REFERRALS: THE SECRET TO CONSISTENTLY HIGH PROFITS AND RETENTION RATES by Lynn Thomas, JD Frankly, Im puzzled. Recently, I spoke at a conference where members who have known each o...

RESPONSIBILITIES AND REWARDS OF AGENCY OWNERSHIP by Carol Hammes Not everyone is cut out to be an agency owner. Some of the best producers and service reps either do not want to tak...

RETHINKING APPROACHES TO CUSTOMER SERVICE by Jack Fries You can distinguish your customer service from other 'ME TOO' agencies by dividing the paper processing and service functions. Whet...

The following section is a varied and important one to a profitable independent agency. In it, you will learn the basis of the Sales Center concept and how Sales Centers have brought increased profitability, retention, and total-account sales into many agencies.

Many agencies establish a Sales Center with their existing personnel, or hire an additional administrative or customer service person to take over additional duties. Others find that the increased efficiency of a Sales Center allows them to expand their marketing efforts, and they hire an in-house or outside telemarketing staff to keep leads coming in to producers.

If your marketing strategy hasn't changed in the past several years, it might be time to consider it. In this document, Jack Fries gives you seven tips for marketing more effectively in a hard market.

SECRETS OF THE SUCCESSFUL: FOCUS AND COMMITMENT by Al Diamond The IIABA publishes an excellent Best Practices study that prov...

SECURE A COMPANY APPOINTMENT, PART I: ANALYZE THE NEED by Jack Fries This two-part article focuses on how to get the companies and markets your agency needs. Securing a com...

SECURE CONSISTENCY! PROTECT YOUR AGENCY! by Grace Bauer A year has passed since I began talking full-time to agencies nationwide. I found the main concern of 99.9% of the agencies to b...

SELF-INSURANCE ADMINISTRATION/CAPTIVES IN A HARDENING MARKET by Carol Hammes Self-insurance programs, captives, and risk retention groups will grow dramatically as premiums increase. U...

SELL YOURSELF AND YOUR AGENCY Karen Flaherty, president, Professional Training Systems, Inc., conducted a telephone survey of 50 independent insurance agencies to evaluate how well agencies responded...