I recently listened to an interview with Vic Conant of Nightingale-Conant talking about the shift in their program sales. During the 80s and 90s, such corporate names Tom Peters and Warren Bennis dominated program sales. However, since the early 2000s, there’s been a significant shift to programs for those want to become in charge of their own destiny. This “Brand You” trend has been going on for more than a decade, posing a significant exposure to today’s companies. As the workforce ages and changes, we’re going to have less available talent than ever. Given future economic uncertainty, more and more of the available talent will opt out to work for themselves.

What's your agency's standard for quality? It seems unrealistic to expect quality standards of 100% . . . after all, nobody's perfect. Wouldn't life be a lot easier and less stressful if everyone accepted a certain amount of predictable human frailty and built in a margin for error? It could even be called something impressive and positive sounding-'acceptable quality level,' for example.

A HEALTHY MARKET? PERCEPTION IS REALITY by Chris Burand A recent study by Zurich U.S. revealed what I believe could cause big problems for agents and brokers in the near future. The probl...

A ONE-MINUTE MARKETING PLAN byPatricia Czech Whether you're planning a new Web site or your site is already up and running, here's some inside information you need t...

Trying to get fish into the boat before catching them sounds crazy; it wouldn't make...

ACKNOWLEDGE CLAIM DATE [CLIENT MAIL NAME] [ADDRESS1] [CITY], [STATE] [ZIP] Dear (Customer Name), Thank you for reporting your recent claim so promptly. We have sent the report to [POL...

ADJUSTING EXPECTATATIONS --- AND THE LAW OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND by Jon Persky Back in the 1960s and 1970s, it wasnt unusual to find people who worked for the same company for their entire...

AGENCIES AND BROKERAGES OF THE FUTURE How will the agency/brokerage of the future be managed, and what will be its profile? A preview of the future should help insurance companies determine what valu...

ANALYZING EMPLOYEE BENEFIT LEVELS by John Jaques Many agency managers spend a great deal of time reviewing and setting staff and producer compensation levels, but often underst...

ARE RACETRACKS SUSTAINABLE? by Mike Manes Although Insurance middlemen continue to do well, the landscape has already changed. If the industry doesnt adjust now brokerages will fal...