INVENTORY YOUR ASSETS by Mitchell Axelrod Take an asset inventory, using the attached worksheets to lift your leverage-ability and vault your value-ability. The first is a Business Streng...

KEEP CONTROL OF THE AGENCY UNDER CONTROL by Grace Bauer In these times, agency principals and owners are working lean. It's difficult to find good help, and agency numbers force com...

KEY ELEMENTS OF AN EFFECTIVE WORKERS COMPENSATION CLAIM AUDIT by George Kingston During a recent review of a large corporation's insured Workers Compensation program, we interviewed the insurance b...

LEARNING PLANS FOR CSRs by Mary Beth Bolen Customer service is a dynamic, changing field. A stick-in-the-mud agency that clings to outdated practices often stays right where it started - in the ...

Once you've decided to sell Life insurance in your agency, using one option or another, you'll need to recruit and/or train the staff necessary to make your operation profitable. And, you'll need to know how to assign responsibilities within the department and how to compensate your people for carrying out those responsibilities. You'll want to know how to properly motivate and supervise those people so that your operation continues to be profitable. That's what this 'Life Personnel' module is all about.

MAKE YOUR CLIENTS FEEL APPRECIATED! by Catherine Oak At your next general staff meeting, ask your people what they can do to get each client they see to feel appreciated. Have a leader ga...

MAKING CUSTOMER SURVEYS WORK by Al Diamond Customer Satisfaction Surveys have not yet become popular in the insurance agency business. Too many agency owners fear, rather than look forward to, ...

MANAGE-ABILITY: MANAGE YOUR ACTIVITIES AND MAXIMIZE YOUR TIME EFFECTIVENESS by Mitchell Axelrod 'People who would never think of committing suicide think nothing of dribbling life awa...

Most agencies are automated, some even using their second or third generation of automation. Many agencies load their policy data into the system, interface with their carriers and rarely access their paper files. Few agencies, however, are taking advantage of a well-managed client database. Gathering meaningful data that you can regularly manipulate is the key to successful database management.

MANAGING AGENCY WORKFLOW: GETTING THINGS RIGHT THE FIRST TIME by Grace Bauer Getting things right the first time depends largely on developing a program to review and audit procedures on a...