10 STEPS TO OVERCOME COMPETITION by Jack Burke Remember the first time you experienced a Chinese box set? As each box opened to reveal a smaller box, you wondered with childlike curiosi...

AGENCY SURVIVOR: OUT-SELL, OUT-MARKET, OUT-COMPETE! by Robert C. Smith Make sure that your agency doesnt get voted off the island. Mor...

ARE YOU PREPARED FOR THE FUTURE? IT'S HERE! by Paul Bronow Consolidation within our industry is going much faster than we anticipated a few short years ago. The number of players is shrinki...

In decades past, specialty insurance programs were often fraught with folly. Today, underwriters know that a combination of inexperienced underwriting with an ineffective national sales organization can kill almost any program. How do you create or participate in one with a significant life span? Thomas Gillingham’s document should answer all of your questions.

ITS TIME TO HIRE PRODUCERS! by Preston Diamond With so many people unemployed and others hanging on to jobs with which theyre dissatisfied, it should be easy to find new su...

Jack Fries looks into the differences between agencies that sell and retain a lot of business and those that don't. This applies to not only the sales people, but to the CSRs, who have the responsibility of account development.

THE AGENCY MISSION STATEMENT An agency mission statement is a simple outline of the agency's overall goal. It should be phrased in terms of meeting the needs of current and potential cl...

THE CAJUN COYOTE: FROM PREY TO PREDATOR By Mike Manes With your competition evolving from day to day, so must your approach to marketing. WARNING: READ AT YOUR OWN RISK! Thi...

X-dating is the name of the game. If you anticipate to grow; if you expect to even maintain last year's volume in this price cutting market; then you'd better believe X-dating is a must.

Expiration Date! Renewal Date! Anniversary Date! Call it whatever you wish. But without a pocket full of X-dates, you are "whistling Dixie" while some direct writer or, even worse, your fellow association contemporary, is marching off with your share of the market.

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.