HIRING THE RIGHT PRODUCER ...

Over the years, there have been a host of surveys taken on consumer opinions about Personal Lines insurance. The major question is...

Personal Lines competition continues to intensify, as more and more players enter the marketplace. However, independent agents can fight back — if they're willing to make some fundamental changes in the way they do business. In this two-part document, Peter van Aartrijk presents 17 ways to help you build your Personal Lines book. If implementing all of them seems impossible, try three or four. But make a commitment, and go for it.

HOW TOPROSPER IN ANY MARKET by Edward Curry You and your companies can work smarter together, regardless of market conditions. During a hard market, some companies impos...

IF I WERE A MARKETING MANAGER FOR A DAY by Delbert Hawkins Once upon a time, a marketing representative was an ex-underwriter who went into the field because he or she was too youn...

IMAGINING A MARKETING MANAGER'S CONVERSATION by Knight Berman How a company makes decisions and executes them has long been a puzzle to agents. Sometimes, the decisions seem to ref...

In addition to working in the business, more and more agency principals and managers are working on the business by focusing on technology and workflow improvements. The latest Future One agency survey confirms this trend ― 72% of the agents surveyed responded that core management issues for them are to make their internal operations more efficient and to use technology to conduct business with carriers more efficiently. Jeff Yates shows you how to improve agency workflows with technology.

Dear Dave:

Our agency has hired a full-time Life producer to handle Personal Lines only. We believe we have enough accounts to justify that move. She tested well for personality and potential, but she is fairly new in the Life business. She is closing about one out of four presentations, which sounds fine for a relative beginner, since the closing average for all agents is about one out of three. But since she deals with many Mortgage policies and writes reducing Term policies at fairly low premiums, the bottom-line dollars are low. We need to create more cash flow. What can you suggest?

INCENTIVE COMPENSATION FOR NON-PRODUCERS by Al Diamond During the soft market, while most agents granted salary increases and let their profits and personal incomes erode, prudent ag...

INDEPENDENT AGENCIES ON SLIPPERY SLOPES? by Victoria Sonshine Pasher There's no letup yet for the independent agency squeeze that's persisted throughout the 1990s. Facing numerous challenges, agen...