Search CompleteMarkets

...sional, do you have professional liability and malpractice coverage (CPA, doct... Are you concerned about estate tax liability if you were to die prematurely? ...

...e provision; the Rental Property Liability coverage with a Pollution exclusion...

... one of the three sections. 18,322 pieces of mail will be mishandled in the next hour. 291 pacemaker operations will be performed incorrectly this year. 880,000 credit cards in circulation will turn out to have incorrect cardholder information on their magnetic strips. $9 ,690 will be spent today, tomorrow, next Thursday, and every day in the future on defective, often unsafe sporting equipment. 55 malfunctioning ATMs will be installed in the next 12 months. 20,000 incorrect drug prescriptions will be written in the nest 12 months. 114,500 mismatched pairs of shoes will be shipped this year. $761,900 will be spent in the next 12 months on tapes and CDs that won't play. 107 incorrect medical procedures will be performed by the end of the ... margin for error? It could even be called something impressive and positive sounding- acceptable quality level, ' for example. But as too many American businesses have learned, the idea of an acceptable' level of mistakes, errors, waste, spoilage-and consequently a corresponding level of disgruntled customers-is a trap that can lure an otherwise well-meaning company into the kind of corporate quicksand where size and strength can become a liability instead of an advantage. The only acceptable quality level, say those who have been charting a course back to competitive excellence, is 100% . That's the standard of measurement. The rationale is simple: Set a standard at 95%, and people figure they're doing fine as long as they're at or near it. In the language of the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award, however, ...

... approach, the client will perceive the entire agency team as servicing the account, rather than one producer, and the agency has a better chance of keeping the account should the producer depart. We define recurring expenses as expenses necessary to support the generation and retention of insurance related income. We excluded such unnecessary expenses as country club dues, automobile leases for non-employee family members, and season tickets to sporting events. We also exclude non-recurring expenses. These might include professional fees for changes to an employee benefit program, one-time purchases of major office equipment, or producer commissions paid for non-recurring Life income. TRACKING DOWN EXPENSES Because adjusting for unnecessary and non-recurring expense items benefits owners when valuing an agency, keeping track of these items is critical. Some expenses, such as country club dues and season tickets ... components: Earnings Value and Tangible Net Worth. An agency's Earnings Value is the value attributed to its ongoing operations. To derive earnings value, we multiply an agency's sustainable earnings capacity, the bottom line, ' as demonstrated in its income statement, by a subjective multiple determined through an analysis of the inherent risk factors of the agency. Tangible Net Worth is the sum of the tangible assets less liabilities. One caveat is that industry convention typically expresses an agency's purchase price as a multiple of revenue. This often causes people to assume incorrectly that an agency's value is derived by utilizing a multiple of revenue. However, as we've just noted, an agency's value isn't based on revenue, but on what that revenue produces in terms of Sustainable Earnings. In a nutshell, sustainable earnings are the ...

...o the prospects. If you sponsor a sports team, take pictures and send them to ...

...ising. Gambling, monitoring sports scores, or playing electronic games. ...sure the ongoing availability and reliability of these systems. If during the ...

... But then the carrier doubled its sports car rates and practically put me out ...

...young, newly licensed driver or a sports car is added), the carrier might non-...

... they can't deal with profitably to other agencies that can. As part of the creation of this new sales culture, use your advertising and promotional dollars wisely. For a niche market program, put ads in magazines to which businesses are likely to subscribe. In Personal Lines, take pictures of homes in areas that you want to write business and send them to the prospects. If you sponsor a sports team, take pictures and send them to family members to try to generate even more goodwill. Forget sending calendars or other promotional items. These don't seem to work well anymore. Find other more personal ways to reach the audience that your agency wants to impress. CLIENT ORIENTATION The new type of agency sales culture focuses on the client rather than the producer. Hire a qualified service person to ... , the end result might not be what the principals want to take on. Go back to your original business plan and make sure that this choice fits with what all the owners want, both personally and for the agency. FINANCIAL STABILITY Remember that the financial stability of the firm is critical both for external and internal perpetuation options. You must maintain a current ratio (current assets divided by current liabilities) in excess of 1.1:1 . The trust ratio that's usually measured by dividing current assets by insurance company accounts payable (including pre-billed items) should be above 110% . Otherwise the agency could be out of trust and thus have little value to any buyer. If you want to operate as a going concern in the future, having enough working capital is critical. Another measurement of ...

... they can't deal with profitably to other agencies that can. As part of the creation of this new sales culture, use your advertising and promotional dollars wisely. For a niche market program, put ads in magazines to which businesses are likely to subscribe. In Personal Lines, take pictures of homes in areas that you want to write business and send them to the prospects. If you sponsor a sports team, take pictures and send them to family members to try to generate even more goodwill. Forget sending calendars or other promotional items. These don't seem to work well anymore. Find other more personal ways to reach the audience that your agency wants to impress. CLIENT ORIENTATION The new type of agency sales culture focuses on the client rather than the producer. Hire a qualified service person to ... , the end result might not be what the principals want to take on. Go back to your original business plan and make sure that this choice fits with what all the owners want, both personally and for the agency. FINANCIAL STABILITY Remember that the financial stability of the firm is critical both for external and internal perpetuation options. You must maintain a current ratio (current assets divided by current liabilities) in excess of 1.1:1 . The trust ratio that's usually measured by dividing current assets by insurance company accounts payable (including pre-billed items) should be above 110% . Otherwise the agency could be out of trust and thus have little value to any buyer. If you want to operate as a going concern in the future, having enough working capital is critical. Another measurement of ...