EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN by Virginia Bates According to a study by Conning & Co., small agencies have experienced flat growth over the past five years, with owner compensati...

EXCESS-INTEREST WHOLE LIFE: MODULE V-A THE COVERAGE Excess-Interest Whole Life insurance is one of those products that few people know about-or know well. It's k...

FEAR OF CHANGE: A CONUNDRUM by Jack Burke 'Progress is a wonderful thing -- it's change I hate.' --Mark Twain Change is inevitable. In today's world, it has even be...

FEE VS. COMMISSION-DOES IT MAKE A DIFFERENCE? The following article focuses on the insured's perspective of fee and commission based broker remuneration. Understanding the philosophies of both can b...

At least 30,000 attorneys in the U.S. claim that they're practicing employment law. Statistically speaking, what holds true for any profession is true for employment lawyers: Half are above average and half are below average. How do you distinguish one from the other? How can you find out which lawyers or firms are in the top 5%? Don Phin discusses the questions you should be asking.

FOCUSING ON CLIENT OR PROSPECT NEEDS by Mary Beth Bolen There's a lot of talk about niche marketing or target marketing today. Many speakers feel that it's imperative to find a certain niche i...

Through the years I have seen Life policy applications and agents' reports with erroneous information. You probably have, too. I don't mean judgment calls with room for honest disagreement; I mean downright wrong information. One of the most common untruths may be the statement that a new policy will not replace an existing policy, when in fact it will. The agent may save the trouble of bothering with replacement forms, but he or she also may be buying a big problem.

FOUR QUICK HIT REFERRAL IDEAS by Bill Cates Every time I host a Referral Champions Boot Camp, I walk away with great ideas from the attendees - and the latest camp was no excep...

GET CUSTOMERS TO TOOT YOUR HORN AND BUILD YOUR BOTTOM LINE by Jack Fries Client testimonials offer a highly effective tool for building your sales and earnings. Marketing ex...

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...