https://completemarkets.com/Article/article-post/428/Mentoring-For-Agency-Growth/
... x No Thanks Loading.. Mentoring For Agency Growth 4/30/2013 by CompleteMarkets Editor , Mona Carpenter This content has not been rated yet. According to Webster's, a mentor is a loyal advisor entrusted with the care and education of a student .. a wise and trusted counselor. In my experience, a mentor without these qualities can't successfully lead a rookie. Whether an agency's mentoring program succeeds and produces financial rewards depends on how it's structured and managed. I'll address methods for setting up a successful mentoring program for agency growth, including: Mentor-rookie matching Training schedule Compensation options Program monitoring and management MENTOR-ROOKIE MATCHING It's key to put together two people who are compatible. Most mentor relationships last 18 to 24 months. If mentor and rookie don't work effectively together or don't like each other, the relationship most likely will fail. An important tool in forming this team to give both participants a personality test. The test should cover communication styles, preferred working styles, motivational needs, and work ethic. The test I like is called Personalysis. The Mentor Let's examine the qualities of a successful mentor. I recommend setting a minimum book size to qualify a producer to become a mentor. The mentor should be one of the top producers in the agency, not whoever has free time to work with a new salesperson. Only the best should be teaching! A mentor must make a long-term commitment, usually two or more years, to working with the rookie. This individual should have a real vested interest, not just in his or her personal financial gains, but in the agency's ...
https://completemarkets.com/Article/article-post/427/The-Perfect-Ten-Good-Underwriting-Submissions-Guarantee-More-Sales/
... x No Thanks Loading.. The Perfect Ten: Good Underwriting Submissions Guarantee More Sales 4/30/2013 by CompleteMarkets Editor , Thomas Carpenter This content has not been rated yet. The better your underwriting submissions, the better for you, your companies — and your clients. Nothing is more discouraging to an experienced, professional large account underwriter than a poor submission. If you want to improve your hit ratios on new account activity and retain their existing business in a highly competitive environment, you need to provide professional underwriting submissions. Formal correctness does influence the underwriter's thought process. Because your insurance carrier should be an enthusiastic partner in the new account, it behooves you to create a conducive atmosphere. A "Perfect 10" underwriting submission would have the following characteristics: Completed ACORD applications for all lines of coverage requested. Never submit handwritten applications — ever. A thoughtfully written cover letter over the signature of a respected member of the firm, briefly describing all operations and answering questions which could arise during a review of the applications. These might include such issues as named insureds, wide swings in payrolls or sales, and changes in geographic exposures. A documented loss history and analysis for all lines of coverage. Be sure to include insurance carrier loss runs, currently valued, for at least three full years, plus several months of the current year. Your underwriter will be grateful, and perhaps more receptive, if you provide an experience recap to simplify the underwriting analysis. Comments on the physical properties of the account, including current photographs of representative locations or problem exposures. A ...
https://completemarkets.com/Article/article-post/429/Good-Underwriting-Submissions-Guarantee-More-Sales/
... x No Thanks Loading.. Good Underwriting Submissions Guarantee More Sales 4/30/2013 by CompleteMarkets Editor , Thomas Carpenter This content has not been rated yet. Nothing is more discouraging to an experienced, professional large account underwriter than another poor submission. If independent agents want to improve their hit ratios on new account activity and retain their existing business in a highly competitive environment, they should learn good underwriting submissions. Formal correctness does influence the underwriter's thought process. Because the insurance carrier should be an enthusiastic partner in the acquisition of the new account, so it behooves the independent agent to create a conducive atmosphere. A Perfect 10 underwriting submission would have the following characteristics: 1) Completed ACORD applications for all lines of coverage requested. Never submit handwritten applications-ever. 2) A thoughtfully written cover letter over the signature of a respected member of the firm, briefly describing all operations and providing answers to questions which could arise during a review of the applications. These might include such issues as named insureds, wide swings in payrolls or sales, and changes in geographic exposures. 3) Documented loss history and analysis for all lines of coverage. Be sure to include insurance carrier loss runs, currently valued, for at least three full years plus several months of the current year. Your underwriter will be grateful, and perhaps more receptive, if you provide an experience recap to simplify the underwriting analysis. 4) Comment on the physical properties of the account, and include current photographs of representative locations or problem exposures. A good picture is worth a thousand words. 5) Identify ...
https://completemarkets.com/Article/article-post/624/The-ABCs-Of-Non-Competition-Agreements/
... is generally unreasonable. Courts throughout the nation have agreed that neither an employment agreement nor a sale agreement in the insurance industry can prohibit someone from continuing to make a living once they leave a company's employment or they sell an agency or book of business. For this reason, geographic restrictions are difficult, if not impossible, to enforce. However, the relationships created, information gathered, and confidential data accessed while the person is an employee of a company or agency can be subject to confidentiality and non-competition agreements — as long as these agreements have a reasonable length. After all, the employee collected the data, established the relationships, and administered the account of the clients under the direction of, and while being compensated for those duties, by the employer agency. If you're hired as a carpenter and asked to purchase lumber, use it to create a building, and then make sure that the building remains in sound condition over time, you would have no right to take down the wall and take back the lumber once you left the contractor's employment. Your employer paid for the materials and for your skills and efforts to create the building. Similarly, if a producer is paid to solicit clients, develop a relationship, and maintain this relationship on behalf of the insurance agency, neither should they have the right to re-solicit the client after leaving the agency. COMMON OBJECTIONS Departed producers raise two common objections to their prohibition from soliciting former employer's accounts: (1 ) The customer has the right to go to whatever agent they choose; and 2) The customer's relationship is with the ...
https://completemarkets.com/Article/article-post/2306/Producer-Success-Lesson-31/
...r skills and grow their sales.
Carpenters have a golden rule: 'Measure twice,...
https://completemarkets.com/Article/article-post/2119/INSURING-CONTRACTORS-BE-CAREFUL-IT-CAN-BE-A-BIG-E-O-HEADACHE/
... market is hardening, finding coverages for contractors will become increasingly difficult. These are some of the issues that you'll probably face: Many contractors, especially the smaller ones, like to self-insure. At the time of a loss, they might try to argue that they thought you bound the coverage for which you recently gave them a proposal. Make your documentation very clear as to whether coverage is bound or not. To save money, contractors may try to understate their payroll or receipts to get the premium down. When the account gets audited, they might say that they don't have the money. Then you're stuck with a potential uncollectable audit. When you're marketing coverage for a contractor, be certain of the type of work it performs. If a company is writing what it thinks is a carpenter, only to find out through a claim that roofing is also being done, you could have a real problem. Get the contractor to detail in writing the type of work it performs. If you know that a company won't write for your contractor's type of work, tell the insurer up front and document your conversation. When something goes wrong with a bond, big dollars are typically at stake. It's critical that you know your agency's level of bonding authority and their proper procedure. A claim was made against an agency for failing to provide a performance bond required by a contract. A broker asked the agent to provide, one of its clients, a manufacturer, with a performance bond the customer required. The agent said the bond limit requested was in excess of its bonding authority ...
https://completemarkets.com/Article/article-post/1784/MARKETING-NICHES-TO-RICHES/
... affiliated or related groups (carpenters affiliate with electricians, floris...
https://completemarkets.com/Article/article-post/24/Marketing-Mistake-Not-Upselling-Cross-Selling-Or-Back-Ending-Your-Present-Customers/
...th painters, wallpaper hangers, carpenters, or yard services. Refer your quali...
https://completemarkets.com/Article/article-post/1517/EYE-PROTECTION-IN-THE-WORKPLACE/
...ers, like mechanics, repairers, carpenters, and plumbers. Over a third of the ...