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... doesn't receive more attention. The good news: Sloppy industries are ripe for agencies that can deliver quality! Let's first establish the extent of the sloppiness. Insurers manufacture only paper and when claims occur, they manufacture checks and legal defense. Some sophisticated agencies manufacture loss control (risk management) The industry does not manufacture complex machines. In fact, even the forms used are usually standard, boilerplate commodities. Yet, there are insurance companies that can't print and mail, or even e-mail a policy before the effective date, even on renewals where nothing changes. These policies are not merely a day late, a week late, or sometimes even just a month late. I have personally received my business owners policy (BOP) renewal nine months late. That's a longer delay than a space shuttle launch. Keep in mind the complexity of a space shuttle. My BOP had one custom item: my name. That's sloppy. Agencies spend small fortunes checking insurance policies delivered by carriers and brokers for errors. They do this because the error rate is still too high. Years ago, after writing an article about carrier error rates, I received a call from the head of quality control for a major insurer, told me that her company never made mistakes. I have told this story many times to agents, especially agents who represent this company. They roar with laughter; they know better. One reason this industry is so sloppy is that denial is the favorite reaction of too many insurance executives. Of course, this makes these companies vulnerable to smarter competition because it's tough to ...

... roads in Europe and England for their legions. Some of the roads are still in use. And the ruts in the roads? Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made for (or by) Imperial Rome, they all had the same wheel spacing. Specifications and bureaucracies live forever. The U.S. standard railroad gauge of 4 feet 8.5 inches has its origins in the specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot. The chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the back ends of two war horses. So the next time you see an odd specification and wonder what horse's derriere came up with it, you might be exactly right. Here's the twist to the story: When a space shuttle is on its launch pad, it has two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters (SRBs) . Thiokol Propulsion makes the SRBs at its factory in Utah. The engineers who designed them would've made them a bit fatter, but the SRBs travel from the factory to the launch site by train. The railroad line from the factory runs through a tunnel in the mountains. The SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track is just wide enough to accommodate two horses' behinds. So a major design feature of what is arguably the world's most advanced transportation system was determined more than 2,000 years go — by the width of a horse's derriere! ...

... roads in Europe and England for their legions. Some of the roads are still in use. And the ruts in the roads? Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made for (or by) Imperial Rome, they all had the same wheel spacing. Specifications and bureaucracies live forever. The U.S. standard railroad gauge of 4 feet 8.5 inches has its origins in the specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot. The chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the back ends of two war horses. So the next time you see an odd specification and wonder what horse's derriere came up with it, you might be exactly right. Here's the twist to the story: When a space shuttle is on its launch pad, it has two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters (SRBs) . Thiokol Propulsion makes the SRBs at its factory in Utah. The engineers who designed them would've made them a bit fatter, but the SRBs travel from the factory to the launch site by train. The railroad line from the factory runs through a tunnel in the mountains. The SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track is just wide enough to accommodate two horses' behinds. So a major design feature of what is arguably the world's most advanced transportation system was determined more than 2,000 years go — by the width of a horse's derriere! ...

... x No Thanks Loading.. Even If It's Not Raining You Need an Umbrella 10/26/2018 by Erin Carlson This content has not been rated yet. You own your home, have your own business, and drive a new car. Though you are not rich, you are comfortable. It will be a shame to lose it all if someone sustains injuries by your car or at your home or place of business. You have insurance you say; you have standard auto liability insurance. The limits are $100,000 for a single person and a total of $300,000 for multiple people. Suppose you are responsible for any accident involving a shuttle taking ten people to the airport. Three hundred thousand dollars allows on average $10,000 per person. That is hardly enough to cover the emergency room fees let alone any surgery, rehabilitation, lost wages and other medical expenses. If there is a fatality, you may consider bankruptcy. Your business has a small storefront on a busy street. A middle-aged executive comes into your place of business following a rainstorm. Your floor is wet and slippery, and the executive slips and falls. He strikes his head, loses consciousness, and goes into a coma. Your general business liability insurance has the same limit as your auto insurance - $100,000. It may cover part of the hospital bill, but the official says he is permanently disabled and sues you for future wages for $1 million. Since your business is a sole proprietorship, bankruptcy beckons. Your son invites a friend over ...

... the fastest route between two points, you might be missing some interesting scenery. Jack Burke illustrates the importance of approaching your problems and possible solutions with an open mind. I seldom write about employee issues, but as I emphasize in the book Creating Customer Connections your employees are your primary customers. How you treat them is how they treat your customers! Every owner, no matter how enlightened, can relate to employee problems and morale issues. A former employer turned client was experiencing just such problems and I'd like to share how we arrived at a creative solution. You might or might not identify with the problem or the solution, but I hope that you'll see the value of using creative problem solving to break out of the traditional envelope. In the mid-80s National Coach Corp., a shuttle bus manufacturer, was recovering from an automotive recession while simultaneously dealing with substantial growth issues. All of this resulted in a concerted effort to maintain high visibility on a face-to-face basis with their clients. This meant that the sales division was spending a lot more time on the road than usual. THE PROBLEM Although the commissioned' sales executives were making a lot of money (more contact = more sales), morale was dropping to an all-time low. The spouses were extremely agitated over the increased travel time. Their complaints were taking a heavy toll of emotional stress on the sales personnel. So the problem was: How do you fix a personal family issue that involves non-employees, occurs mostly in the homes — not the worksite — and results from actions that are absolutely essential to corporate survival ...