PROTECTING YOUR AGENCY'S MOST VALUABLE ASSET by Diane Herbert and Pamela Millard As an insurance agency, your focus is on developing new business and retaining customers. You need to do bo...

PUBLIC SAFETY In addition to providing a safe environment and workplace for employees, businesses must provide for the safety of the public. Who Is 'The Public'? This may include custom...

PUTTIN ON THE RITZ BUILDING A CUSTOMER SERVICE CULTURE by Bill Wilson If youve ever stayed at a Ritz-Carlton hotel, Im betting that the experience was o...

QUALITY CUSTOMER SERVICE DO WE WALK THE TALK OR JUST TALK? by Al Diamond At least once a month we encounter an agent with the unique problem of losing more customers than theyre ...

The following section is a varied and important one to a profitable independent agency. In it, you will learn the basis of the Sales Center concept and how Sales Centers have brought increased profitability, retention, and total-account sales into many agencies.

Many agencies establish a Sales Center with their existing personnel, or hire an additional administrative or customer service person to take over additional duties. Others find that the increased efficiency of a Sales Center allows them to expand their marketing efforts, and they hire an in-house or outside telemarketing staff to keep leads coming in to producers.

SAVE TIME-ORGANIZE YOUR DAY! by Grace Bauer Another day goes by. You woke up in the morning fresh, ready to start another day. By the end of the day, you wonder where the time went. What ha...

SHARKS WANTED: HIRING GREAT SALESPEOPLE by Chris Burand Find the best sharks and train them to be even more effective predators. We dont want the people who ...

SIX WAYS TO CREATE A GREAT WORKING ENVIRONMENT by Diane Herbert and Pamela Millard How do companies create the environment necessary to attract and retain the best employees? Here are six w...

Many states have legislated beyond the Federal Equal Opportunity Laws. For example, state laws extend to sexual orientation, use of lawful products, marital status, and expansive definitions of covered disabilities.

TECHNOLOGY AND THE AGENCY: A PRIMER by Ken Buehler Recently I met with an agency that had a state-of-the-art computer system. The system did everything, and then some! ACORD certificates, bind...