BUSINESS COMBINATIONS: SURVIVING/THRIVING WITH A MERGER by Carol Hammes These guidelines will help you meet the challenges of merging your agency. Most industr...

The proper insurance is a crucial element of disaster planning. Adequate insurance will greatly reduce the financial cost...

BUSINESS PLANNING WORKBOOK by Michael Manes Introduction Planning is a commitment to move your organization from where it is to where it needs to be. ...

Stephen Covey wrote a seminal book on how to run your life and your business, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. It’s a must read to fully understand the concepts of this article. Once you've read the book read it again at least once every quarter until you've absorbed these ideas into your psyche and are living those seven habits. One of the seminal habits is “Begin with the end in Mind”. However, an even more important principle of life and business is always do what’s right for the end user.

'BUT I CAN'T AFFORD TO ADVERTISE!' by Al Diamond Why on earth would agency principals pay a consu...

BUYING A BOOK OF BUSINESS by Richard Bergsund During the past nine years our executive search firm has been involved in a substantial number of assignments to find superior performers for internatio...

CAN YOUR AGENCY BECOME PARTNERS WITH A BANK? by Roger Thomas Are you an agent who wants to sell to, or partner with, a bank? If so, you're probably searching for a banker who is in...

Independent Agency System carriers that rank high on the Gomez insurance Web site index probably congratulate themselves on their achievement - the result of hard work, creativity, and spending in the nine or ten-digit range. But what if these high-ranking carriers are scoring well in the wrong game?

Suppose Gomez and other Web ranking services have no idea what they’re talking about? What if they base their evaluation criteria on an implicit misunderstanding of the insurance business? What if "winning" means embracing a bankrupt business strategy?

CARRIERS PUT THE SQUEEZE ON AGENTS by Edward Curry If you're an agency owner wondering why your carriers are making it so difficult to do business with them, you're not alone. While...

CATASTROPHE CHECKLISTS: BE PREPARED! by Grace Bauer Believe it or not, most agencies don't consider catastrophes an area of concern until disaster strikes close to ...