PROFILE CHECKSHEET OFAGENCY HEADING TOWARD BANKRUPTCY by Chris Burand How healthy is your agency? This checksheet and financial analysis criteria can give you the answer. Use thes...

PROFIT CENTER APPROACH TO SALES by Carol Hammes Use this proven method to analyze the profitability of every sale. Insurance companies, hungry for more business, have been cutting s...

PROJECT-DRIVEN BENCHMARKING by Al Diamond Objectives define the annual goals of a company, but over the course of a year the process can become routine and t...

REACH OUT AND SELL SOMEONE by Gregory Jordahl Think of your telephone book as a roster of almost every potential prospect in town. Flip to the white pages and pick a name. You may h...

In most agencies today, the total commission of a Personal Lines account will equal or exceed the commission of a Non-exception Commercial account. In this document, Jack Fries asks why you’d pay a CSR more money to handle a lower commission account.

The following section is a varied and important one to a profitable independent agency. In it, you will learn the basis of the Sales Center concept and how Sales Centers have brought increased profitability, retention, and total-account sales into many agencies.

Many agencies establish a Sales Center with their existing personnel, or hire an additional administrative or customer service person to take over additional duties. Others find that the increased efficiency of a Sales Center allows them to expand their marketing efforts, and they hire an in-house or outside telemarketing staff to keep leads coming in to producers.

TELEMARKETER'S SKILLS

You might look toward four basic types of people when you're searching for prospective telemarketers:

Your own administrative or service employees
Professional salespeople
Experienced telemarketers
New employees who express an interest in telemarketing, but have little or no sales background

If your marketing strategy hasn't changed in the past several years, it might be time to consider it. In this document, Jack Fries gives you seven tips for marketing more effectively in a hard market.

SELECTING AND HITTING YOUR TARGET MARKETS by Thomas R. Chapman, CIC, CPCU Target marketing is a great technique for writing new business. But to implement it effectively, an agency must choo...

SET MARKETING EXPECTATIONS by Al Diamond Agents who use a professional marketing method are easily recognizable theyre the most active and successful marketers. Al ...