ALTERNATIVE WORK SCHEDULES: TRY FLEXTIME by Judith Newman Innovative work schedules that depart from the traditional five-day, 'nine-to-five' variety have been around now for over 20...

CLUSTER TIPS by Chris Burand Cluster contracts among individual agencies or groups of agencies (not necessarily the major cluster-type agency organizations) are almost alw...

DESIGNING EFFECTIVE SURVEYS by Mike Manes This is the latest in a series of articles on organizational management and leadership by Mike Manes. The first article created a Management ...

IS 70% OF YOUR MARKETING MISSING THE MARK? by Mitch Axelrod Answer this question: Why do you buy what you buy? Its commonly thought that people buy for one of two reasons: desire ...

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...

Motivation is tied closely to compensation, but the two are very different. Compensation is simply one form of motivation. There are many forms, all of which should accomplish one thing: encourage producers to sell and make them feel good about what they're doing and where they're doing it. A good motivational environment will help both Life and P/C producers. You should have a motivational atmosphere for your CSRs, as well. You should maintain a high recognition level in which all agency members can participate.

PRODUCTIVITY UP, PROFITS DOWN by Carol Hammes It's common wisdom that profitability should track directly with productivity. Often this is true: If the employees are more productiv...

SELECTING AND HITTING YOUR TARGET MARKETS by Thomas R. Chapman, CIC, CPCU Target marketing is a great technique for writing new business. But to implement it effectively, an agency must choo...

SURVEYS: THE RUBIK'S CUBE CHALLENGE by Mike Manes This is the latest in a series of articles on organizational management and leaders...

TERRORISM: COPING WITH CATASTROPHE by Doug Henderson In this document, Doug Henderson provides a checklist of precautionary measures you can take to minimize your losses in the event o...