How to determine if your agency or brokerage has a true sales culture

Even though you might be able to show extensive evidence that your agency is highly productive, profitable, or well capitalized, how do you measure your “sales culture?”

FOCUSING ON TARGET MARKETS by Al Diamond 'Target marketing' became the buzz phrase of the '90s, yet successful agents were targeting markets for years before. Why? Because it work...

FOR THE FUTURE-PRODUCER RECRUITING Producer recruitment should be a continuous process that provides the lifeblood for your agency. In th...

FOUR WAYS TO CUT COSTS AND INCREASE PROFITS by Bill Schoeffler and Catherine Oak Theres more of an emphasis on watching expenses today in order to return a reasonable profit. Many owne...

FRAMEWORK FOR AGENCY SUCCESS by Patty Vaughn Planning agency success is a learning experience. Sharing ideas, taking advantage of opportunities, and tapping untapped resources, with the help of ...

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...

GETTING CLIENTS OR PROSPECTS BACK In a suburb of Philadelphia-Langhorne, to be precise-is an unusual retail operation. It's a car dealership, but the difference is the firm's philosophy that no one...

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.

Although golfing and selling have a lot in common, for most producers they're like night and day...

GOOD COMPENSATION PLANS ATTRACT GOOD PEOPLE by Mark Shlien Many agencies have had to change their approach to compensation during the recession. Faced with declining revenues and profits,...