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...ts as Annuities, Long-Term Care, Critical Illness, and charitable-contribution.... Some examples: Travel. “Insurance savings can pay for your trip to...

...e effective use of automation is critical to the operation of a profitable per... concerned (well, maybe not for the insurance companies but certainly for the ...

... physical injury and occupational illness claims not covered by Workers Comp. ... grows more popular every year, and insurance companies offer competitive prem...

...anges in the methodology.” Two critical changes undertaken by Brown & Br...

... Intensive Care Unit (ICU, aka Critical Care Unit or CCU) Laboratory t...wording can change with approval of insurance departments. These are: Change of Occupation Other Insurance, Thi

... 160 Protecting Your Personal Property &# 160 This insurance covers the repair or replacement of your property and furnishes protection against personal liabilities. Separate policies are purchased for homes and other major property or possessions. Because your home is probably your most valuable asset, it is critical to insure it properly. For example, if you live in a geographic area prone to certain weather problems-such as floods, earthquakes or hurricanes-you need special policies to protect your investment. &# 160 In addition, you should be aware of monetary limits on groups ... provide some level of health insurance, you may need to supplement the coverage or, when self-employed, secure health insurance for you and your family. &# 160 Disability Insurance. Pays the individual(s ) covered for income lost due to a disabling injury or illness. It enables your earning power to continue even if your earnings do not. Again, some employers offer basic disability insurance that covers extended illnesses, but you need to determine if the coverage is long- or short-term to meet your needs adequately. &# ... 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 Women's Independent Guide To Insurance 4/30/2013 10:36:58 PM by CompleteMarkets Editor , IIABA Virtual University Faculty IIABA Virtual University Faculty This content has not been rated yet. WOMEN'S INDEPENDENT GUIDE TO INSURANCE Independent Insurance Agents of America Financial Decision Makers &# 160 The environment ...

... should not be loaded on the agency system. Agencies can still become very efficient through the extensive use of word processing, spreadsheet and sort programs such as Lotus or Q&A , and rating systems. There is no doubt that the effective use of automation is critical to the operation of a profitable personal lines department. Agencies that are still using a typewriters for correspondence or to do billings usually need more people than they can really afford in order to properly service the book of business. Producer Involvement. A number of agents ... lines account size of almost $300 in commissions in 1991 could afford to pay producers 40% new and 20% renewal for personal lines . . . and still make a lot of money. Agents in Wisconsin who barely got $300 in premium per account can ill afford to pay any sales compensation. Automation. An agency in rural Iowa has achieved more than $100,00 in revenues per employee despite very low average account sizes. Their secret is automation handled by a dedicated group of employees with relatively high morale. ... system and b) personal lines. These companies must be active participants in the development of agency business and operational plans that demonstrate the opportunity for the agency to make money selling and servicing their product. Our preliminary observations, developed from many years of dealing with independent insurance agencies as well as from the most recently received data on personal lines profit centers, have helped us identify several key factors that seem to make the difference between agencies with red ink in personal lines and those where that department is supporting the commercial operation during these ...

...unts or lines of business. It is critical that agency management make sure tha...r new organizational and procedural programs designed to streamline processing...

... if the firm is growing rapidly. As a result, many firms stagnate at what have come to be called agency growth plateaus . Although every insurance agency is unique, the solutions for breaking out of these levels often have common threads. Common Growth Plateaus The first critical level that an agency may hit is the sales plateau, when the book of business reaches the size where the one owner/producer is saturated and cannot handle the sales or servicing of additional accounts. For the agency to grow and to perpetuate, another salesperson ... , and the profit margin erodes. When this happens, a lot of agency owners and managers blame the market conditions, temporarily forgetting that they had been doing just fine in the same competitive market until only recently. Seizing on this convenient excuse for all of their ills, they are tempted to try to ride out the storm until the market turns. With so much capacity available, the hardening of the commercial market still lies in the distant future-if it will happen at all. An agency that was generating a 12% profit can ... what, and how. Since most agency owners wear a number of hats, it's difficult to anticipate the need for change if the firm is growing rapidly. As a result, many firms stagnate at what have come to be called agency growth plateaus . Although every insurance agency is unique, the solutions for breaking out of these levels often have common threads. Common Growth Plateaus The first critical level that an agency may hit is the sales plateau, when the book of business reaches the size where the one owner/producer is ...

... 35, hypothetically maxed out on potential sales of Life insurance (although it's never true that no further sales of Life can be made in any given book) . Some, but by no means all, of the major potential cross-sales include: Medical Expense Disability Income Critical Illness (a relatively new product) Annuities (including equity index annuities for the growth/investment-minded) Charitable contribution programs Referrals Securities and financial investments B. Average age 65, hypothetically maxed out on sales of Life, Medical Expense, Disability, and retirement planning ... Major potential sales include: Long-Term Care Medigap Annuities Life coverage reviews Life settlements Gifting of policies to children and grandchildren Reverse mortgages Charitable contribution plans Note that A and B deal only with individuals. Professional and Commercial accounts offer too many additional potential sales to list here. The key to unlocking this potential lies in the hands of agency principals and producers. Some L/H books (especially if part of a P/C agency) are neglected and remain infertile. Astute buyers sometimes get them for a song or even literally for ... of L/H business. The overriding goal is to identify the probability that your book will produce X dollars in a given period of time, based on the potential income stream from both renewals and cross-selling. FACTORS AFFECTING RENEWAL INCOME: Age. If all your insureds average age 90 (an extreme used here to illustrate a point), the renewal factor would be very low. However, there might be a high potential for selling annuities, gifting of policies to children and grandchildren, life settlements, and perhaps other products ...