The sale of Life insurance to Personal Lines Property/Casualty customers has long been an issue with traditional independent insurance agents and brokers. There are very few agencies that haven’t tried, at one time or another, to develop a program to cross-sell Life, Health, or Disability to existing customers. Many agencies have even hired a “Life Person,” only to end up with a big expense and little income to show for the effort. This has only added to the frustration of the agency owners. So what’s the answer?

Procrastination is the greatest labor-saving device ever invented. Agency owners look at various changes they can make in their agency and say, 'This is a great idea and I’ll implement it as soon as I can get around to it.' In this document, Jack Fries suggests that you eliminate the talk and resolve to take action in the New Year — and watch your profits grow.

The No. 1 complaint from customers almost invariably involves communication . . . or lack of it. According to industry statistics,...

I spent many years coaching high school football. Whenever a team was underperforming, we went back to basics: blocking and tackling. If your agency’s sales and retention are suffering from the current economy, or if you wish to enhance your performance, it’s time to reinforce the fundamentals of any sales organization: asking for referrals and developing accounts.