CHANGING ENVIRONMENT MAKES HIGH VALUED AGENCIES EASIER TO RECOGNIZE by Robert Smith Stories are starting to circulate around agency/brokerage meetings, 'Did you hear what the ABC or XYZ Age...

The cluster concept has been a popular one for doctors, dentists, realtors, and others for many years. Insurance agency clusters have been around for a few decades, but interest in them intensified during the hard market of the early 1980s. At that time, smaller agencies banded together to protect themselves against increasing carrier demands brought on by tighter market conditions.

COMPANY CONTRACTS: DOUBLE YOUR BONUSES by Chris Burand If one company is willing to pay twice the bonus for the same results, the same book, the same ease of doing busin...

COMPUTERIZED RECORDS: NEW E&O CONCERNS? Over the last few years, the Independent Agency System has focused on the role of automation in the agency and marketplace. Emphasis has been placed on adaptin...

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 ...

DEVELOPING A MARKETING PLAN (IN A DISTRESSED AGENCY) by Ken Buehler It is an uphill battle for a distressed agency to get back on track and sustain any level of growth if it f...

DON'T LOSE YOUR WAY WHEN NAVIGATING CUSTOMER CURRENTS by Al Diamond Recently, the people at Motorola, the electronics giant, announced that they had 'lost their way.' This innovative c...

ESTABLISHING A TELEMARKETING DEPARTMENT You need to make two more decisions once you have definitely decided to set up a telemarketing unit within your agency. The first is whether your ...

EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN by Virginia Bates According to a study by Conning & Co., small agencies have experienced flat growth over the past five years, with owner compensati...

FINANCIAL RATINGS DON'T TELL ALL by Chris Burand In the past year, it hasn't been unusual to see reports of companies that have had their debt ratings lowered, although their ...