lsquo;DEDICATED AGENCY MANAGEMENT by Chris Burand Once your agency reaches a certain size, dedicated agency management is essential for continued success. Agencies ar...

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...

Very few employees will leave your agency simply for more money. They will usually have other valid (to them) reasons that, when also combined with a higher salary, push them to seek employment elsewhere. If a review of the compensation survey results (from another Middleton letter) confirmed that your agency is paying people within a reasonable range of 'average,' the level of compensation should not be of major concern. What you do have to worry about is how you are paying those dollars and how your management philosophy and style complement the overall compensation administration plan.

GOT NOVOCAIN WITH THAT CALL LIST? by Chris Burand A study by Sandler Sales Systems (May 19, 2010, Reuters), identified cold calling as worse than giving speeches, and celibacy was prefe...

IS EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP RIGHT FOR YOUR AGENCY? PART I by Carol Hammes Offering your employees the opportunity for agency ownership can help attract and retain quality people. Independen...

OVERCOMING OBSTACLES TO AGENCY GROWTH by Carol Hammes Deal with agency growth problems before they reach a crisis point. Unfortunately, this agency scenario is all too common. Enough new bu...

TRIAGE A BACKLOG REDUCTION PROGRAM by E. Al Diamond Backlogged work in an agency can kill productivity and profitability. As it snowballs out of control, you might think that yo...