https://completemarkets.com/Article/article-post/1518/Confronting-Substance-Abuse-In-Small-Business/
...ent/insurance, and drug testing. Workshops were conducted for each type of org...abuse were obtained in six regional workshops held with small business representatives. Summaries from the regional workshops are contained in appendices to t...
https://completemarkets.com/Article/article-post/2547/Trained-Vs-Untrained-Listener
... thought. Question #13 Untrained listener: You're not aware of the talking/listening "speed limits" mismatch. If someone is speaking at a different speed than you are, you're more likely not to stay connected with that person's line of thinking, lose their main point, and focus on a tangent. Trained listener: You maintain the customer's talking speed to maximize rapport. How did you rate — and what can you do to make yourself a more effective trained listener? Lynn Thomas, JD, is president of 21st Century Management Consulting, 56 A Charlesbank Way, Waltham, MA 02453-2519. She can be reached by phone at (781) 899-4210, fax (781) 899-0707, or e-mail [email protected] . This quiz is based on information taken from Thomas' one-day workshop "Communication: The Essential Ingredient to Success." The workshop covers other important aspects of communication, such as how to handle the upset, talkative, and argumentative caller; and powerful words and phrases to be an effective communicator. Thomas offers this workshop to agencies and for conventions on a customized basis only. 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? Get quality appointments - Save yourself a whole lot of time & money when you use our directory of carriers, wholesalers and service providers. Negotiate lucrative contracts with carriers and wholesalers. Net result. More revenue for your agency! Clients & Prospects will research you, your co-workers and your agency here ...
https://completemarkets.com/Article/article-post/62/25-Marketing-Ideas-You%E2%80%99ve-Probably-Never-Considered-Using-Before/
...keting campaign around your Web workshops. Even if attendance is light, the f...
https://completemarkets.com/Article/article-post/699/Keep-Ethics-In-Customer-Service/
...minars, and continuing education workshops on ethics in most states. Find them...
https://completemarkets.com/Article/article-post/223/10-Tips-For-Renewal-Retention/
... always publishing newsletters, handbooks, pamphlets about legislation, risk management, and safety, and other informational materials. Most of these are free. Order a supply from a carrier and distribute them to your clients in person or by mail. At the same time, discuss any exposures they might have or schedule an engineering audit by the carrier, to save the client some anxious moments regarding compliance. Who knows, you might even write some new coverage as a result of the visit! Of course, the same principle applies to e-communications: promotions, informational newsletters, etc. 7. Let clients know about new developments that might affect their operations. Many current events affect the insurance industry. Send copies of some of this material to your clients. You might even consider doing a seminar or workshop on the subject for selected clients or groups of clients. Some call this “seminar selling;” whatever it's called, this is a form of communication that tells the client that you're a professional and a leader in your field — and that your agency reflects this leadership. 8. Hire and develop “people people.” People skills include nurturing, bonding, empathy, and advocacy. Any relationship you have with a client should be pleasant and display professionalism, service, and concern. You as an agency principal should expect no less than this from your staff. This means talking to — not down to — clients, and projecting a friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable image. Although this takes time, it costs very little, and ...
https://completemarkets.com/Article/article-post/2190/Playing-Team/
...'ve been asked to do a number of workshops on team building. These principles ...
https://completemarkets.com/Article/article-post/698/Customer-Service-Mickey-Mouse-Style/
... x No Thanks Loading.. Customer Service, Mickey Mouse Style 4/30/2013 by CompleteMarkets Editor , Karen Flaherty This content has not been rated yet. Ask most agency owners what distinguishes their firm from the competition and the answer is almost always, We give the best service. Yet if you ask them what they mean by service, ' they have a hard time giving an explanation. I've always found it amazing that in an industry where we constantly claim that we sell service, ' we have no common words to define it, no standardized system to measure it, no performance guidelines to enforce it, and no evaluation system to monitor it. More than 65% of the CSRs I've surveyed say they've never attended a workshop or read a book on customer service skills. What's even more astonishing is that the main quality control system for customer service in the agency business is Errors & Omissions insurance. As an industry, we need to do more and do better at service. We should take lessons from customer service leaders like the Walt Disney Co. Disney theme parks get consistently high marks for service, despite the fact that they deliver that service via a young, minimum-wage staff who work in the blazing sun amid continually changing, technically sophisticated attractions, and which cost guests more money in a few hours than most of them earn in an entire week. To further credit Disney, realize that they serve thousands of first-time customers each day plus thousands of repeat customers who expect more and better service with each visit. Our job seems pretty easy in comparison. Our agencies ...
https://completemarkets.com/Article/article-post/790/Using-Publicity-To-Enhance-Your-AgencyS-Image/
... niche market, how you used automation to increase productivity and profitability, or how creative sales ideas have benefited the firm and customers. Once the article is published, make reprints to include with your direct mailings to prospects and to insert into your customers' monthly statements. The article positions you as a professional expert. And people like dealing with pros. If writing isn't your forte, contact community or trade associations about public speaking. Many IIAA or PIA chapters require panel members or speakers at local meetings. Community groups are always looking for capable luncheon speakers. Get your name on their lists. Of course, your topic will recount one of your agency's recent successes. Contact your automation vendor and volunteer to be interviewed whenever their newsletter needs a customer testimonial or profile. Volunteer to conduct a workshop at a regional or national users group meeting. Participate with the vendor's product committee. These activities provide free press that can increase your book of business and your value to the insurance community. Regularly evaluate your publicity program to determine its effectiveness. Conduct a before-and-after survey to evaluate gains. For instance, first call several people in the community and ask what they know about your insurance agency. After three to six months of organized publicity, make more calls to see how awareness improved. In a soft insurance market, you must find cost-effective advertising to keep your agency's name in front of prospects and customers. Obtaining publicity is one way to do this. Reprinted with permission from American Agent & Broker, March 1993. Login or Register (for FREE) to gain access to thousands of ...
https://completemarkets.com/Article/article-post/403/Employees-Should-Be-Your-First-Clients/
... has not been rated yet. Businesses spend billions of dollars every year to attract and retain clients. On a daily basis, owners and managers shout, "Whatever it takes, we need the business!" When a good client makes a request, we bend over backward to fulfill it. Yet, how quick are employers to treat their employees with the same consideration as a top client? All too often, as employers, we forget that our first clients are our employees. How we treat them is exactly how they in turn treat our clients! If this truth is a bit too philosophical for pragmatists, one only need look at the extremely tight job market, combined with the high costs of training and turnover, to connect bottom-line reality to the nurturing of employees. During a workshop at Automation Management Group's High-TECC Conference, I compiled a list of 10 ways in which a company can enhance its employee relationships, while also providing a learning climate for ever-changing technology: Design Internet scavenger hunts to promote electronic research. This is a fun way of motivating employees to learn their way around the cyber world - and gain valuable information on a variety of topics from management to social marketing. Use company-wide e-mail to honor employee performance. Everyone likes to be recognized, and this reinforces your company's commitment to the electronic world. Establish an electronic suggestion box. This offers the younger, more computer aware members of your company an opportunity to expand your technological horizons. These people were born into the computer generation and can offer some excellent and creative ideas. Publish an electronic version of your ...
https://completemarkets.com/Article/article-post/58/Stratch-Their-I-T-C-H-%E2%80%93-Watch-People-Beat-A-Path-To-Your-Door/
... ) . The person who sends the highest quality-driven messages most frequently wins hearts, minds - and pocketbooks. Top copywriters earn $5 ,000 to $15,000 to write an ad, plus a percentage of the sales the ad pulls. Why? Because a copywriter's ad can earn 10 times or 100 times the copywriter's fee. Professional speakers are highly paid people (I'm one of them) . Celebrity speakers can earn $25,000 to $100,000 to speak for one hour (I'm not one of them - yet!) . I've been paid $10,000 to speak for 45 minutes, and have earned $20,000 in a weekend. Companies pay tens of thousands of dollars for consulting and training their people. Why? R-E-S-U-L-T-S! A skill-building workshop, seminar, or competency-based training can generate or lead to hundreds of thousands in additional sales, revenues, and profit. Companies (and individuals) pay a lot because they get a lot more in return. Communic-ability is a highly valued and rewarded life skill. Improve your Communic-ability. Send clear and compelling messages that people understand and can act upon. Ask people what they want, and listen with empathy. Communicate often with customers and your target audience. Help In an interdependent world, everyone needs help, advice, guidance, and counsel. Providing a source of Support-ability to others puts you on the side of the angels. There's a new model of leadership-ability for this new millennium. The days of the authoritative patriarch as leader are gone: A 21st-century leader must a servant-leader. ...