The cluster concept has been a popular one for doctors, dentists, realtors, and others for many years. Insurance agency clusters have been around for a few decades, but interest in them intensified during the hard market of the early 1980s. At that time, smaller agencies banded together to protect themselves against increasing carrier demands brought on by tighter market conditions.

CREATE WEALTH BY SHARING IT by John Jaques Over the last several years, I've noticed that higher-value, faster-growing, and superior-profit agencies have a strong willingness to sh...

IS EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP RIGHT FOR YOUR AGENCY? PART I by Carol Hammes Offering your employees the opportunity for agency ownership can help attract and retain quality people. Independen...

NURTURING CLIENT RELATIONSHIPS by Jack Burke I opened the book Relationship Aspect Marketing with some statistics that have withstood the test of time in relation to why businesses lose t...

PROFIT CENTER ACCOUNTING by Bill Schoeffler and Catherine Oak Is Personal Lines costing your agency money? When is it time to hire a new employee for Commercial Lines? Profit center ...

USING OPERATING RATIOS AS A MANAGEMENT TOOL TO INCREASE AGENCY VALUE by Robert Westin The days of determining value solely by applying an assumed multiple to gross commissi...