Although the reasons to plan are as endless as the individual needs of each agency, there are a number of common factors. Jack Fries reviews the importance of planning to your agency's success.

Developing new business is an integral part of every insurance agent’s regimen. There are endless ways to go about looking for new business. Jack Fries explains why successful agents must know how to focus their efforts to engage in the most efficient methods possible.

Now that you’ve decided on the markets to pursue and your marketing approach, it’s time to initiate the plan. In this final article of a three-part series Jack Fries discusses the steps you’ll take to implement a successful marketing and sales strategy.

Jack Fries looks into the differences between agencies that sell and retain a lot of business and those that don't. This applies to not only the sales people, but to the CSRs, who have the responsibility of account development.

What you want will only get done if you make it an A+ priority. Jack Fries tells you how a business plan can reward you with survival, planned growth, and profit.

The previous article (Creating A Successful Plan For Marketing Commercial Lines Part I), presented information about the matrix of the agency book of business, the review of the book of for account development, and a review of company programs and products. In this second of a three-part series, Jack Fries focuses on selecting a proper market.

Successful marketing of Commercial Lines requires a detailed plan. The first step is to assess where you are right now. In this first of a three-part series, Jack Fries examines the preliminary steps that an agency should take in marketing Commercial Lines.

We've all heard that the essence of marketing is to find a need and fill it. Well, unless you have deep pockets or know exactly what the world needs, your marketing efforts will yield a better response if you follow this formula instead: Find a want and fill it.
Most of us have enough food, shelter, clothing, and transportation-we don't need much more. But we want more. We need food, but we want fast foods, diet foods, or gourmet foods. Most of us don't need a 2 1/2-bath home or expensive designer clothes, but we want them. We may need a car, but we want a Lexus or a BMW.

Are your office meetings successful or ineffective? Without proper planning and execution, they can end up wasting everyone’s time. Jack Fries offers solutions to nine common problems that can arise in office meetings.

In most agencies today, the total commission of a Personal Lines account will equal or exceed the commission of a Non-exception Commercial account. In this document, Jack Fries asks why you’d pay a CSR more money to handle a lower commission account.