APPROACHING FRIENDS FOR REFERRALS: I by Bill Cates How do you approach friends, and others, about the work you do to get referrals? One of the challenges is that they haven...

Are two salespeople better than one? Sometimes yes and sometimes no.

Well-planned, well-executed joint sales calls can impress customers, add additional value to the product or service you sell, close sales, and retain business. But when a joint call goes bad, the results can be disastrous.

AS GOES AGENCY GROWTH, SO GOES VALUE by Chris Burand Growth is a key factor in an agency's value. Chris Burand explains why poor or erratic growth is a risky investme...

BEST PARTNERSHIP Dear (Customer Name): When a business partner suffers a fatal accident, it's a devastating time for all those concerned. The remaining partners feel a great loss after spending yea...

There may come a time when your agency's communications needs exceed the capabilities of in-house personnel. You want to concentrate on producing new business, developing products, and servicing clients. Who has the time and expertise to create newspaper or radio advertising-or perform the myriad public relations functions necessary to keep your agency in the public eye?

COMMUNICATING INSURANCE JARGON Good communication skills are necessary to satisfy clients' needs-and that is the most important part of a CSR's job. A common barrier to good communication, an...

CSR EXTRAORDINAIRE by Mary Beth Bolen Tina Roberts currently works as a CSR for Cosmo Conte at his State Farm Insurance Agency in La Jolla, California-one of the top State Farm agencies in North...

CURBING WORKPLACE DRUG AND ALCOHOL ABUSE $100,000,000, 000 a year. Thats how much the federal government estimates that drug and alcohol abuse costs American businesses. If you th...

DEVELOP A LEGAL FEE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY BEFORE YOU NEED IT by John Beringer In a significant majority of lawsuits, legal fees outweigh t...

DIVIDE SALES DUTIES INTO MARKETING AND SELLING Some CSRs have trouble marketing because they confuse it with selling. The whole concept of persuading a customer to sign an application for a policy ca...