FIVE KEYS TO ACHIEVING YOUR GOALS by Pamela Millard Plenty of things can distract you from your goals. Its all about making sure your goals meet a few critical criteria: Engagement...

FIVE KEYS TO DYNAMIC SALES MEETINGS by Randy Schwantz It's Thursday afternoon and you're already thinking about Monday morning's sales meeting. You say to yourself, 'What a drain! Thi...

To embrace — and benefit from — change, follow these guidelines.
Unrelenting and increasingly rapid change demands that the insurance industry rapidly uncover new ways to evaluate and respond to its marketplace.
I’ve worked with many highly successful insurance companies and agencies, helping them achieve higher levels of profitability through more sales, customer and employee loyalty, and retention. However, in many of these organizations, management remained blind to the dire need to change, despite its apparent desire to achieve higher profits. Managers can’t see the compelling need to change from the ways that allowed the organization to be successful in the first place.

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?”

FOCUS ON EMPLOYEES: THE KEY TO SUCCESS by Jack Burke Another lifetime ago, when I managed Hertz Car Sales, I made a point of hand writing little notes to our Hawaiian salesperson. Somehow, this...

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...

FOLLOW THE LEADER - LEAD THE FOLLOWER! by Mike Manes 'The first role of the leader is to define reality.' - Max DePree, businessman 'The one absolute for leadership is foll...

FORMALIZING THE PLAN A plan is only as good as its execution. It is essential that progress be monitored and adjusted and changes made when necessary. Which means that once you prepare the plan, you ...

Today, an insurance professional must be an information specialist. Access to information can be vital in all specialized areas of insurance. Every agency has numerous books, both those published professionally and those published as company manuals and promotional materials, which are reference tools enabling more effective decisions. But where are the materials when you need them? Ideally, in a library using a database program and an efficient cataloging system.

FORMING A STRATEGIC ALLIANCE by Carol Hammes A major challenge facing the Independent Agency System today is to provide quality products and services in a more cost effective and user-frien...