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... Selling Attitude (PSA) is a fundamental approach to making sales. PSA is emerging from a clear understanding of how customers think, as well as from the expectations of suppliers and vendors. Only those who are brutally honest with themselves really make it in sales - this means admitting that it is getting more difficult to "make the sale." The obstacles to success are everywhere. Automated telephone systems serve as an impenetrable wall. The fear of making a wrong decision creates endless delays and false starts. The world is moving forward - which rules out the possibility of ever having a replay of the past. Those waiting for the economy to shake off the recession blues and customers to start buying again are probably going to be in for a surprise. It's a new game in a different stadium filled with a new group of fans. Everything previously known applies only in new ways, with new slants and new twists. For instance, the idea that meeting a customer's expectations is the way to get and keep business has become the commonly accepted starting point, not the goal. A customer's primary interest is the vendor company, not the particular product or service being purchased. What the customer is buying' today is a partner. If an agency or brokerage is not selling partnering, it's not going to make sales. To dramatize the selling situation, the so-called tried-and-true axioms of sales have been canceled. They're history, and those who continue to act as if the old axioms are still true will also become dust. The following are components of PSA: Customers are more important ...

...n involved in building municipal stadiums and arenas. After the sale by the co...

... in structure is its effect on the liability and responsibility of individual entities over time. Financial transactions and business are not point' occurrences but occur over a period of time and place, often with a change or shift in players. The holding company, in its efforts to move aggressively into more promising areas, may be involved in: new states new operations untried areas contractual efforts involving new laws non-financial problems activities with new partners or joint ventures changes in pension plans and overall employee benefits areas the merging of workers compensation programs. The historical liability exposures, attitudes, and protections available will not be equivalent or applicable to new situations. The following situations should illustrate the potential complexity of this area. Situation 1 A conglomerate purchases and subsequently sells a construction company which has been involved in building municipal stadiums and arenas. After the sale by the conglomerate, a defect is discovered at a prior location-the construction of which occurred before the purchase of the company by the conglomerate. The replacement costs resulting from necessary repairs as a result of the defect will run upwards of $10 million. The risk manager should consider the following questions in trying to evaluate the liability of the conglomerate and the ways in which its insurance program, over time, may or may not have addressed the appropriate protection of such a contingency: What did the conglomerate purchase? What did the conglomerate sell? Are these equivalent? How do you know? Situation 2 A company acquires two other organizations, each of which has its own pension and employee benefit program. One involves a multi-employer trust, the other a defined benefit ...