Getting your company’s message out to the buying public doesn’t have to be complex or expensive. Direct mail is perhaps the most targeted and cost-effective vehicle for communicating to an audience.

There are still those who believe that something will stick if you toss enough stuff against the wall. John Graham believes that we fail to ask ourselves the right question, the one that defines the marketing and sales mission.

CRM: THE 80/20 RULE by Patricia Czech Have you heard about the 80/20 rule of customer relationship management (CRM)? Many vendors and consultants are using this rule as a popular sales p...

DO YOU HAVE A GOOGLE PRESENCE? by Bill Cates When someone tells you about a resource (person, store, vendor, service, etc.) do you Google them first? I know I do. When othe...

IMPLEMENT THE RIGHT PROCEDURES TO RAISE REVENUE by Grace Bauer Is your agency using step-by-step procedures to train its employees? Has it reviewed its procedures to make sure they save tim...

Remember, as salespeople we want to hear objections. When buyers send out these signals, they're giving you clues about their interest. Give the buyer a chance to make the decision based on the information you've provided. If you've done a good job throughout the sales process, the objections you hear should enable you to reconfirm your value to the buyer and close the sale.

Instead of hiring telemarketers to work within your agency just for you, you could choose to pay an outside vendor to provide telemarketing services. These...

You've made the decision to form a captive premium finance company. You've also chosen to run your operation either by outsourcing to a third-party vendor or using software to run the operation in house. Chances are that your lending arrangement and state licensing are also in place. You're now ready to get started and you want to book your first loan. Before you open your doors for business, take a moment to consider some important factors in this new frontier of insurance premium financing.

Electronic document storage is an issue that every agency should address as part of their management process. Steve Anderson offers some ideas to help you stay ahead of the storage curve.

SEXUAL HARASSMENT: SOME PREVENTIVE MEASURES by Edward Piantek What can employers do to reduce the occurrence of potentially costly third-party liability lawsuits? Plenty. Keep in mind that court...