ADDING VALUE TO A FAMILY BUSINESS by Pegi Flahault A long time ago, agencies thrived by simply writing enough policies, attending enough meetings, making enough contacts, and re...

ASPECTS OF PERPETUATION MANAGEMENT by Catherine Oak and Bill Schoeffler Most agency owners do not have a structured plan to perpetuate their lifetime's work-the firm. It wo...

DEALING WITH THE THREAT OF VIOLENCE IN THE WORKPLACE by Stephen Linzer If one of your employees calls you an obscene name and threatens to kill you, firing him or her might seem to be the appr...

Professional Agency Reviews invariably reveal backlog in most of the profit centers (Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, etc.). There’s no way to do regular account reviews for Personal Lines and small Commercial Lines, because the CSR 'doesn’t have time.' In this document, Jack Fries tells you how to motivate people to eliminate backlog and provide customers with the service that they deserve.

Today, an insurance professional must be an information specialist. Access to information can be vital in all specialized areas of insurance. Every agency has numerous books, both those published professionally and those published as company manuals and promotional materials, which are reference tools enabling more effective decisions. But where are the materials when you need them? Ideally, in a library using a database program and an efficient cataloging system.

HOW TO BE A HIGH-PERFORMING FIRM by Catherine Oak, CIC, AAI The more effectively you sell, market, and service, the more valuable your agency. ...

IF YOU WANT THE SWEETEST MUSIC, YOU NEED TO PAY THE PIPER by Al Diamond 'You get what you pay for.' Can we assume that this is always the case? Al Diamond looks into whether compensati...

Check out this creative approach to the merger process.

Planning is like making a jigsaw puzzle. You have to look carefully at the picture you want to create, spread out and sort the pieces, make the border, and finally fill in the blanks.

The following section is a varied and important one to a profitable independent agency. In it, you will learn the basis of the Sales Center concept and how Sales Centers have brought increased profitability, retention, and total-account sales into many agencies.

Many agencies establish a Sales Center with their existing personnel, or hire an additional administrative or customer service person to take over additional duties. Others find that the increased efficiency of a Sales Center allows them to expand their marketing efforts, and they hire an in-house or outside telemarketing staff to keep leads coming in to producers.

UNDERSTAND YOUR E-MAIL: XOBNI by Steve Anderson A new, free plug-in module for Outlook called Xobni (pronounced 'ZOB-nee,' which is inbox spelled backwards) adds some social-networking ...