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Salvaging Your Investment After The Earthquak...

Salvaging Clients/Prospects In A Stagnant Economy
SALVAGING CLIENTS/PROSPECTS IN A STAGNANT ECO...

... apartment owners Back Apartment Owners - "How Many Hats Do You Wear?" This content has not been rated yet. CompleteMarkets Editor 3/25/2014 12:00:00 AM Dear (Customer Name): HOW MANY HATS DO YOU WEAR? Many apartment owners find themselves saddled with more work than they bargained for.. All Articles by CompleteMarkets Editor Comments (0 ) Apartment Owners - "We'Re The Local Specialists" This content has not been rated yet. CompleteMarkets Editor 4/30/2013 10:37:47 PM APARTMENT OWNERS - WE'RE THE LOCAL SPECIALISTS' Dear (Customer Name): YOU'VE GOT MORE TO WORRY ABOUT . . . than the average property owner - if you're not insured with (Your Agency .. All Articles by CompleteMarkets Editor Comments (0 ) Salvaging Your Investment After The Earthquake This content has not been rated yet. CompleteMarkets Editor , John Barclay 4/30/2013 12:00:00 AM SALVAGING YOUR INVESTMENT AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE by John Barclay, Esq. The Northridge earthquake has resulted in billions of dollars of property damage. Insurance, private assistance, and public assis.. All Articles by CompleteMarkets Editor Comments (0 ) x No Thanks Loading.. Loading.. x No Thanks Loading.. ...

... complete most actuarial analyses: Historical first dollar loss experience displayed in a triangular format whose corners are incurred losses, paid losses, and claim counts. Further divisions may include pure loss/ALAE, indemnity/medical, bodily injury/property damage, and total counts (including those with only costs) . For Workers Compensation, a breakdown of losses by state is necessary because of the varying state benefit levels. A current loss run on tape, diskette, or hard copy. Your exposure to loss such as payroll, sales and number of vehicles for all completed and projected policy periods. Policy periods for which data is available. Per-occurrence and aggregate limitations for all policy periods. Information on whether allocated loss adjustment expenses are included within or are in addition to the loss limitation. Indicate whether salvage and subrogation have an impact on losses. ARE THERE WAYS TO SAVE TIME AND MONEY? Planning ahead is the most effective way to minimize the cost of any actuarial project. The following items should be considered as early in the process as possible: If a presentation is required, decide early in the project to minimize travel expenses. You may accomplish a significant portion of the project over the phone (which is a money saver), but do not discount the value of a face-to-face meeting when the results need to be distributed to several people. Coordinate with the data provider to streamline the process. Provide as much data at the start of the project as possible. Even if the project is months away, initiate the data-gathering process as soon as it becomes feasible. Offer multi-year contracts ...

... 4. Be serious about having fun. Dunkin' Donuts does a lot of things right. Having fun with the products must be near the top of the list. Dunkin' Donuts products are popular because the company has made them enjoyable. Without question, the donut, a product that historically borne the label of sinker' because it was heavy, ' has been made light, airy, and even healthier by having fun with it. People flock to fun! This may be one reason why there are traffic jams around Dunkin' Donut shops between 7:30 and 8:30 a.m. every day. Fun is serious business. With annual sales pushing toward the $100 million mark, Gerald Elovitz, a.k.a. Jerry Ellis, has created a highly profitable business out of insurance salvage by selling good stuff cheap. For more than a decade, New Englanders searching for a bargain have flocked to his Building #19 stores (the first location was actually Building #19 in a World War II shipyard) . This adroit, tightfisted, shrewd, and extremely funny businessman has capitalized on the fact that customers get excited and buy if they're having a good time within a store that is serious about having fun. 5. Get realistic about your organization. It's important to look big if you're in business. Such nonsense just proves that repeating an idea often enough gives it a life of its own. Little businesses try to look bigger; so do the bigger and even the biggest companies. Bigger than big seems to be the goal, since an extraordinary amount of energy is spent ...

... for eliciting good suggestions. Here's what I found really works: Before an agency-wide or brokerage meeting, ask all employees to come with one written suggestion on how office efficiency might be improved. It's that simple! You will be amazed at the practical suggestions that are offered. Another time try asking for two ideas on how employees' particular jobs can be made easier. The agency meeting that follows then provides a good opportunity to discuss some of these suggestions and how they can be put into practice. Suggestions that are not immediately usable should also be mentioned to the group with an explanation of why they cannot be used at the present time. This way appreciation is shown for all employee efforts. In fact, sometimes a discussion ensues among the employees on how the initially rejected idea can be salvaged. At various meetings, suggestions can be called for on ways to improve customer service, to streamline a particular office procedure, to better utilize the automation system, or improve the sales process. To show that you really value employee viewpoints, you may choose to offer an incentive for participating in this project - such as a lunch certificate. This is not necessary, however. Once employees see that their ideas are considered seriously, that in itself motivates them to conscientiously offer their observations. Whether or not you offer incentives, try soliciting your employees' opinions as a means of continually improving your operations. Login or Register (for FREE) to gain access to thousands of other great articles. Need more reasons to join? Need insurance for you, your business or your family? ...

... because you have been able to observe their work habits and knowledge first hand. When setting goals and detailing the action plan, however, your personal experience with the person may be a hindrance. You may be tempted to gear the objective to what they have been able to accomplish in the past. Forget about what has (or has not) happened and focus the goal setting on what you would expect a new employee with the same level of education and experience to accomplish. This process will provide both the agency and the producer with the opportunity to make a fresh start. The agency's lackadaisical approach to sales management may have been a major cause of the producer's failure to produce as well as you both had hoped. By providing the direction and guidance now, you may be able to salvage this person's potential and turn him or her into a more valuable member of the team. At the very least, you will be setting up a program that will allow you to fairly and legally rid the agency of costly dead wood. An integral part of the new relationship with the producers will be the agency's specific definition of what it wants producers to sell since it makes sense to have them concentrate on accounts that they have a good chance of attracting and retaining. This means that you have to review the current appetites of the major carriers and decide whether the producer should be a generalist or whether he or she should specialize in a certain type or size of account or in a particular line of business. It is important to consider the producer's own experience and desires, but the ...

... morning of potential producers met during the previous week. For every producer hired through this program, the referring agent would get 10% of first-year commissions. Your competitors can also provide you with sales recruits. In many cases, successful producers with other agencies may be dissatisfied with their current situation and looking for an opportunity to reach their full potential. There may be legal problems if the producer's current employer is located in the same area, particularly if he or she entered a covenant not to compete. Even if there is no covenant, some agencies are reluctant to create ill-will by hiring a producer from a competitor. However, if there are no legal or social obstacles, dissatisfied producers from another agency could make ideal candidates. As a rule, though, you should be wary of attempting to salvage producers who have not succeeded in other agencies, since it is difficult to ascertain the reasons for their ineffectiveness. The same warning applies to walk-in recruits. Insurance companies have traditionally been a major source of producer recruits. Many agencies prefer to hire company people because of their technical knowledge and the image they project, even though they are not usually trained in sales. Since the companies are such a well-mined source, an innovative approach is needed to get their attention. Show your company contact the job description. Then ask for the name of the one person inside or outside the company who would best fit that position. Stress that this person has probably never told anyone that he or she is looking for a job. The specific job description and the focus on one person should make it ...

... and Health insurance involves Errors & Omissions exposures that require special guidelines. "I've heard I should do business only with insured agents or subproducers. Why?" It's prudent to do business with individuals who consider E&O important because they're generally more professional in their understanding of protecting business and personal assets. If they're concerned enough about errors to buy E&O , they're probably also implementing stronger in-house controls to prevent such errors. Few agents buy E&O as a safety net for recklessness. Second, in the event of a claim, your E&O will be less impacted if there's another carrier to share in the losses. Errors do happen, and if you suffer a claim with a valued agent who has collectible insurance, chances are your relationship with this agent will be salvaged. If the agent has to pocket the claim, they might go out of business or at odds with the agency. Also, you don't want to be in a position of being the "deep pocket" if one of your subproducers is uninsured, especially if that producer has provided you with very little business. "What do I do if I'm sued?" First, consider any demand for payment a claim. Don't wait until you receive a court summons and complaint to contact your E&O carrier. Any delay on your part in advising the carrier, which places the carrier in a less advantageous position and, perhaps jeopardizes their rights, can possibly nullify your policy. If your policy deductible doesn't apply to defense, placing your carrier on notice won't cost you anything. ...

... don't write do you want to write? Are there contiguous marketing areas that provide greater diversity and additional sales opportunities without significantly adding to expenses? How productive are your employees? Divide total agency revenues (not premiums) by the total number of people, including owners and producers) . If this revenue per employee figure is below $100,000 you might be overstaffed; if the figure is more than $150,000, you might be understaffed. Divide total revenues by the number of producers (including owners involved in sales) . The average agency has around $300,000 in revenues per producer. Where do you stand in relation to that figure? Do you have producers who have not yet validated but who have been with you longer than 1.5 years? Can they be salvaged? How? What are the professional growth needs of your current or prospective employees? Can you meet these training needs in-house? What types of programs do your associations have to offer? Can you take advantage of insurance company programs to train producers? Are producers geared to handle a high volume of new business effectively? There's no sense bringing in business if you can't process it efficiently. Make a complete review of all procedures to determine where there might be a duplication of efforts or unnecessary steps. What do your carriers want to write? Many companies are providing guidelines for agents to direct them into writing preferred types of business. Review these guidelines and contact your branch managers and underwriters to find out what they can and will write on a competitive basis. Do all your companies want the ...