AGENCY ACQUISITIONS: LET THE BUYER BE SMART Every independent agency in the country will experience a change in ownership at least once in its lifetime. Close to one-third of agencies h...

AGENCY FINANCIAL PLANNING: TODAY AND TOMORROW by Carol Hammes There can be little doubt that changes are in the wind in the Commercial Property/Casualty marketplace. Some industry observers have...

Very few employees will leave your agency simply for more money. They will usually have other valid (to them) reasons that, when also combined with a higher salary, push them to seek employment elsewhere. If a review of the compensation survey results (from another Middleton letter) confirmed that your agency is paying people within a reasonable range of 'average,' the level of compensation should not be of major concern. What you do have to worry about is how you are paying those dollars and how your management philosophy and style complement the overall compensation administration plan.

The determination of adequate compensation levels for the staff is one of the most difficult issues...

EVALUATING BANK OPPORTUNITIES by Carol Hammes Faced with shrinking profit margins from their traditional products and services, financial institutions have been searching for ways...

INDEPENDENT AGENCIES ON SLIPPERY SLOPES? by Victoria Sonshine Pasher There's no letup yet for the independent agency squeeze that's persisted throughout the 1990s. Facing numerous challenges, agen...

MANAGING COMPANY RELATIONS by Carol Hammes In recent reports, I have addressed the changing nature of the relationship between the American agency companies and the independent a...

MANAGING FOR RESULTS by Carol Hammes Virtually all the insurance agencies that consistently experience above-average levels of productivity have two characteristics in common. First, they all have...

MANAGING, TRANSFERRING, AND ACQUIRING FAMILY INSURANCE AGENCIES by Carol Hammes Independent insurance agencies are often family businesses. Many current owners took over the agency from t...

PERSONNEL AND COMPENSATION DILEMMA by Carol Hammes Its never been easy to attract the best young people to the insurance industry. In a competitive job market, it becomes almost impossi...