MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVES by Jean-Pierre Potvin To direct the performance of individuals or groups of employees properly, managers need simple, efficient, and, above all, flexible methods. Manage...

Focus on attracting customers not making sales.
With effusive CEO testimonials and countless articles and books describing how companies have transformed themselves into tightly focused, totally energized commerce machines, it would seem that change should be easy. But let’s face it: If it were simple, there’d be more of it. Even when the evidence for change is compelling, most companies continue to cling to the known and the familiar.

MONITORING THE PLAN The monitoring process is almost as important as the actual plan. The agency's progress toward the plan's goals should be closely and carefully monitored. To make monitoring eas...

MONITORING THE PLAN The monitoring process is almost as important as the actual plan. The agency's progress toward the plan's goals should be closely and carefully monitored. T...

Though faced with the realities of dramatic economic change, the reconfiguration of the business landscape, and globalization, U.S. companies continue to go down the wrong path. Former U.S. Treasury Department official Michael Jacobs calls it "business myopia."

It may be argued that "enhancing shareholder value" drives the myopic vision of publicly-traded companies, but "shareholder demand" is perhaps more accurate. In privately held companies, myopic thinking results from a desire to increase market share or simply beat last month's figures.

PERSONAL PLANNING FOR SUCCESS by Mary Beth Bolen Here's a short quiz. Answer True or False: 1. Success is only for the educated or favored; it is discriminatory. 2. Success doesn't...

Two major problems for insurance sales professionals are the limitations of their own mind-set and the lack of definition.

PERSONALITY TYPES: THE HIGH-S PROFILE by Steve Anderson The high-steadiness (high-S) person is generally amiable, easy-going, and relaxed. Steady people may be perceived as low-key, undem...

PRODUCER COMPENSATION: A COMMON-SENSE APPROACH by Paige Proctor The basis for a good producer compensation system for today's independent agencies and brokerages rests on two very...

PRODUCER RELATIONS by Carol Hammes Despite tough market conditions and economic recessions, some insurance agencies are thriving. While the average agency has grown at an annual r...