 60% of your business over the phone-but how many of you actively practice phone courtesy and technique? Having worked...

THE POWER OF TESTIMONIALS by Jack Burke Preachers might have been the first to understand the power of te...

Many agents tell me they're getting plenty of referrals and don't need to cold-call for new business. If you fall into this category, there's no need to read on. But if you want to grow beyond referral business, cold-call prospecting is a necessary means to that end. Yet there's a more effective (and honorable) way to do it than described above. It's all about your goal and your preparation for the call.

In the early 1990s a state insurance commissioner, in a Wall Street Journal front-page article, called insurance agents the 'buggy-whip makers' of the late 20th century. Several years later, you seem to be doing just fine, and in many cases, even better than investors in other areas. Kevin Stipe offers an overview of the insurance agency as an investment vehicle in this document.

THE ROLE OF AN OWNER: IS IT ABOUT YOU OR THEM? by Jack Burke Leadership means a willingness to embrace chan...

THE ROLE OF LIFE IN A MERGER Recently, we discussed the role and potential of Life/Health production in agency clusters. Related but different factors are involved in the buying, selling...

Many marketing managers and representatives may ask: "Why is a sales center important to me? Isn't it designed for niche- or target-marketing? How would this fit into my company, that wants Main Street business?"

Having a marketing-representative background provides me with a unique perspective on sales centers. I know that the marketing representative is much more than a "go-for" problem-solver, running down endorsements, acting as portable shrink between underwriters and agents, or being "the official news agency TAS," spouting party line. I know that marketing is the precursor to selling.