ARE YOU WILTING YET? by Grace Bauer If you're feeling yourself wilt on the job and think that you might be f...

What Is Customer Service? Customer service in an insurance agency consists of four specific functions: Processing, professional advice, production, and positive communication.

I recently read four news items that relate to how consumers perceive Life insurance:
Insurance companies are “horrible” at getting people to understand what they’re talking about.
Surveys show that insurers are at, or near, the bottom of simplicity ratings.
More than 60% of people who own Life insurance have no idea what they own or how it works; and 29% said that although they need more insurance, no one has asked them about it.
More than one in four (26%) of Americans prefer to buy Life insurance through the internet, mail, or over the phone.

If you’re in sales, you know the feeling. It’s the middle of the night about two weeks after starting a new job. You were enthusiastic and could hardly wait to get going. Now, your head is full of doubts. You try to shove them aside, but they don’t go away. “Everything is new,” you tell yourself. “I just need to give it a little more time.” However, the doubts keep coming back.
The gap between what you were told about the job and what’s actually happening grows wider by the day. After about three weeks, you finally ask yourself, “Have I made a mistake?”

If you're in sales, you can identify with this situation - about two weeks after starting a new job, you begin to doubt your decision. You detect a widening gap between what you were told to expect and what actually occurs. After only a month on the job, you conclude, 'I think I made a mistake.' You're probably right, because salespersons seem to be more prone to selecting the wrong job. Too often, their profession's tendency to stress the positive and minimize negative factors extend into their approach in choosing a job.

Those who own a business hold their peers in high regard. You might dislike someone personally, but give them a thumbs-up when it comes to running a company. Those who survived the recession deserve a special commendation. Only the native outsider thinks otherwise.

Avoid E&O Problems! by Patricia Berry Agents need to review their procedures for avoiding errors and omissions claims on a regular basis. Although coverage checklists provide a great...

AVOID THE EMPATHY TRAP by Chris Burand The ability to empathize is admirable. It requires listening, understanding, ...

In spite of 19th-hole braggadocio about rising sales figures, bottom-line results, and upcoming prospects, businesses do stall and stagnate. Streamline.com was a raging Internet stock until it ran into a wall. Kodak used to be a Wall Street favorite, and now it's struggling to find itself. P&G once had 99.44 % acceptance; now the tide seems to have turned. For years, Xerox set the standard; then it lost direction.

AVOID THESE COMMON ACCOUNTING MISTAKES by Chris Burand Some agents make a conscious decision to pay more in taxes in order to bu...