CUSTOMER SERVICE: ONE BAD APPLE by Jack Burke Unhappy employees result in unhappy clients. Every so often we all experience some degree of in...

CUSTOMERS: lsquo;IF YOU SERVE THEM, THEY'LL SERVE YOU ' by Jack Burke It has become abundantly clear that merely surrounding good product with quality service at competitive rat...

DATABASE MANAGEMENT: WORKING WITH CONTACT INFORMATION by Steve Anderson These two tools can help keep your database up to date. CAPTURE CONTACT INFORMATION Although the Inte...

Your client and prospect databases are valuable resources that could cost the agency a bundle if they fell into the wrong hands. Yet under federal copyright law,...

DEFEATING CUSTOMER LOYALTY by Jack Burke Its not the big things that will cost you customers. Quite frequently, its the small things that drive people into the arms of you...

After an automated sales center is up and running, it's up to producers to act on the qualified leads that the sales center coordinator, assistant, and support staff have worked on.

Prospecting is an old term; replace it with "business development."

Business development requires a positive attitude, confidence, and discipline. The business development mind-set can be picked up by anyone who has a desire to step to the front line and just do what must be done. Commit to a business development plan of action, then organize and follow through.

DEVELOP JOB PERFORMANCE STANDARDS by Troy Campbell Successful companies have documented expectations of their associates' performance. They also have staff members who continually strive to do thei...

In a small company, the death of the key executive can often trigger a complete business failure. A larger business can take basic precautions,...

DISASTER PLANNING FOR AGENTS by Steve Anderson If we arent prepared to deal with a disasters effects on our own operations, we wont be in a position to help our cli...

DISCOVER YOUR VALUE-ABILITY by Mitchell Axelrod 'What you see is what you get.' Flip Wilson Since he was 'involuntarily' retired at age 56, after one term as president, Jimmy Cart...