You could be better off by acquiring a sales superstar than buying another agency.

Every year the numbers seem to get more outrageous. Pay levels for “impact player” athletes such as LeBron James and Tiger Woods continue to climb into the stratosphere. And it isn’t just athletes. You name the endeavor, whether it’s in the business, entertainment, or even the academic world, and there’s a near-universal phenomenon occurring: Impact player inflation. Despite the fact that it drives a lot of people crazy to hear that some people are making so much money, there’s a simple reason for the inflation: The impact players are worth it.

The cost of professional services continues to escalate, with partners in top CPA firms billing hourly rates of $400 or more, and partners in top law firms billing at rates even higher. Could a CPA or a lawyer really be worth that kind of money? How about an insurance agent? Kevin Stipe helps you to determine your effective hourly rate and its potential influence on your daily activities.

Help your top producers grow your agency & and their income!

Many of our clients find themselves the recipients of a decidedly mixed blessing. On one hand, they are successful because they employ many of the top producers in their community. On the other hand, since many of the community's top prospects already work in their agency, there's not much sales talent left to hire. They're ready, willing, and able to invest in future growth, but don't know quite how. If only they could find a way to replicate their top producers, their agency's market share would balloon.

If you're a principal in a privately held insurance agency, establish a value creation quota for each shareholder. Here's how: A month before your next planning retreat, provide each shareholders with a statement showing the value of his or her share of the agency's stock. If you don't have an appraisal, simply use your best estimate.

BEWARE THE OUTDATED SHAREHOLDERS AGREEMENT by Angela Bemiss and Kevin Stipe Published statistics suggest that the damage and personal injury caused by home fires is signifi...

Here's a quick investment quiz: Which of the following investments will provide the best financial return over the next five years?
A.Microsoft stock
B.Coca-Cola stock
C.Citigroup stock
D.A newly hired Property & Casualty producer

The answer is D. No kidding.

How to determine if your agency or brokerage has a true sales culture

Even though you might be able to show extensive evidence that your agency is highly productive, profitable, or well capitalized, how do you measure your “sales culture?”

Are independent insurance agents on the verge of extinction? On the MisFortune 500 list of endangered occupations? You might think so after reading some of the press. For a different perspective, Kevin Stipe offers his observations of current and past trends and market conditions to prove that we’re not necessarily going the way of the dinosaur and the door-to-door encyclopedia salesman.

In the early 1990s a state insurance commissioner, in a Wall Street Journal front-page article, called insurance agents the 'buggy-whip makers' of the late 20th century. Several years later, you seem to be doing just fine, and in many cases, even better than investors in other areas. Kevin Stipe offers an overview of the insurance agency as an investment vehicle in this document.

Insurance agents and brokers have good reason to feel slighted. Like being stuck outside the New Year's party without an invitation, agents have had many reasons for envy as investors in other sectors congratulated themselves for another incredible year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by a whopping 68% from 1996 to 1998, which was its strongest two-year performance since 1955. Even the insurance companies got invited to the party, with property and casualty insurers enjoying a 64% increase in value during the past two years.