Selling insurance isn't easy. Agency principals, producers, and staff can still reap rewards, but their ranks are thinning under pressure from lower premiums, reduced commissions, and greater demands from carriers and clients. Add to this the ever-increasing expense of technology.
The formula for a great insurance career used to be simple: 'Work hard for 20 years building the book of business, and the book will take care of you for the 20 years after that.' Not anymore.

AGENCY EQUITY: LEVERAGING YOUR INTANGIBLE ASSETS by Paul Di Stefano and G. Edward Kalbaugh Deploy equity by using it as collateral or releasing it in return for something else of value....

AGENCY VALUATION ISSUES by Roy Phillips More and more banks are entering the insurance industry by buying agencies, leading owners to ponder how to properly determine their agency&...

AGENTS: COMPANY MARKETS AREN'T ALWAYS GOING TO COME TO YOU! by Andrew Barile One of the most important responsibilities of agents to themselves and their agencies is to maintain posit...

AUTOMATION'S IMPACT ON MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS by Angela Bemiss The agency management system of both players plays a critical role in making the deal. With so many agenc...

AUTOMATION'S IMPACT ON MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS by Angela Bemiss With so many agencies looking to merge with or acquire other agencies, automation has become increasingly impo...

CHARACTERISTICS OF STRONG AGENCY/CARRIER RELATIONSHIPS by John Jaques The compilation of agency/carrier relationship characteristics presented in this article is based on observatio...

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.

CREATE WEALTH BY SHARING IT by John Jaques Over the last several years, I've noticed that higher-value, faster-growing, and superior-profit agencies have a strong willingness to sh...

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...