COMPENSATING THE INSURANCE AGENCY OFFICE STAFF by Harry Brooks What should you be paying your agency office staff members, other than producers? It is not a sufficient answer to say...

CONNECTIONS: 'DO UNTO OTHERS ...' by Jack Burke Happy employees make for happy customers. You've heard that before, along with 'Your employees will treat your customers the same way the...

CONSULTANTS: ARE THEY USEFUL? by Chris Burand Consultants, when properly used, can be a great benefit to your agency. As a resource with varied agency experiences, as ...

CREATING A LEGENDARY AGENCY by Al Diamond A 'legendary' agency is one that loses customers only when the customer dies, moves, or sells the business. It has a regular, measurable flow o...

I have always been a believer that the best salespeople we have working for us are our clerical staff. The biggest problem seems to be our lack of proper motivational tools to excite them into selling. I have attempted to change their method of thinking, and although our program is in its infancy, it appears to be a step in the right direction.

DISASTER PLANNING FOR AGENTS by Steve Anderson If we arent prepared to deal with a disasters effects on our own operations, we wont be in a position to help our cli...

DOES A BANKING RELATIONSHIP MAKE SENSE FOR YOU? by Chris Burand Banks are buying agencies, agencies are developing relationships with banks, insurance companies are opening banks, and a dozen...

DON'T WAIT FOR A TRAGEDY TO START WORKING SMARTER by Grace Bauer Why do we wait for a tragedy to happen in our lives before making changes to work smarter and be happier? We often...

Professional Agency Reviews invariably reveal backlog in most of the profit centers (Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, etc.). There’s no way to do regular account reviews for Personal Lines and small Commercial Lines, because the CSR 'doesn’t have time.' In this document, Jack Fries tells you how to motivate people to eliminate backlog and provide customers with the service that they deserve.

Distinguish between the terms “non-compete” and “non-piracy.”

In its basic terms, a Non-Compete clause protects the agency against a former employee taking accounts that they produced or for which they were responsible while an agency employee. A Non-Piracy clause protects the agency from a former employee taking any agency accounts, whether or not they were responsible for producing or servicing them.