https://completemarkets.com/Article/article-post/177/Are-Antiquated-Phrases-Hurting-Your-Business/
... x No Thanks Loading.. Are Antiquated Phrases Hurting Your Business?4/30/2013 by CompleteMarkets Editor , Gary Blake This content has not been rated yet. As someone who travels from one insurance company to another teaching Effective Business Writing for Claims and Risk Management Professionals, ' I'm often amazed by how many claims letters are weighed down with stodgy phrases reminiscent of the 19th century. How many letters do you see each day that contain enclosed please find, ' under separate cover, ' and please do not hesitate to contact me'? I recently gave a seminar at a 200-employee insurance firm in upstate New York. One of the claims adjusters showed me the claims department's book of form letters. There were more than 80 of them, not counting ones that had exclusionary language by state. Each of these letters is sent out an average of 30 times a month. 80 x 30 = 2,400 letters a month x 12 months = 28,800 letters a year. Only four of those awful outdated phrases per letter would total more than 100,000 in a year! If you think this stilted language isn't hurting your business, think again. These phrases not only alienate the insured and engender a distant tone, they chip away at the long-lasting relationships your company seeks to maintain. They damage a claims professional's relationships with doctors, attorneys, insurance commissioners, and colleagues alike. Risk managers (who write internal audits, loss control recommendations, risk reports, and answers to inquiries) also must eliminate stodgy phrases from their documents to enhance their range of relationships ...
https://completemarkets.com/Article/article-post/391/Marketing-The-Art-Of-Different/
... . Granted, video can get expensive, but audio tapes are fairly reasonable and can be packaged in any number of ways- depending on your budget and image. There's also an additional benefit to this type of creativity. Too many business cards, brochures, and letters end up in the prospect's wastebasket. Audio and video cassettes are valuable to the holder and are seldom tossed. I've received calls as long as a year after an audio mailing. The caller generally says, It's been sitting on my desk for a year, and I just got around to listening to it. Sponsoring a local golf tournament is another great way to market your agency or brokerage. It's done wonders for Nissan and many other national corporations, so why not duplicate their efforts on a local level? Bring in an antique dealer as a co-sponsor, and buy some hole-in-one insurance to cover an antique giveaway. Local realtors and banks are also excellent co-sponsors who can help with the prizes. Not only is the publicity great, but the tournament affords you the chance to network with clients and prospects. Closer to the office, think about your telephone system. Does a client on hold hear silence or a radio station? If you answered radio station, ' beware of a couple of facts: (1 ) that your clients and prospects may be listening to a competitor's commercial; and (2 ) that ASCAP and BMI can levy stiff fines if you haven't purchased a licensing agreement to rebroadcast the music over your phone system. Don't laugh! Some agencies have been caught and fined. This dilemma's creative answer is ...
https://completemarkets.com/Article/article-post/1330/Personal-Protection-Service-Questionnaire/
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Do you own any antiques, fine arts, collections or other spe...
https://completemarkets.com/Article/article-post/1282/FURNITURE-DEALERS-YOU-DONT-JUST-SELL-FURNITURE/
...ll furniture. You may also offer antiques and curios. You may provide decorati...
https://completemarkets.com/Article/article-post/1101/WOMENS-INDEPENDENT-GUIDE-TO-INSURANCE/
...the public's renewed interest in antiques. Kay takes great pride in her abilit...
https://completemarkets.com/Article/article-post/1325/Homeowners-Checklist/
...u have articles of value such as antiques, stamp or coin collections, fine art...
https://completemarkets.com/Article/article-post/1326/Homeowners-Confidential-Checklist/
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Do you own any antiques, fine art, or paintings?
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https://completemarkets.com/Article/article-post/754/Give-Your-Employees-The-Ability-To-Motivate-Themselves/
... words such as, Why aren't your people selling more new business? With as much as we pay them, they ought to be out there in the field contacting new customers, and all I hear are excuses. Then comes the threat, veiled or outright: If things don't pick up pretty soon... All this kind of talk will get you is turnover, inconsistent sales, anger, and inaction. Here are tips that can dramatically change the selling atmosphere at your agency, improve the bottom line, and foster the development of your own group of wondrous salespeople: Change focus. The focus of your company must change from selling insurance to active competition. Your mystical mission statement sounds great in print, but probably means nothing to your customer or your sales force. You must replace this antique with a reality statement such as, Our goal is to replace XYZ Agency as the No. 2 company in our marketing territory! ' Without this extremely narrow focus, you don't stand a chance of motivating your sales force to action. This change of view will probably engender a fight with your staff, but unless you make a decision to do something concrete-and let your sales force know the goal-your efforts are misguided. Find your customer. Do you really know who your customer is? Are you assuming that Jane and Jim Doe are the buyers and ignoring the fact that your real buyers may be the wholesale, retail, or franchise establishments? Without a realistic analysis, your sales force is out there beating the bushes for squirrels when the real prey should be lion. Target your customer ...
https://completemarkets.com/Article/article-post/864/The-High-Cost-Of-Failing-To-Market/
... company is actively prospecting two to 10 years in advance, you'll always find yourself pushing for sales! 3. Marketing makes selling easier.If customers have a predisposition toward doing business with your company, product, or service, making the sale becomes far easier. This empowers salespeople to become consultants (and not just to call themselves one) . Such common selling problems as overcoming objections and closing techniques become irrelevant. In fact, relying on "selling skills" to get the order is an indication that a company has no marketing. Everyone in business receives calls that start out something like this: "A couple of weeks ago, I sent you information about our company " This is a call that goes nowhere today. Of course, salespeople (very good ones, too) run from such antiquated and stifling working conditions. Trying to make the sale when prospects lack a clear understanding of why it's in their best interest to talk to you wastes your company's time, personnel, and money. Jacking up commissions or lowering the price only drives up the cost even higher. The role of marketing is to create the right environment for selling to be successful. Without marketing, the cost of doing business becomes too high. 4. Marketing extends your reach. Whether it's drilling down into existing companies to find new opportunities, further penetrating a market or market area, or opening the door to new markets and new territories, marketing is the engine that drives the effort. To grow your business today, the task is one of going from "nobody knows us" to "everybody knows ...
https://completemarkets.com/Article/article-post/1688/WORK-FLOW-PROCEDURES-MANUAL-PERSONAL-RENEWAL-PROCEDURE/
... 1. Do you own any antiques, fine arts, silverware, or collectio...