AGENCY MANAGEMENT: GETTING TO THE NEXT LEVEL by Emily Huling Whether you're a standard lines company or a specialty market, a small-town agency or a big-city broker, you have one ...

Claims professionals have become aware of the increasing use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) to re-solve insurance claims disputes.

About 95% of all cases are now resolved without a judge and jury. Insurance companies, once ready to battle most of their cases, are now immersed in a cost-conscious and cost-cutting business environment. Law firms also are feeling the impact of inflation and face the need of obtaining capital quickly. Clients also feel this need and press attorneys for quick action.

ARE YOU PREPARED FOR THE FUTURE? IT'S HERE! by Paul Bronow Consolidation within our industry is going much faster than we anticipated a few short years ago. The number of players is shrinki...

BUILDING TEAMS: A NINE-STEP APPROACH by Don Phin Follow these nine steps from Don Phin and youll build powerful teams. Im often asked to facilitate what we will refer...

Each year potential hazards threaten the business community worldwide. Earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, fires, and other disruptive events represent a continuous problem throughout the business community. Many of these threats result in significant exposure to large and small businesses. When business operations are disrupted, companies suffer both tangible and intangible losses.

CUSTOMER SERVICE: ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE by Patricia Czech No doubt, you've heard of the 3-11 Customer Rule. It holds that a happy customer will recommend your business to three peop...

The growth of the Internet poses a threat to the need for sales people. In this article, John Graham offers six guidelines that sales professionals can use to survive, and thrive, in a Web-based business environment.

Paying attention to business is one of the major benefits of a recession. Ford figured it out. So did Starbucks by bringing back the founding CEO, closing nearly 1,000 marginal stores and most significantly introducing their own instant coffee. This could be a brilliant move. While proudly passing up their $4 cup of coffee, we take the instant stuff home and keep a little Starbucks in our lives.

HOW DO YOU HANDLE CLIENT COMPLAINTS? by Bill Cates In this extended hard market, the chances of having a client complain to you have increased. Although I assume that you work hard to ...

HOW DOES YOUR STAFF MEASURE UP? by John Jaques The single best measure of an agencys management, professional personnel, quality of performance, and potential for profits remains employee...