After an automated sales center is up and running, it's up to producers to act on the qualified leads that the sales center coordinator, assistant, and support staff have worked on.

Prospecting is an old term; replace it with "business development."

Business development requires a positive attitude, confidence, and discipline. The business development mind-set can be picked up by anyone who has a desire to step to the front line and just do what must be done. Commit to a business development plan of action, then organize and follow through.

HOW TO STRENGTHEN AGENCY-COMPANY RELATIONSHIPS by Emily Huling Use this five-step approach to get and keep company relationships strong. Your eyes open with t...

Salespeople, like athletes, need planning, practice, and coaching to compete — and win!

MONITORING RESULTS OF A TELEMARKETING DEPARTMENT Keeping track of your telemarketing efforts is important for many management reasons. By monitoring results, you can ascertain which of y...

NASCAR: SUCCESS CREATES CHALLENGES by Chris Burand Chris Burand compares agency management challenges with NASCARs: Learning to manage people and their emotions, while still succeeding...

PRODUCER SUCCESS LESSON 26:

Nothing happens until somebody sells something. To make sales happen, IMMS.com Key Sales Consultant Randy Schwantz has created a comprehensive series of 43 Producer Success Lessons. Used singly or in combination, these powerful tools can help your producers build their skills -; and grow their sales.

Prove It with CRM by Patricia Czech You have to prove yourself to your clients every single day. In the case ...

With summer approaching, the lull in autumn's new business results can't be far behind. September, October, and November are the weakest months for revenue and sales for a majority of agencies. Theories abound as to the reason, but probably it's because too many producers take the summer off from new account prospecting, or they spend their time continuing to round existing accounts. Sunshine, golf courses, and family take priority, and little new business is set up to be written in the fall.

SUCCESSFUL TELEPHONE COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUES: PART 2 by Bruce Shaffer In 'Successful Telephone Communication Techniques: Part I,' we talked about initiating a phone conversation ...

SUPERVISION: MODULE III-D INTRODUCTION Training is simply the first step in establishing a producer and/or CSR in your Life department. Once they have learned wha...