A RELATIONSHIP AUDIT by Michael Manes Before the agency marriage, both parties need to answer these questions. The article was thought provoking...

ACCOUNTING AUDITS AND REVIEWS: WORTH THE EXPENSE by Chris Burand Agencies can avoid a lot of grief by obtaining annual accountants reviews or audits. An audit can catch inno...

ADDING VALUE TO A FAMILY BUSINESS by Pegi Flahault A long time ago, agencies thrived by simply writing enough policies, attending enough meetings, making enough contacts, and re...

Here's a letter I received recently:
Dear Dave:
I am the manager of a four-person Life/Benefits department of a P/C agency. The agency is set up with profit centers such as Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, Surety, and Life/Benefits. Each profit center shares in the common overhead of the agency office supplies, salaries, etc.
I have no problem having my department pay for what it uses.

AGENCY GROWTH AND THE PERPETUATION DILEMMA by Carol Hammes Despite the incredible deepening of the commercial soft market, many independent agencies have continued to grow and have been qu...

AGENCY MANAGEMENT 202 by Carol Hammes Often, its not money that motivates people as much as it is the environment. Few people will leave a job for additional compensation unless other...

AGENCY OWNERS AND CONSULTANTS: A WIN-WIN RELATIONSHIP by Edward Curry Perceptive agents never lose sight of what makes their agencies succeed. Sooner or later, most...

AGENCY PERPETUATION by Dr. E.J. Leverett, Jr., CLU, CPCU Agents and brokers need a clear picture of their objectives in order to successfully attain them. The objectives of an insur...

AGENCY SALES: SYNERGIES AND LAYOFFS by Chris Burand Employee layoffs after an acquisition mean that an agency has serious management issues. A ...

ANALYZING CUSTOMER PROBLEMS by Mary Beth Bolen The best customers are your existing customers. Some agree with that statement and some don't. There are some customers you'd probably rather b...