RELATIONSHIP MARKETING Jumping through a hoop 20 feet above the water isn't considered normal activity for a killer whale. So when Shamu was captured and hauled to its new home ...

RETHINKING APPROACHES TO CUSTOMER SERVICE by Jack Fries You can distinguish your customer service from other 'ME TOO' agencies by dividing the paper processing and service functions. Whet...

SECURE CONSISTENCY! PROTECT YOUR AGENCY! by Grace Bauer A year has passed since I began talking full-time to agencies nationwide. I found the main concern of 99.9% of the agencies to b...

SPREADING LIFE WEALTH AMONG EMPLOYEES by George Nordhaus Dave Warren of Dodge, Warren and Peters, Torrance, California has a whole new insight into how to get many people in the age...

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...

If you offer a policy review, your agency must be prepared to handle responses. The first 10 seconds of a phone call may be crucial in forming the caller's impression of your professionalism. Depending on the agency's system for routing incoming calls, we advise that Life calls be handled by Life staff. In emergency situations, enough information should be obtained on the first call to enable the Life producer to reach the caller again, even if communications are difficult; don't lose the caller!

THE BENEFITS OF CROSS-SELLING EMPLOYEE BENEFITS by Rob Ekern Adding Employee Benefits offers a great way to strengthen relationships with Commercial Lines accounts, while d...

VALUATION AND STRUCTURING OF BUSINESS COMBINATIONS by Carol Hammes There are three key elements that must be considered when valuing and structuring a business combination between insurance agen...