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...to go out to a large audiences, to play the game of large numbers," says Glass...g away at the role the expense factor plays in pricing the insurance product, ...

...t vertical marketing segments into play. Here they are:   Attending tr...have better control over housing costs and retain top-quality producers, targe...

... seemed like a waste of money. We were wrong! Just get on any type of public transportation and what do you see? Almost everyone is clearly a prospective iPad customer. Thumbs are going at incredible speed, while others are talking on their cell phones, playing games on a smartphone or watching movies on a hand-held device. With white earbuds everywhere, it was all about music. Rather than a marketing mistake, bus stops can provide a perfect advertising venue for promoting the iPad. Contrast all this with the huge number ... ad, its message or its utility. Failing to have a marketing plan and spend time thinking through how each component fits into the overall picture is a tragic and costly mistake that wastes valuable marketing dollars. 3. All marketing is individual. The late U.S. House Speaker "Tip" O'Neil held that "all politics is local." Such advice applies to marketing. For decades, marketing often used a broadbrush approach: advertise in major daily newspapers, network TV stations and national magazines, and then toss in billboards and ... mail to the mix, just to make sure. By 2000, such an approach was dead and technology threw in the last shovel of dirt. The ability to gather, analyze and use enormous amounts of consumer data has pushed the bar to the point that all marketing is individual. With companies empowering customers to manage their individual marketing protocols, it's all about the individual - and will become even more so. Today's customers aren't flooded with random marketing messages. The only messages Amazon.com customers receive are those that fit their profile. ...

... are talking on their cell phones, playing games on a smartphone or watching m...m Communications, a marketing services and sales consulting firm. He writes for a variety of business publications and speaks on business, marketing and sales issues. Contact: 40 Oval Road...

...ffective sales system can play a key role in keeping you ahead of the hard market curve — and building your bottom line. ...

... number of agencies that have employment contracts with their producers. Now 62% of rural agencies report having contracts (up from 53% two years ago), and 77% of urban agencies have written agreements with salespeople (up from 68%) . Producer vesting plays a role in 27% of the rural agency relationships and 35% of the city agencies. To get an idea of what expectations agency principals currently have for a new producer, we asked respondents to give us the level of commissions that they'd expect a salesperson ... of the urban salespeople do. For those who are paid on a commission basis, the following charts present the current average rates. Note that these are nationwide averages and not recommended sales compensation percentages. They may indeed be too high for most firms if there's little house business or if the owners expect the agency to produce a reasonable profit. Some agencies provide little or no backup support to producers, while others have technically proficient CSRs, sales centers, and marketing assistance. These extra support expenses must be taken into account when ... and brokers employ 705,700 people and pay an average of $35,000 per year, which includes the return on ownership generally taken out by principals of privately held firms. Although the rate of increase in employment for insurance agencies has been comparable to the nation as a whole in the past decade (3.7%), the Alliance of American Insurers believes that the increase in available agency jobs will steadily decrease until 2005, when it will be only 0.2% . Advances in technology and office automation as well as business ...

... The presentation should address not only loss exposures and insurance remedies, but also offer the prospect information on the unique services the agency provides. These are the basic requirement for training and managing salespeople. The combination of a systematic marketing program with an effective sales system can play a key role in keeping you ahead of the hard market curve — and building your bottom line. Jack Fries can be reached at Fries & Fries Consulting, P.O. Box 66, Alexandria, KY 41001, phone (859) 441-4528, fax ... enjoy the benefit of using your client's name as a referring party. Third-party recommendations always have a greater impact than a cold call. Telemarketing , the other method of marketing, can be combined with the reverse referral method or used separately. You can do telemarketing in house, or outsource it to a professional firm such as National Marketing Services . Although some excellent agencies are able to train and manage in-house telemarketers, most agencies use outside pros for this function. Telemarketing requires creating a list of names of prospects, either referrals gathered ... the reverse referral method or purchased from a list vendor. Using the latter requires some advanced work; the list must be cleaned and the telemarketer needs to determine whom to call. Once the final list is compiled, the telemarketer must secure X-dates and set appointments for the producer. Before these appointments are made, each producer must agree to call on a certain number of prospects per week and give the telemarketer the number of leads that they need and the days and times that they'll be able to make the calls. The telemarketer ...