One of the toughest financial decisions agency owners face is how much to pay themselves. It's especially tricky for agencies with multiple principals, because it's rare that all owners make identical contributions to the organization. Deciding what's equitable compensation for each individual may cause unnecessary conflict.

PRODUCER COMPENSATION: YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR by Pamela Millard In spite of the continuing soft market (the permanent soft market?) and the troubling economy, there are opportunities fo...

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...

PRODUCTIVE EMPLOYEES by Catherine Oak, CIC, AAI The productivity of employees has a great effect on the profitability of a firm. In an insurance agency, personnel costs are in ...

PRODUCTIVITY UP, PROFITS DOWN by Carol Hammes It's common wisdom that profitability should track directly with productivity. Often this is true: If the employees are more productiv...

PROFIT CENTER ACCOUNTING by Bill Schoeffler and Catherine Oak Is Personal Lines costing your agency money? When is it time to hire a new employee for Commercial Lines? Profit center ...

PROFIT CENTER APPROACH TO SALES by Carol Hammes Use this proven method to analyze the profitability of every sale. Insurance companies, hungry for more business, have been cutting s...

RETAINING LIFETIME CUSTOMERS by Brenda French At renewal time, customers have one question that they expect their broker to answer: 'What have you done for me lately?' If that question is...

RETENTION AND RENEWALS: TWO NEW STEPS FOR PRODUCERS AND CSRs by Preston Diamond The higher your agencys referral and renewal rate, the stronger your bottom line. In this docume...

Here's a letter I received recently:
Dear Dave:
I work for a $3.5 million P/C agency with about 60% Commercial and 40% Personal in premium volume. One in-house Life producer handles Commercial and Personal lines, sometimes with outside help. But she doesn't write any Disability policies at all; she considers Disability insurance a specialty that she doesn't want to sell. Should I try to talk her into it, pressure her into it, or just let it go? I don't want to add another full-time Life agent unless he/she would become profitable early on; it took two years for my present Life agent to reach profitability. What are my alternatives?