(NON-WEB) SITE PLANNING: OFFICE LAYOUT by Virginia Bates 'Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.' -- Will Rogers Many agency princi...

lsquo;SO LONG, FAREWELL by Richard Weber For 12 years and 150 articles, Richard Weber wrote a monthly series on 'Due Care' for Life Insurance Selling magazine. Because o...

What's your agency's standard for quality? It seems unrealistic to expect quality standards of 100% . . . after all, nobody's perfect. Wouldn't life be a lot easier and less stressful if everyone accepted a certain amount of predictable human frailty and built in a margin for error? It could even be called something impressive and positive sounding-'acceptable quality level,' for example.

A BRIGHT FUTURE FOR SMALL AGENCIES by Chris Burand Independent agencies, even small ones, definitely have a bright future. Offer better service related to a specific product or offe...

A HEALTHY MARKET? PERCEPTION IS REALITY by Chris Burand A recent study by Zurich U.S. revealed what I believe could cause big problems for agents and brokers in the near future. The probl...

A LEADERSHIP QUIZ FOR TOMORROW by Mike Manes The responsibilities of a leader include: A. Comforting the afflicted B. Afflicting the comfortable C. Both A and B...

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...

AGENCIES AND BROKERAGES OF THE FUTURE How will the agency/brokerage of the future be managed, and what will be its profile? A preview of the future should help insurance companies determine what valu...

Mike called. As soon as I heard his voice, I knew that, like Austin Powers, he had his mojo back. Mike was on fire with enthusiasm,...

ALL-RISK Dear (Customer Name): You don't know for certain which horse is going to win the Kentucky Derby, or which stock will double next month. You can never be certain about what the future will ...