Many of your insureds will be putting a lot of money into annuities this month, next month, and for many months to come. Based on national sales figures, this is a near-guarantee. Will they buy through your agency or from a competitor? If you're an agency decision maker, the answer lies in your hands.

COMPENSATION: MODULE III-B INTRODUCTION Producers and CSRs must be compensated for Life production, but how? It seems there are as many ways to structure a compen...

As an independent agent, you enjoy a unique potential to cross-sell financial services to your clients. Here’s how to take advantage of this opportunity.

Despite concerns about life insurance company solvency and uncertainty over health-care reform, now is...

Complacency or self-deceit can undo much good, and it can kill potential.
Too often I speak to P/C agency principals who say that they're doing just fine, thank you, in Life production. They have no complaints, there's production, so why look any further or make changes?

Dear Dave:

Our agency has hired a full-time Life producer to handle Personal Lines only. We believe we have enough accounts to justify that move. She tested well for personality and potential, but she is fairly new in the Life business. She is closing about one out of four presentations, which sounds fine for a relative beginner, since the closing average for all agents is about one out of three. But since she deals with many Mortgage policies and writes reducing Term policies at fairly low premiums, the bottom-line dollars are low. We need to create more cash flow. What can you suggest?

The sale of Life insurance to Personal Lines Property/Casualty customers has long been an issue with traditional independent insurance agents and brokers. There are very few agencies that haven’t tried, at one time or another, to develop a program to cross-sell Life, Health, or Disability to existing customers. Many agencies have even hired a “Life Person,” only to end up with a big expense and little income to show for the effort. This has only added to the frustration of the agency owners. So what’s the answer?

INTERVIEWING: MODULE III-A INTRODUCTION Now that you know where to look and for whom you're looking, it's time to work on the interviewing process. This section...

Just as the Personal Lines lead form opens the door of opportunity for the Life producer, the Commercial Lines lead form generates potential business.

'Why don't all Property Casualty agencies receive at least 20% of their commission income from Life, Health, and employee benefits?' This article will show you why this potential revenue source remains untapped by so many firms, and what to do about it.