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...roducts local businesses can give away. The creative folks at Argus Financial...agnetic signs on trucks for local contractors. Argus Financial Group is an in...

..., they have different motivational drives. In ascending order these drives are: survival, acceptance, growth, a...e acting as if they're independent contractors, then you should embrace that r...

...watched his white sales staff idle away the hours without a single customer. W...

...fficient internal communication to drive your organisation to success. Even if... that will launch your brand and blow away the competition.

...ines and making them entertaining, drivers actually looked for the signs and s...to one business segment at a time (contractors, retailers, professional office...

... then determine whether or not your strategies are producing the desired results. MASLOW'S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS Do you remember Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs from your high school or college introductory psychology classes? Maslow's theory states that depending on a person's socioeconomic status, they have different motivational drives. In ascending order these drives are: survival, acceptance, growth, and self-actualization. For example, the low-wage earner is focused on economic survival, while the high-earning executive is focused on self-actualization. While there are motivating factors that resonate throughout the different socioeconomic ... on numerous surveys and first-hand experience, once you pay more than the 50th percentile in salary, the issue of a low wage falls by the wayside. Today's savvy employer asks, How much can I afford to pay? ' rather than How little can I get away with paying? ' To attract high-quality engineers, for example, a company may have to pay as much as the 90th percentile for that position. Similarly, but at the opposite end of the spectrum, many traditionally minimum-wage employers are realizing that by paying above ... president complained that as soon as his engineers became certified in the SAP process, which occurred at his company's expense, they were immediately recruited by a new employer. Many others simply open up their own consulting practices. If your employees are acting as if they're independent contractors, then you should embrace that reality and build flexibility into your relationships. Work with a professional employer organization, employee leasing firm, or some other entity that will allow these workers to be consultants to your firm, but with the added flexibility of performing services ...

... the importance of control in the relationship between Producer and the insured. Enforcing Non-Piracy promises is like the high seas, always full of peril. Roy Phillips, CPIA, CIC, can be reached at Dan R. King & Associates, 4888 Loop Central Drive, Ste. 100A, Houston, TX 77081, (713) 667-0333, fax (713) 667-1560, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.kingphillips.com . Thomas M. Braniff, JD, CPCU can be reached at [email protected] . Login or ... court in the form of temporary injunctions to forbid the former employee from calling on the agency's customers. These pleadings protest "piracy" of this information. And courts have held that a reasonable agreement can prohibit the former employee from using this information to pirate the insureds away from the agency. The key word is "reasonable;" in some cases courts have held that time and geography are too broad in nature. However, we see the customer list as a valuable asset, in fact, a compilation of trade secrets. ... in which the insured wants to pay, the trail of audits, and the general financial condition of the firm over a period of time? Who are the clients? The vendors? Do they have insurance certificates that meet risk management requirements? If they use independent contractors, do they tend to use the same ones? Do those contractors really qualify as independent contractors, or are they subject to the auditor's calculator? There are still more questions, such as: What's the financial condition of the firm? Do they require bonding ...

...amp; Associates, 4888 Loop Central Drive, Ste. 100A, Houston, TX 77081, (713) ...

... in e-mail advertising, it can generate a backlash against spamming. Simultaneous with the delivery of the cards, place a lit sign in front of the agency (or in its window) that presents the same series of lines, one per day. People will find themselves driving past the agency just to see how the stanza develops. By the second or third week of the marketing program, your prospects will know who and where you are, and what products and services you offer. You'll be familiar to them. TARGETING CENTERS OF ... success. The reason that they plan for their vacations, but not for the success of their business, is Fear of Failure. If agents fear that performing the activities required to sell more insurance and build their retention rate would lead to disappointment, they might shy away from the process completely. They believe that their past successes are simply luck and that they can blame failures on others or on circumstances. They'll enjoy the successes of their business (whether due to their efforts or to accident), but if they don't assume ... a center of influence for you. FOCUSED TARGET MARKETING Finally, don't attempt to offer your services to every business in the area. Being all things to all people will make you a specialist' to none. Market yourself to one business segment at a time (contractors, retailers, professional offices, and so forth) as a specialist in their type of business — and watch your referrals, and sales, grow. E. Al Diamond is president of Agency Consulting Group, Inc., 507 North Kings Hwy., ...