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...professional golfer swinging their clubs while waiting for the group in front ...

... agency's professionalism and dependability. Create an accessible, cordial environment by recruiting qualified employees from the community. Focus on persuading and motivating your audience to call your agency for a quote, to purchase insurance, to refer their friends and associates to you and to keep their insurance coverage with your firm. Identifying your target audience is critically important. Are you trying to reach new large commercial accounts? Are you attempting to develop a market niche? Or are you appealing to the general public to increase your personal-lines book? If you take time to identify your audience, you'll know where to go for publicity. You'll get the right message to the right audience through the right medium. If your agency wants to reach boat owners, for example, consider writing an educational article on insurance for a yacht club newsletter. Appoint someone within your agency to manage the publicity program. This manager will coordinate details of the program, work with the media, write articles and press releases, promote your agency's personality, and ensure that messages to the public are consistent. The manager will keep all employees apprised of all publicity efforts so that phone calls and inquiries are handled appropriately. Once the publicity plan is developed, begin contacting the local media to establish a relationship. Consider networking through community associations (Lions Club, the local chamber of commerce) and sponsoring events like the local Little League, symphony concert or neighborhood marathon. You might have to cold call newspaper and television editors, however, just as you call business prospects. Send the editors a press kit with your agency's brochure, a list ...

... reveal. In any case, see above. Due Care is about being customer-focused, prudent, and objective in the face of an unknown and uncontrollable future. WHAT I KNOW — PART III Before the advent of current assumption Life insurance policies, selling and buying Life insurance was relatively simple. A non-par policy was what you see is what you get. A participating policy had dividends, which although not guaranteed, had a long history of steady increases. In both instances, if you paid the premium, you got the benefit. When Universal Life, Current Assumption Whole Life, and Variable Universal Life became readily available in the early 1980s, everything we thought we knew about Life insurance went out the proverbial window. With the emergence of these policies at the same time as the introduction of Sam's Club, Costco, and Price Club, consumers were attracted to the apparent opportunity to buy Life insurance for less. And who could argue: if a Whole Life policy's guaranteed premium was $1 ,500, a Universal Life illustration might suggest that the 13% current crediting rate and current scale of COI could reduce that premium to as little as $500. Oh, it's not guaranteed; results shown aren't necessarily representative of what will occur in the future; premiums might be higher or lower, or might need to be paid for a longer period of time. Huh? Can you repeat that? Although transparency' was one of the touted benefits of such General Account policies — breaking out the projected Cost of Insurance charges and projected interest crediting rates — much has not been revealed. ...

...nclude the following: Service clubs, such as Rotary, Optimists, Lions, Zo...groups, such as crafters guilds, card clubs, and sports teams Religious g...

... of success we'll achieve in the future. You see, the agency's potential and its limitations directly reflect those of the agency owner(s ) . Too many owners hire consultants, update systems and procedures, and try to implement changes that will permit easier growth and better profits without changing the most important ingredient: their attitudes. Two such attitudes that are common in successful agents and missing from most others are focus and commitment. FOCUS The opposite of focused might be "unfocused." However, the lack of focus in an agency often translates into "scattered." For instance, if you try something that sounds as if it would improve your business, yet the ideas or change never seem to last more than a few weeks, you belong to the "Good Idea of the Month Club." Members of this club have great intentions, but are drawn from one concept or idea to another without giving it the chance to live and breathe within their agencies. This is an indicator of a "scattered" agent. If your job is better described as "firefighter" than insurance agent, you're also scattered, rather than focused on the priorities that will drive your agency to its maximum success. Firefighters spend most of their days on crisis management. They often feel that they've accomplished nothing during the day. Many work long hours to accomplish what should have been done from 9 to 5. Successful agents aren't firefighters. When they identify good ideas they study them carefully before instituting them. But once instituted, they manage these ideas to success and only change or abandon them ...

... be vulnerable if producer agreements aren't in place or if producers have too much control over client relationships. To mitigate producer control, make sure you have strong employee agreements, which include non-compete and non-piracy clauses, even among co-owners. Another way to lessen account vulnerability is to use a team approach on your largest and fastest growing accounts. Make sure that service people — not just the producer — visit the client, conduct coverage reviews, or identify cross-selling opportunities. With this approach, the client will perceive the entire agency team as servicing the account, rather than one producer, and the agency has a better chance of keeping the account should the producer depart. We define recurring expenses as expenses necessary to support the generation and retention of insurance related income. We excluded such unnecessary expenses as country club dues, automobile leases for non-employee family members, and season tickets to sporting events. We also exclude non-recurring expenses. These might include professional fees for changes to an employee benefit program, one-time purchases of major office equipment, or producer commissions paid for non-recurring Life income. TRACKING DOWN EXPENSES Because adjusting for unnecessary and non-recurring expense items benefits owners when valuing an agency, keeping track of these items is critical. Some expenses, such as country club dues and season tickets, are easy to track and quantify. Other expenses, such as flying first class or staying in luxury hotels, will be more difficult to quantify. Other expense items that you should track include dues, subscriptions, charitable contributions, professional fees, and outside services. These items often contain one-time business expenses. Another major ...

...om you are marketing your product. Clubs and franchises have economic data on ...

... developed through the decades. Racetracks must change. The insurance industry must adapt and change. In his classic article, "Marketing Myopia," Theodore Levitt pointed out, "Every major industry was once a growth industry." Mr. Levitt further stated that industries decline not because of market saturation. "It's because there has been a failure of management," he wrote. I could tell you more, but Mr. Levitt does it far better than me. I urge you to read his article. Here's reality: Most firms in the manufacturing and distribution end of the insurance business have done and continue to do well – very well. We aren't motivated to change. For us, the good old days mean two old white guys (OWG) drinking at the City Club and doing a deal. Our system is producer defined and producer driven. We sell products that include our compensation packaged inside. These products "cover" the risk of loss from physical peril – the stuff we know and understand. Unfortunately, the product is a promise to pay in the future for losses that most buyers can't understand in a language that they don't know .. We're comfortable with what we sell, but buyers aren't comfortable with what they buy. The world is changing, but for the most part our industry hasn't. Today, the client's decision-makers often wear a skirt or are of a different color, generation, or ethnicity; and they might not be enamored with our tales of drinking beer and chasing women. We're in a conflict of interest with them ...

... which might be as far as we go in letters that don't fire their biggest gun first or establish rapport) . The first couple of examples this month are the most obvious of intended rapport establishers. 6. CONGRATULATIONS! ' In for a penny, in for a pound: If you're using that single word, I suggest following with an exclamation point, not a period. A calm congratulation has its uses, but calm doesn't match the single word. Mogul-to-mogul might be, I congratulate you. That's not exclamatory. The single word is, which means you use it only if what follows justifies the exclamation. A letter to one of my decoy names begins: DEAR H. GORDON, Congratulations! It's my great pleasure to welcome you to all the benefits and privileges of a Columbia House Club membership. Your Pre-Approved MusiCard means you can receive our best offer to first-time members-not available through newspaper or magazine ads- but reserved for a select group of music lovers like you. Opinion: Although I'd never use the indefinite article to describe the membership-I'd say your Columbia House Club membership' or plain Columbia House membership, ' not a Columbia House Club membership' this letter does maintain its congratulatory character. It adds automatic impact by capitalizing Pre-Approved MusiCard. Capitalization adds validation. But first-time members'? If they have any kind of database, they've suppressed lapsed members, goniff members, and users of stolen credit cards; so if they want to build rapport with me, why not maintain the tone of invitation? Anyway, the point isn't merciless dissection of a cold list letter. It's recognition ...

... on production or base the award on the producer's premium volume as a qualification for the Agent-of-the-Month award. See the "Life Production" graph at the end of this section. In order to qualify, the producer must meet a minimum of, for example, $5 ,000 of annualized first-year commissions during the particular month. Send a press release and a photograph of the agent to local newspapers. Make copies of the newspaper article and send them to the producer's top 50 or 100 clients. Agency Dedicator Program-This program provides recognition each month to those producers who, during the month, produce $5 ,000 in annualized first-year commissions. You can present an engraved trophy to each agent who qualified as a "dedicator"eight times or more in one year. New Producer Club-Organize a special club for trainee producers. If the trainee pays for 12 cases or more in a month, the producer and spouse will be your guests for a gourmet dinner. This also helps the new producer's spouse get better acquainted and feel a part of the agency. Lead-Day Participants-You can choose to assign qualified producers a "lead day." This means you give the recognized agent all of the phone and paper leads received on that specific day. This provides both recognition and the opportunity to develop more business. To qualify, the producer should be a member of the National Association of Life Under-writers and a Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) performer or be on track for MDRT qualification, as well as be a top recognized agency producer. Monthly Publication-An in-house publication can be put together and distributed at ...