SIMPLE WAYS TO DIFFERENTIATE YOUR AGENCY by E. Al Diamond Every year, I see agencies struggling with the problem of how to differentiate themselves from their competition. This is an especi...

SIX WAYS TO TAP INTO THE LIFETIME VALUE OF YOUR CLIENTS by Bill Cates Let me begin with a reminder: The lifetime value of your clients isn't just the business they can do with you over a...

SMALL THINGS THAT MAKE CUSTOMERS FEEL GOOD Writing in Business Marketing, Kenneth Tupper, president, Revelle International, Miami, provides succinct tips about how to show customers you care about th...

SOLVING CLIENT LIFE INSURANCE PROBLEMS 'A couple is adopting a child from abroad and they have a problem,' reports a P/C agent 'It seems that the adoption agency requires that the child carry Life...

STEWARDSHIP REPORTS AN ANTIDOTE TO MARKET INSANITY: PART II by Rob Ekern In the second of his two-part series, Rob Ekern tells you how to get maximum mileage out of the Ste...

SUBSTANCE ABUSE POLICY SAVES CASH WORKING PARTNERS 'A couple of years ago,' Jerry Moland says, 'I had my head buried in the sand. I saw it in the news, read it in the paper, but figured it wa...

SUPERVISORS AND MANAGERS SPEAK OUT! by Grace Bauer 'I may have the title of Commercial Lines manager, but I don't have the responsibility!' I've heard this lament more than once ...

It's easy to lose sight of the fact that agencies are in the service business. But consider that all agents sell the same product-insurance. Why do some agencies blossom while others wilt? Service and marketing are keys. Too often, getting new customers (through marketing) is emphasized at the expense of keeping customers (through service). You have to do a first-rate job at both to have first-rate growth and to control expenses

TAX BENEFITS FOR S CORPORATIONS by Al Diamond Many insurance agencies have chartered themselves as sub-chapter S corporations over the years. The 'S Corp' was created so that companies co...

TECHNOLOGY AND THE AGENCY: A PRIMER by Ken Buehler Recently I met with an agency that had a state-of-the-art computer system. The system did everything, and then some! ACORD certificates, bind...