THANK YOU - SOLICIT WORKERS COMP THANK YOU! Dear (Customer Name), We don't often take the time to say thank you to our customers, but we wanted to let you know we apprecia...

401(K) PLAN Dear (Customer Name): 'The golden years' - that's how we'd all like to describe retirement, but very few actually can say retirement is golden. Americans are living longer and retiri...

Here's a letter I received recently:
Dear Dave:
I am the manager of a four-person Life/Benefits department of a P/C agency. The agency is set up with profit centers such as Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, Surety, and Life/Benefits. Each profit center shares in the common overhead of the agency office supplies, salaries, etc.
I have no problem having my department pay for what it uses.

AGENCY VALUATION ISSUES by Roy Phillips More and more banks are entering the insurance industry by buying agencies, leading owners to ponder how to properly determine their agency&...

You've probably received great encouragement-- if not downright pressure-to put your business on the Internet. Whether you already have an Internet presence or are merely contemplating one, you should realize that just having a Web site doesn't guarantee that the people you want to reach will actually see it. You may have hung out your shingle, but the Internet customers you seek might be nowhere in sight.

AUTO DEALERS - 'CAR MODELS COME AND GO' Dear (Customer Name): Car models come and go. Each year brings in new models and new, improved options. But what about your insurance? Does your insurance p...

AUTO DEALERS - 'WE UNDERSTAND YOUR BUSINESS' NO ONE KNOWS YOUR BUSINESS BETTER THAN YOU Dear (Customer Name): Every business is special. In the auto dealer business, you have your own t...

BENCHMARKING LOSS EXPERIENCE IN A WORKERS COMPENSATION LOSS-CONTROL PROGRAM Analyzing losses against payroll is an effective method to measure the effects of a loss-control program. The desired stati...

CLUSTER TIPS by Chris Burand Cluster contracts among individual agencies or groups of agencies (not necessarily the major cluster-type agency organizations) are almost alw...

Maintenance of an effective Crisis Management Plan requires active committees with an committed membership focused on pre-crisis preparation. In addition, there should be a major commitment to continuous identification and measurement of loss exposures and an aggressive training program.