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... following: 1. Would you recommend this company? 2. What about this company do you like/dislike? 3. Why did you choose this rating? Submit This Anonymously Submit Cancel Contact Us contact_phone Click to call Unfollow First name: Last name: Email: Are you sure you want to deactivate your CompleteMarkets Company Profile Deactivate Cancel Loading.. About Us Services Jobs PR Newsletters Employees Articles Blog Photos Group Connections Reviews IMMS Library Immerse yourself in our stacks. Take some time and browse through our library. We have thousands of articles, checklists, tip sheets, sales letters, and more! Communications Marketing Customer Service Planning Finance/Accounting Risk Management Human Resources Selling Legal and E&O Technology Life/Financial Services Glossaries Management Resources & Links Categories Popular Recent All Back Finding A Compatible Business Combination 4/30/2013 10:43:49 PM by CompleteMarkets Editor , Catherine Oak This content has not been rated yet. &# 160 FINDING A COMPATIBLE BUSINESS COMBINATION by Catherine Oak Over the past few years, many firms have entered into a merger, acquisition, or some type of cluster arrangement with another firm or a producer with a book of business. And often the venture has turned out to be unsuccessful. Many mistakes are made because the participants don't take enough time to effectively evaluate the business combination they're considering. This can cause real problems for all parties involved. Firms make the wrong decisions for many reasons. Among the more common reasons are: (1 ) not having enough information about the other party to make an astute decision; (2 ) searching for ...

... Would you recommend this company? 2. What about this company do you like/dislike? 3. Why did you choose this rating? Submit This Anonymously Submit Cancel Contact Us contact_phone Click to call Unfollow First name: Last name: Email: Are you sure you want to deactivate your CompleteMarkets Company Profile Deactivate Cancel Loading.. About Us Services Jobs PR Newsletters Employees Articles Blog Photos Group Connections Reviews IMMS Library Immerse yourself in our stacks. Take some time and browse through our library. We have thousands of articles, checklists, tip sheets, sales letters, and more! Communications Marketing Customer Service Planning Finance/Accounting Risk Management Human Resources Selling Legal and E&O Technology Life/Financial Services Glossaries Management Resources & Links Categories Popular Recent All Back Making The Most Out Of An Agency Business Combination 4/30/2013 10:35:26 PM by CompleteMarkets Editor , Carol Hammes This content has not been rated yet. MAKING THE MOST OUT OF AN AGENCY BUSINESS COMBINATION by Carol Hammes It's what comes after the handshakes that counts. INTRODUCTION You've done the groundwork for a successful combination of agencies (acquisition, merger, or cluster) . But what comes after the handshakes will be even more critical in determining the eventual outcome. The initial evaluation and structuring process will determine much of what needs to be accomplished. Parties involved have made an emotional and financial commitment to invest in this course of action. You owe it to yourselves to follow through for as long as it takes to maximize the payback on this investment. Here's how: KEEP THE SELLER INTERESTED Most transactions ...

... x No Thanks Loading.. Finding A Compatible Business Combination 4/30/2013 by CompleteMarkets Editor , Catherine Oak This content has not been rated yet. &# 160 FINDING A COMPATIBLE BUSINESS COMBINATION by Catherine Oak Over the past few years, many firms have entered into a merger, acquisition, or some type of cluster arrangement with another firm or a producer with a book of business. And often the venture has turned out to be unsuccessful. Many mistakes are made because the participants don't take enough time to effectively evaluate the business combination they're considering. This can cause real problems for all parties involved. Firms make the wrong decisions for many reasons. Among the more common reasons are: (1 ) not having enough information about the other party to make an astute decision; (2 ) searching for a quick fix for a loss of markets, or (3 ) finding a deal with a price that seems' good. A recent IIAA study reported that only 46,000 independent insurance agencies exist now, compared to 53,500 five years ago. The study also indicated that 26% of these remaining businesses have been acquired or merged with another firm in the past few years. COMPATIBILITY ISSUES The most difficult part of creating a successful business combination is determining whether the parties are compatible and if a combined entity will be an improvement. Many firms think the key to a good deal is the price. This is far from true. Determining the appropriate price is much easier than finding a suitable party to conduct an ongoing business relationship with. It's like trying to ...

... x No Thanks Loading.. Business Combinations: Surviving/Thriving With A Merger 4/30/2013 by CompleteMarkets Editor , Carol Hammes This content has not been rated yet. BUSINESS COMBINATIONS: SURVIVING/THRIVING WITH A MERGER by Carol Hammes These guidelines will help you meet the challenges of merging your agency. Most industry observers believe that the number of insurance companies will shrink by 50% within this decade, as the strategic need to reduce loss and expense ratios fuels mergers and acquisitions. Achieving economies of scale by reducing geographic spread or focusing on more profitable lines and products has become imperative for national and regional companies alike. In the long term, the trend of carrier consolidation and spinning off non-core business will probably be good for the Independent Agency System. But in the short term, it will create even more challenges for most independent agencies. Faced with consolidation among insurance carriers, the resulting change in operating/placement strategies, and the need to further streamline their internal operations, merger activity has also increased among independent agencies. Current business combination activity is so widespread that experts predict that the number of independent agencies will shrink from approximately 40,000 at the end of the year 2000 to only 20,000 by the end of 2005. Many small to medium-sized agencies are finding that they cant compete in a marketplace where insurance companies are requiring far larger premium commitments every year. Larger agencies, faced with perpetuation concerns and growth plateaus, are increasingly receptive to merger and acquisition overtures from larger agents/brokers, insurance companies, or financial institutions. Although the pressures of premium ...

... x No Thanks Loading.. Combining Insurance And Financial Services: Reality Check 4/30/2013 by CompleteMarkets Editor , Carol Hammes This content has not been rated yet. COMBINING INSURANCE AND FINANCIAL SERVICES: REALITY CHECK by Carol Hammes After the Barnett decision in Florida and the subsequent passage of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Services Modernization Act, a flurry of activity began to create broader financial service organizations that provided insurance together with other products. Carol Hammes evaluates the bank/agency relationship. &# 160 Financial institutions have been in the insurance business for many years, with some states granting savings and loans and banks in small towns the right to have insurance departments and with seven large grand-fathered' national bank holding companies allowed to remain in the insurance business after most were shut off. There were more than 4,000 financial institutions in the insurance business before the courts and legislation opened the doors to the rest of them to take the plunge into combining the various types of financial services. Although most of these initial banks and S&Ls were only selling credit life and annuities, a number of them attempted to make a go of it in the Property/Casualty arena. In fact, back in the 1980s almost half of the members of the IIA of North Dakota were bank agencies. So, the convergence of banks and insurance isn't new. It's now become much more widespread and actually almost trendy. It was something that the banks had been fighting long and hard to do and something that most agents' associations had been dead set against — which made it all the more attractive for ...

... x No Thanks Loading.. Combine Incentive Compensation With Employee Evaluations 4/30/2013 by CompleteMarkets Editor , Al Diamond This content has not been rated yet. Wouldn't it be nice to have employees looking for more business to handle, or helping to innovate to permit more work to be accomplished without the addition of staff? An Incentive Compensation Program (ICP) accomplishes this goal — but it takes a few years of education to teach the employees that this is really as simple as it sounds. Al Diamond offers tips on how you can accomplish this. An Incentive Compensation Program (ICP) can remove the subjectivity from the process of increasing compensation for performance. ICPs are usually constructed based on advances in productivity (revenue per employee) combined with department and/or agency profitability. If the individual manages a larger book of business (i.e., service employees) or manages their function for a larger client base (i.e. administrative employees) while their department and/or the agency maintains appropriate profit levels, raises are automatic and can actually be tracked by the employees, themselves. If an individual is more productive and if the department and/or the agency is profitable, that individual shares in this success through salary adjustments corresponding to the productivity increase. The "Merit Raise" system in which we have been raised is often less concerned with merit than with management's perception of an employee, combined with the frank realities of budgetary limitations. A variety of rating systems have been developed to establish some form of objective criteria under which the merit system can operate. Unfortunately, ...

... x No Thanks Loading.. Combining Incentive Compensation With Employee Evaluations 4/30/2013 by Al Diamond , CompleteMarkets Editor This content has not been rated yet. An effective Incentive Compensation Program will benefit your staff - and your agency. An Incentive Compensation Program (ICP) is designed to remove the subjectivity from the process of increasing compensation for performance. We have written and assisted many ICPs and recommend that you contact Agency Consulting Group, Inc. should you want to construct one for your agency. The construction of ICPs is typically based on advances in productivity (revenue per employee) combined with department and/or agency profitability. If the individual manages a larger book of business (service employees) or manages his or her function for a larger client base (for instance, administrative employees) while the department and/or the agency maintains appropriate profit levels, raises are automatic and can actually be tracked by the employees themselves. Wouldn't it be nice to have employees looking for more business to handle, or coming up with innovations to permit more work to be accomplished without the addition of staff? An ICP accomplishes that goal-but it takes a few years of education to teach the employees that this is really as simple as it sounds. If an individual is more productive and the department and/or agency is profitable, that individual shares in the success through salary adjustments corresponding to the productivity increase. The system of merit raises in which most of us have worked is often less concerned with merit than with a combination of management's perception of an employee and the frank realities of the ...

... . About Us Services Jobs PR Newsletters Employees Articles Blog Photos Group Connections Reviews IMMS Library Immerse yourself in our stacks. Take some time and browse through our library. We have thousands of articles, checklists, tip sheets, sales letters, and more! Communications Marketing Customer Service Planning Finance/Accounting Risk Management Human Resources Selling Legal and E&O Technology Life/Financial Services Glossaries Management Resources & Links Categories Popular Recent All powerful tools Articles tagged with powerful tools Back Producer Success Lesson 1 This content has not been rated yet. Randy Schwantz 6/3 /2015 12:00:00 AM Producer Success Lesson 1 Nothing happens until somebody sells something. To make sales happen, IMMS.com Key Sales Consultant Randy Schwantz has created a comprehensive series of 43 Producer Success Lessons. Used singly or in combination, these powerful tools can help your producers build their skills - and grow their sales. All Articles by Randy Schwantz Comments (0 ) Producer Success Lesson 10 This content has not been rated yet. Randy Schwantz 5/20/2015 12:00:00 AM PRODUCER SUCCESS LESSON 10: PREPARE YOURSELF FOR PHONE CALLS by Randy Schwantz Nothing happens until somebody sells something. To make sales happen, IMMS.com Key Sales Consul.. All Articles by Randy Schwantz Comments (0 ) Producer Success Lesson 11: Visual Rapport This content has not been rated yet. Randy Schwantz 5/29/2015 12:00:00 AM Nothing happens until somebody sells something. To make sales happen, IMMS.com Key Sales Consultant Randy Schwantz has created a comprehensive series of 43 Producer Success Lessons. Used singly ...

... Seller: The vast majority of agencies are sold as an "asset sale." A "C " corporation asset sale is taxed twice. The IRS views the process as a two-stage event, even if you see it differently. As you might expect, the IRS wants a big piece of each stage. First, the corporation sells everything, including the book of business. This generates enormous income at the corporate level, all of which is subject to full corporate taxation. Even in smaller independent agencies, this tax usually represents about 34% of the sale price. Second, what's left is paid to you, the owner. Usually, this payment is a "long-term capital gain," so the IRS will want only 28% more. If this happens to you, the combined federal tax will come to 52.5%, not counting possible state and local taxes. Never forget, the buyer had to pay taxes on the money before paying you. Buyer: Since almost all the value of an agency comes from the book of business, the primary asset sold is an "intangible" asset, which must be deducted evenly over 15 years. So someone who buys an agency's assets for $150,000 can deduct $10,000 per year for 15 years. Oddly enough, most people don't get excited about deductions they can take 15 years from now. PLANNING ALTERNATIVES: HOW TO SAVE BIG BUCKS! There are a number of tools to improve an asset sale. An experienced planner can mix and match them to generate substantial savings. Non-compete agreement: If ...

... functions, and ensure that an employee is not assigned to perform both, if at all possible. If these two functions are mixed into one employee's job description, service time will always consume sales time, and the sales objectives of the agency will suffer. WHAT ABOUT MANAGEMENT? One of the major deficiencies of the average independent insurance agency is the lack of time devoted to management. Another question I always ask when consulting or conducting seminars is, Does your agency have a full-time manager who does not sell or service, and spends 100% of the time managing? ' Again, there is a very low positive response-usually fewer than 5% answer that they have such a full-time manager. If this is a fact, it means that more than 95% of the independent insurance agencies are combining management with sales, service, or both. The problem is clear: If you combine sales or service, or both, with management in one employee's job description, management will suffer. Sales and/or service duties will always consume any time available for management. Management is something that can always be put off until tomorrow. And when that happens, problems become crises, and the majority of management time is spent putting out fires. PAPERWORK Paperwork is like management. It can always be put off until tomorrow. That's why, when paperwork and service are combined, service time will always consume paperwork time, and backlogs will occur. When combining paperwork and sales, one or the other will suffer. And finally, if you combine paperwork and management, management time will always suffer ...