It's difficult for agency owners to succeed at management. When the same person is responsible for insurance issues and management, the latter will almost always suffer. In this document, Jack Fries reviews the essential requirements of a competent manager.

The growth of the Internet poses a threat to the need for sales people. In this article, John Graham offers six guidelines that sales professionals can use to survive, and thrive, in a Web-based business environment.

EMPLOYEE CONDUCT AND THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT by Don Phin Most employees with disabilities can maintain acceptable conduct in the workplace. However, on occasion, some employee...

FINANCIAL SERVICES CROSS-SELLING: MORE RELEVANT THAN EVER by Eric Moberg Tap into the goldmine of selling financial services to your P/C clients before your competitors beat you...

FINDING AGENCY PERSONNEL by John Caswell 'Good help is hard to find.' That old adage has never seemed more true, given the increasing difficulty employers are experiencing when looking to fill an ...

Ever since independent agencies were invented, their owners have wondered how to find, motivate, and keep good producers. But according to one consultant, most principals still aren't getting a good deal.

'Across the United States, more employee producers are overpaid yet underproduce,' says Jeffrey Wodicka. Wodicka is president of a consulting firm called Directions Agency Management Resources Limited of Rockville, New York, as well as principal of The Greystone Agency, also of Rockville.

We've all heard of the wondrous salesperson who can sell sand in Arabia or refrigerators in Antarctica. But actually finding one for your business can be as hard to do as-well, selling sand in Arabia or refrigerators in Antarctica!

GLASS CEILINGS IN THE INSURANCE AGENCY BUSINESS by Al Diamond Learn what to expect, and how to grow, as you approach milestones in premium volume. Much of management consultant work i...

GOOD SCRIPTS SELL MORE (A good script can make your phone marketing campaign. A bad one will destroy it. So get a qualified person to write a script, and make sure it's written in a way...

GETTING IT STRAIGHT
Marketing may be second nature in large companies, but smaller firms tend to have a tough time implementing, managing, and monitoring an effective marketing strategy. The title of 'marketing director' is often conferred on the person designated to answer requests for sales literature, or the title is added as an afterthought to the role of the sales manager who thinks that marketing is just an alternative spelling of 'sales.'