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... Online marketers quickly learned the value of offering "free shipping." That was a tipping point for customers. If the price was right, free shipping helped get the order. The same holds true of Internet service; whether at a coffee shop, an airport or a hotel, why pay for it when somewhere it's available free? After years of piling on "cash incentives," auto manufacturers called a halt when they lowered sticker prices. But when gasoline hit $3 a gallon, they hauled out a new round of bigger-than-ever discounts. At the same time, Toyota drew on its perceived value and quality strategy to attract buyers; this offers a good example of a customer-focused approach, rather than one that's nothing more than an inventory reduction tactic. 3. Make consistency the mission ... The red flag in marketing programs is a lack of consistency. There's always great enthusiasm for publishing a newsletter, holding seminars, developing a prospect database, advertising campaigns, direct mail, and all the rest, but there's no follow-through; no one's around to make the coffee. When you get to the core of marketing, the objective is to raise a company's visibility in ways that produce a positive emotional response from customers and prospects. If you recall how many times you tell your kids to clean up their rooms, to put on their coats when they go out to play and to be sure to be home on time, you understand the marketing task. It's all about telling the same story over and over again in new and different ways to get attention. Although Oscar Wilde held ...

... granted to the non-owner producer. The expirations are, in fact, the agency's trade secrets: Any attempt by a competing agency to employ the customer list is piracy, and may be estopped by the courts. What's a trade secret'? The Law Journal defines a trade secret as confidential information that provides a business with competitive advantage. Types of information that may constitute trade secrets include formulas, manufacturing techniques, customer lists, pricing information, cost information, and supplier identity. Why elicit trench warfare over a departing producer who enjoys a goodwill relationship with his or her accounts? The clients' main concern is, How can I trust an agency and their producer to take care of my business when they can't even get along? ' Such disputes are often resolved with a buy-sell parachute' ... has a vested interest in the determination of fair market value, diminished or not. Case F: We Gave Them Everything-Then They Left We represented the carrier for years and trusted their management. For years, we'd been on their trips, received good profit sharing and commissions, and provided good loss ratios and increasing premiums on a well-spread basis. They said they'd be there for us over the long haul, and we believed them. But when they left the state, they said they had to look at the entire territory, and not just at our book of (profitable) business. Afterwards, the companies we'd reduced didn't want to have much to do with us when we tried to remarket the business. This is a worst-case scenario: The agency without available markets for its client base has ...