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... as war. In general, their influences have been more personal and individual. They'll learn that job security isn't guaranteed. It's being replaced by opportunity earned through skill and knowledge. Their world will include risk and reward — individual challenges. The future leadership provided by the Baby Boomers will be the key factor in curing their foundation. The core competencies of leadership, such as integrity, vision, energy, courage, passion, and perseverance, will still be needed. Success or failure will hinge on the application of these competencies. The successful leader of the future won't command and control like the Silent Majority, but instead will earn the right to lead a more diverse, independent, and in-demand following. To assure the right leadership fit for the future, you must determine: In what arena will you operate? (In the short to medium term, you'll have a global arena.) Who are your internal and external customers? What are their expectations? What are the needed functions in your operation? What resources and skills are necessary? Who can unify the personnel? Who can create energy and top performance? When you've answered these questions, assemble the staff you need, involve them in defining your vision, and commit the time and energies needed to determine how to realize it. Adjust your direction as needed. Encourage constant learning and improvement. Go for it! Michael Manes can be reached at Square One Consulting, 625 Weeks Street, New Iberia, LA 70560, cell 337-577-3885, e-mail or [email protected] . Login or Register (for FREE) to ...

... aren't selling Life/Health products, you might be ignoring a source of untapped income. But how do you go about it? Carol Hammes describes several methods in this document. &# 160 With all of the recent lay-offs and questionable earnings reports from major corporations — not to mention the jitters on Wall Street — it's clear that for at least a short time many of the factors that impact Property/Casualty insurance rates will be heading downward. These include payroll, inventories, construction jobs, etc. So, the impact of the harder market on insurance agency revenues will definitely not be as great as it would've been in a robust economy. No independent agent can let down their guard at this point. Now's the time to focus on Life and Health sales, particularly in the group arena. These premiums have been increasing steadily and are now predicted to have growth rates of 20% -30% . Saving accounts from a 10% increase in premiums might make you a hero in Property/Casualty Lines. But you can be a savior in Employee Benefits by keeping the increase to 20% — and make a lot of extra commission in the process. Although most independent insurance agencies sell some Life and Health insurance, the average agency receives less than 10% of its total income from this source, and only about one in four agencies has a separate Life and Health department. Statistics show that agencies receiving more than 25% of their income from Life and Health coverages have higher levels of productivity and profitability. Writing Life and Health insurance takes more work up front, ...

... a business may suffer are a direct correlation to the specific emergency activities taken by the business as the disruption is unfolding. This step includes the prior planning and preparation of activities, which again can be performed in advance of any event, and which will aid in the methodical, rational and coordinated approach towards dealing with various hazard disruptions. Post-disruption recovery. A major assumption inherent to operating a business is that every risk' can be eliminated. While the previous two steps are designed to reduce or mitigate risk, the recovery step is designed to expedite the rebuilding and restoration process. One of the most misunderstood concepts of BCP is that this process is conceived solely for computer technology. Many businesses assert a strong dependence on central and distributed computer resources. Historically, BCP has been initiated within this arena. Prior to any event, companies are able to assess their risk and threat environment' and mitigate various hazards and weaknesses associated with their processing environment. The losses a business may suffer are a direct correlation to the specific emergency activities taken by the business as the disruption is unfolding. This step includes the prior planning and preparation of activities, which again can be performed in advance of any event, and which will aid in the methodical, rational and coordinated approach towards dealing with various hazard disruptions. A major assumption inherent to operating a business is that every risk' can be eliminated. While the previous two steps are designed to reduce or mitigate risk, the recovery step is designed to expedite the rebuilding and restoration process. One of the most misunderstood concepts of BCP is that this ...

... . Suppose the root of your anxiety is a fear of rejection. Explore that issue. Who is likely to be rejecting you? Your job is to supply Life leads to producers - so if anyone is rejected, it will be them, not you. If you fear that producers will reject your leads, think again. If some of the leads don't pan out, the producers will probably ask for more, not less, of them. As a CSR, you are the producers' life support. They will no sooner scorn you than an emphysema patient will tear a respirator from his nose. 2. Put the change you want to make into perspective. In the movie Hoosiers, a small-town basketball team makes it to the championship finals. As the team of kids enters the arena where they are to play their final game, they balk at the scale of it all: The hugeness of the auditorium, the rows and rows of bleachers. Very sensibly, their coach puts the game in perspective for them. He gets a couple of the kids to measure the basketball court, the height of the baskets from the ground, and so forth - and proves to his team that the distances and heights are exactly the same as on the courts they are used to playing. The kids realize that though the trappings are different, the game is the same. So it is with the P/C CSR who starts generating Life leads. The process of getting leads is the same as ever, and only some of the information is new. The game is the ...

... a Life or Death Seed Catalog for you. OK, what's wrong with that? Right! We just can't think of a seed catalog as a life-or-death determinant. Had they asked me, I'd have tied an acknowledgment of the mismatch into the mix: Dear Friend of [name of organization], I know it's hard to believe. But what you do with the little seed catalog I've enclosed could literally make the difference between life and death for a helpless child. The same organization follows the formula more logically-if with a mildly contrived device-in this opening: In the 10 seconds it took you to read this letter, five children died from the effects of malnutrition or disease somewhere in the world. I'd have left off somewhere in the world, ' which shifts the reader somewhat out of the arena. And, yes, the opening is a mite trite. But it grabs. Cataclysmic declarations should have two mechanical components: a cut-off date and a suggestion of exclusivity. If the reader concludes the entire world has the opportunity to profit from the identical decision, the argument doesn't work because the cataclysm is too universal to generate a head of steam. 5. I [WE] NEED HELP. At one time a generic fund raising opening, this one suffers from overuse and from sociological evolution (devolution?) . Among fund raisers it's just as poplar as ever, even though the impact isn't as formidable as it once was. Its use is actually growing, because it no longer is the exclusive property of fund raising. We need help' flourished during the 1950-1980 period-a kinder, ...

... about everyone agrees that building extended relationships by cross-selling to customers is one of the best ways to stave off competition and increase retention rates. Why is it, then, that relatively few agencies have established Life and Health Departments- or for that matter, even have ad hoc marketing programs to focus on rounding out their books of business? It's certainly not for lack of trying. The Property/Casualty landscape is littered with the bones of many a failed Life insurance venture. The problem is that in the real world, the differences between Life insurance and Property/Casualty make it extremely difficult to carry out a comprehensive marketing plan. In Life insurance, the supply is relatively stable, with few market swings, and the salesperson's biggest challenge is to stimulate demand. In the Property/Casualty arena the demand is stable but the supply fluctuates, often dramatically. This leads to differences between the two product groups in the underwriting process as well as in the agent/client relationship. Life producers who send leads to the Property/Casualty producers often have a hard time understanding why they can't get the end results that they want. Or the Property/Casualty producers might feel that the Life people are not sensitive enough to the finer points of maintaining client relationships. As a result, initial enthusiasm wanes and follow-up calls are not made on either side. Another part of the problem is that many agencies are simply looking at the Life and Health arena as a means of rounding out existing Property/Casualty accounts and are not expanding their vision into the development of a true stand-alone profit center ...

... a Life or Death Seed Catalog for you. OK, what's wrong with that? Right! We just can't think of a seed catalog as a life-or-death determinant. Had they asked me, I'd have tied an acknowledgment of the mismatch into the mix: Dear Friend of [name of organization], I know it's hard to believe. But what you do with the little seed catalog I've enclosed could literally make the difference between life and death for a helpless child. The same organization follows the formula more logically-if with a mildly contrived device-in this opening: In the 10 seconds it took you to read this letter, five children died from the effects of malnutrition or disease somewhere in the world. I'd have left off somewhere in the world, ' which shifts the reader somewhat out of the arena. And, yes, the opening is a mite trite. But it grabs. Cataclysmic declarations should have two mechanical components: a cut-off date and a suggestion of exclusivity. If the reader concludes the entire world has the opportunity to profit from the identical decision, the argument doesn't work because the cataclysm is too universal to generate a head of steam. 5. I [WE] NEED HELP. At one time a generic fund raising opening, this one suffers from overuse and from sociological evolution (devolution?) . Among fund raisers it's just as poplar as ever, even though the impact isn't as formidable as it once was. Its use is actually growing, because it no longer is the exclusive property of fund raising. We need help' flourished during the 1950-1980 period-a kinder, ...

... helpful. A reasonable pre-hire signed non-compete will generally be enforceable without any additional consideration, as long as employment was conditional upon signing the agreement. Getting the job itself is part of the consideration. New restrictions on an existing employee, even one who has only worked for a short time, would require new consideration, such as a meaningful promotion, discretionary raise, or cash bonus, or adding a "no-cut" guarantee of employment for several years. Restrictive covenants between the owners of the agency are a different matter. The reciprocal nature of the burdens and benefits will often result in enforceability of a non-compete embedded in their shareholders buy/sell agreement even though they only made the agreement after being together for years. Non-competes are highly state-specific, and states vary widely on protecting employers in this arena. For example, in some states, merely promising to retain an employee and continue their training for a minimum period might suffice. In other jurisdictions, it's enough to inform all employees that their continued employment will depend on signing at least a non-disclosure/confidentiality agreement, which would be set forth in a signed agreement that would allow the employer to follow through by terminating those who refused to sign. In the best-case scenario, an existing employee should enjoy reasonable "fresh" consideration in exchange for giving up rights they would otherwise enjoy to compete freely in the marketplace. Agency Value It's important to appreciate that failing to protect an agency's intellectual property by non-competes with key employees and/or partners could significantly reduce the value of your agency to a future buyer. In one major Washington State ...

... Many clients are willing to pay somewhat higher premiums to get it. But, if they have to sacrifice timeliness, accuracy, convenience, responsiveness, and/or enthusiasm to place their coverage through a particular agency, they'll be much more receptive to other opportunities. When setting up a client-driven marketing plan, keep in mind that you probably can't meet the needs of all customers effectively. It's far better to target certain groups and to concentrate on exceeding their expectations, rather than to do a mediocre job trying to serve everyone. By focusing on more narrowly defined segments of the market you'll maximize your advertising/public relations dollars, company relationships, personnel selection and training, and utilization of automation to produce the greatest benefits. Your producers will be more in touch with what's happening in that marketing arena and waste less time trying to place risks that they have little chance of landing or keeping. Serving broad market segments is a little like niche or target marketing, but is generally more strategic than tactical. It's a long-term decision that should set the course for other major strategies over a three to five-year period. A niche-marketing program is often built around an insurance company program and might have no more than a one-year lifespan. From a strategic perspective, look for a market segment where you can do something important for clients that they couldn't do for themselves, and provide the products, services, and qualities that this particular kind of buyer really values. The Property/Casualty insurance industry doesn't promote product differentiation or innovation, even in Commercial Lines; the core coverages are effectively the same. ...

... Life/Financial Services Glossaries Management Resources & Links Categories Popular Recent All Back Communication: Overcoming The Cool Hand Luke' Syndrome 12/23/2013 12:00:00 AM by CompleteMarkets Editor , Brandie Hinen This content has not been rated yet. When communicating your message, don't let familiarity breed indifference. "Lack of communication." How often do we hear, or even use, this lame excuse? The 1967 film Cool Hand Luke satirized the term for years with this classic line: "What we have here is a failure to communicate." We often think that communication means that we're doing the talking. Society is filled with people who talk a lot, but don't say much. Perhaps some of you think of your spouse, your working relationships, or the political arena, and no wonder. Familiarity can breed indifference if we don't care enough to risk asking questions, or consider our personal agenda in the process of communication. Instead, we often just chalk up a poor experience to, well, "lack of communication." The problem is that we don't do anything differently. Ambiguity is part of the game of avoiding responsibility and accountability. If I'm told that I need to have a project done by the end of the week, there are hundreds of possibilities, and often it still doesn't get done. Lack of specificity in communicating can easily create dissatisfaction. I recently heard a speaker on a radio interview give an insightful analogy: Expectations minus reality equals disappointment. A few weeks ago, I experienced this type of deep disappointment in a social ...