Planning

FINDING A COMPATIBLE BUSINESS COMBINATION by Catherine Oak Over the past few years, many firms have entered into a merger, acquisition, or some type of cluster arrangement with...

As your agency grows, you will probably recognize the need for the services of a public relations (PR) advisor to help you get media exposure.
To choose the appropriate PR advisor, you should have a good idea of what to expect in the way of services, what you need (or more accurately, want to accomplish), where to look for an advisor, and how to select one. Not an easy task, but it's a lot more manageable if you plan ahead.

FINDING AGENCY PERSONNEL by John Caswell 'Good help is hard to find.' That old adage has never seemed more true, given the increasing difficulty employers are experiencing when looking to fill an ...

FINDING MARKETS: THE SPECIALTY PROGRAM CONSULTANT by Andrew Barile While a reinsurance intermediary operates between the ceding insurance company and the reinsurance company market, the...

Why all the concern with first impressions? Why do we believe that the first contact makes such a difference? 'No one gets a second chance at making a first impression' — true, or just popular business lore? John Graham looks for the answers in this document.

Paying attention to business is one of the major benefits of a recession. Ford figured it out. So did Starbucks by bringing back the founding CEO, closing nearly 1,000 marginal stores and most significantly introducing their own instant coffee. This could be a brilliant move. While proudly passing up their $4 cup of coffee, we take the instant stuff home and keep a little Starbucks in our lives.

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 STEPS TO MARKET RESEARCH by Patricia Berry Patricia Berry offers five market research tactics that can help ...

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?”