AGENCY SURVIVOR: OUT-SELL, OUT-MARKET, OUT-COMPETE! by Robert C. Smith Make sure that your agency doesnt get voted off the island. Mor...

If you’re in sales, you know the feeling. It’s the middle of the night about two weeks after starting a new job. You were enthusiastic and could hardly wait to get going. Now, your head is full of doubts. You try to shove them aside, but they don’t go away. “Everything is new,” you tell yourself. “I just need to give it a little more time.” However, the doubts keep coming back.
The gap between what you were told about the job and what’s actually happening grows wider by the day. After about three weeks, you finally ask yourself, “Have I made a mistake?”

In spite of 19th-hole braggadocio about rising sales figures, bottom-line results, and upcoming prospects, businesses do stall and stagnate. Streamline.com was a raging Internet stock until it ran into a wall. Kodak used to be a Wall Street favorite, and now it's struggling to find itself. P&G once had 99.44 % acceptance; now the tide seems to have turned. For years, Xerox set the standard; then it lost direction.

AVOIDING COSTLY MARKETING MISTAKES by Stephen Anderson You can no longer sit back and wait for business to come to you. That's the sure route to becoming a victim of the ch...

BANKS, AGENTS, AND PROFITS by Paige Proctor A recent survey by the IIAA and ABA (American Bankers Association) showed that 70% of bankers and 57% insurance agents think they can operate together and...

BEFORE YOU SELL-SELL-SELL, MARKET-MARKET-MARKET! by Emily Huling It's 8 o'clock Tuesday morning. You have your prospect list in hand. Every Tuesday and Thursday you diligently put aside t...

'BUT I CAN'T AFFORD TO ADVERTISE!' by Al Diamond Why on earth would agency principals pay a consu...

CHARACTERISTICS OF STRONG AGENCY/CARRIER RELATIONSHIPS by John Jaques The compilation of agency/carrier relationship characteristics presented in this article is based on observatio...

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?

Have your insurance marketing email campaigns been showing inflated CTR numbers? This short article (3 minute read) will help explain what is going on and what you can do about it.