Do your sales pitches still resonate with your market? The American psyche is rapidly changing-and new, evolving attitudes...

The goal in business is to outdistance the competition and make profitable sales by producing more customer-friendly products or services. To reach this goal, you need an advantage to improve your batting average-but it's getting more difficult and complicated to obtain this advantage, let alone keep it.

'So dawn goes down today, nothing gold can stay.'
Robert Frost
'There are no more power elites.'
Manuel Castels in The Information Age
The painfully obvious implication of these quotes can be seen in the business world: IBM pulls its PCs out of retail venues because it no longer considers them profitable. The Wall Street Journal reported that in 1998, there were $301 billion in sales via the Internet, while the manufacturing sector did $350 billion in overall business. It took the Internet roughly 36 months to reach this figure; manufacturing needed 150 years.

AGENCIES ARE GETTING HELP THESE DAYS! by Grace Bauer Every agency I talk to these days wants help. 'How can we be better?' 'How can we stay in touch with the client?' 'How can w...

ARE YOU IN BUSINESS TO MAKE A SALE OR MAKE A PROFIT? by Chris Burand The title of this article comes from a popular seminar Ive given throughout the nation. Ive asked this q...

BUILDING PROFITABILITY WITH LIFE AND HEALTH SALES by Carol Hammes Although most independent insurance agencies sell some Life and Health insurance, only about one-fourth of them have a separate ...

CHANGE: WHAT AN OPPORTUNITY! by Chris Burand A changing industry offers the greatest opportunity business people ever have for becoming successful. Chris Burand urges you to welco...

COMMERCIAL LINES MARKETING PROGRAM by Al Diamond This documentcovers issues as diverse as agency budgeting, how to post an effective classified advertisement, and marketing carr...

Many in business have elevated the process of marketing to an almost magical, mystical level, either to help them maintain control, or because they don’t understand the process. In this article, John Graham examines six basic principles that will make marketing work.

DON'T FAIL TO ADDRESS CUSTOMERS' WANTS AND NEEDS Your customers and prospects do not care about you and what you want or need. Does that sound harsh? It may, but it's also true! Your ...