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.

Many of your insureds will be putting a lot of money into annuities this month, next month, and for many months to come. Based on national sales figures, this is a near-guarantee. Will they buy through your agency or from a competitor? If you're an agency decision maker, the answer lies in your hands.

AUTOMATION'S IMPACT ON MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS by Angela Bemiss With so many agencies looking to merge with or acquire other agencies, automation has become increasingly impo...

BOTTOM-UP PLANNING by Ted Silver When an agency understands what individual agency employees want to accomplish from a production standpoint in terms of new and renewal business as ...

BRANDING: A SINGULAR IDENTITY FOR A MULTITASKING ENTITY by Jack Burke Mention 'branding,' and people generally think in terms of company names. Or they think of burned flesh on cat...

Professional Agency Reviews invariably reveal backlog in most of the profit centers (Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, etc.). There’s no way to do regular account reviews for Personal Lines and small Commercial Lines, because the CSR 'doesn’t have time.' In this document, Jack Fries tells you how to motivate people to eliminate backlog and provide customers with the service that they deserve.

FRAMEWORK FOR AGENCY SUCCESS by Patty Vaughn Planning agency success is a learning experience. Sharing ideas, taking advantage of opportunities, and tapping untapped resources, with the help of ...

FRAMEWORK FOR AGENCY SUCCESS by Patty Vaughn NEW BEGINNINGS I'm not quite sure why, but for me, fall is the time of year that signals new beginnings. Maybe it's because students are...

It seems that everyone has a strong opinion on profit potential in personal lines. The larger agencies with most of...

PRODUCERS AS PROFIT CENTERS by Diane Herbert and Pamela Millard Sales is the lifeblood of your agency, and your sales force is one of the biggest investments in your agency you...