JUST LIKE SHOPPING FOR INSURANCE AT A SUPERMARKET! Dear (Customer Name): When you want to buy groceries, do you run around town to the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker...

SUCCESSFUL TELEPHONE COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUES: PART 1 by Bruce Shaffer Do you find it hard to use the telephone to help build your business? A lot of people do. This two-part series...

THANK YOU FOR YOUR BUSINESS - SOLICITATION OF NEW BUSINESS THANK YOU FOR YOUR INSURANCE BUSINESS! Dear (Customer Name), Perhaps we don't say it often enough, but we sinc...

In the realm of technology, Don Tapscott, keynote speaker for ACORD Technology Conference '97, holds the crystal ball. His book, The Digital Economy, has influenced the direction of automation in the corporate world. Excerpts from an interview with Tapscott, published in In ACORD magazine, follow.

Today we are witnessing the early, turbulent days of a revolution as significant as any other in human history. A new medium of human communications is emerging, one that may prove to surpass all previous revolutions, including the printing press, telephone, television, computer, in its impact on our economic and social life.

THE KEY TO PROFITABILITY by Mary Beth Bolen To be successful in business, carrier marketing managers must thoroughly understand what business they are in, why they are in it, and ho...

There is a lot to be concerned about when you own a business. You must keep track of and file your tax documents on time, and you must accept and file compliance documents for your business.

TOTAL ACCOUNT SELLING TO PRESENT CUSTOMERS Dear (Customer Name): WE VALUE YOUR BUSINESS! (Your Agency Name) is proud to have you as a customer. You've been with us for many years, and we...

An agency valuation I completed recently came in considerably lower than the agency owners expected. The reason? Their balance sheet was very poor and they were materially out of trust: Meaning that their ratio of Accounts Receivable + Cash to Accounts Payable was less than 1. The agency principals were quite upset that I would decrease their value for this reason. They retorted, “We always pay our companies on time, our companies have never been hurt by this, our customers have never been hurt by this, and our CPA has never found fault with this practice. You're the only one who thinks it matters!”

WOMEN'S INDEPENDENT GUIDE TO INSURANCE Independent Insurance Agents of America Financial Decision Makers The environment in which women now live, work, and care for thei...