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I am looking for a market in Florida that can write the Difference in Condition coverage over a Citizens Commercial Multi-Peril policy to pick up the Basic to Special Form. Seems like they have all disappeared in Florida. Any suggestions?

I have a challenging risk. He picks up completed taxidermy and delivers it to the hunter. He currently uses 2 large pickups and 3 28-32 foot trailers. I currently have him with Progressive. Since we issued the policy, the premium has increased $8500. That was once underwriting got a firm grasp on what was required. Now having had all of that settle out, I would really like to shop the coverages and see if we can decrease his premium at all. I've attached a pdf with the current coverages. I want to compare apples to apples, so if you can provide a quote please match the coverages currently in place. I sure hope that someone can help me help my client. Brian Cogan Asset Financial & Insurance Services

I'm going to tell you my one egg or two story. I think this story will help some agents with their sales. This is based on a true story, but I can't remember the names. But the names don't matter. One day a very smart sales person (named Mr R) had a great idea on how to increase the profit of Milkshakes sold at one of the biggest milkshake chains in America. This story takes place in the 1950's. Mr R, writes a letter to the company telling them his idea on how to increase the profit of their number one product milkshakes. Milkshakes cost about 5 cent each at the time. He wrote and told the owner how he could charge 8 cent for a milkshake if he would just add an egg to it. The owner decides to try this idea and see if it would work. The owner writes back Mr R and tells him that he tried his idea himself and when he asked the customers if they wanted an egg in their milkshake they all said no. He told Mr R that he had wished that this idea had work, and if it had, he would have paid him 1 cent on every milkshake sold. Mr R, writes him back and tells him he didn't use his idea correctly is the problem. So the owner if the milkshake place, invites him to his shop to explain what he is talking about. He shows up and tells him, that he would love to show him his idea personally. So the next customer walks in, comes to sit at the counter and Mr R asks him if he wants 1 egg or 2 in his milkshake. The client says, hmm, I guess I only want one. He charges him 8 cent for the milkshake. See the trick was not to ask the client if they wanted the egg, but to ask them if they wanted one or two eggs. He didn't give them the option to say he didn't want the egg in his milkshake, but just asked him how many he wanted. Mr X made millions from this simple idea. Now you're asking me what does this boring story has to do with selling life insurance. A lot of agents make the same mistake when selling life insurance. You are asking them if they want to buy this plan that you are showing them, instead of which of these 3 plans that I have before you do you wish to buy. The option should never be, either buy this or don't. Try saying which one of these three plans do you like. Here is my example. Client wants you to run him a quote on $200,000 worth of coverage and it cost $50.00 dollars a month. Don't make the mistake of only bring this one quote to the client. Go ahead and bring three different quotes. Bring this quote, but also bring a quote for like $150,000 for $40 a month. Also bring the quote for $250,000 for $65.00 a month. Let the client choose between the three. Sometimes he might chose the bigger policy when he see that he can get more coverage for just a little bit more a month, or he might not can afford what you are showing him and instead of saying he can't afford it and goodbye, he will pick the cheaper plan that he might can afford. I hope you can get something out of this story. Okay, now do you want one egg or two in your milkshake? A side note is that I tried putting an egg in my milkshake and it was not that bad. When I first got married my wife asked me if I wanted 1, 2, or 3 kids. She didn't ask me if I wanted to have kids.

A new look is in the works for the “Nutrition Facts” labels that are found on nearly every food package in grocery stores. Some changes that will be made are Calories will be in a larger bolder font. Serving sizes will be updated to be more realistic; will be easier to see if there are added sugars. When the labels were created two decades ago the main focus was Fat. People now focus on how many Calories they are eating. The serving size have long been misleading, with many single serving packages listing multiple servings, this was to make the calorie count lower. "Our guiding principle here is very simple, that you as a parent and a consumer should be able to walk into your local grocery store, pick up an item off the shelf and be able to tell whether it's good for your family," said first lady Michelle Obama, who joined the Food and Drug Administration. What do you think of this change? Is it too much for something that already works? Or do you think this is a well over due change that needs to be made?

Insurance producers who specialize in an industry or insurance product line tend to make more money than those who don’t. The same goes for agencies that encourage their producers to specialize bring in more revenue than those agencies that are content with generalization. Identify Areas of Focus An agency may already have areas of focus of which it is unaware. All they need to do is survey their book of business, Sitkins said. If there is an industry in which the agency has several accounts that is a good place to start because there is obviously a level of expertise within the organization to service those types of accounts, he said. Become an Expert “Prospects know very quickly if you know their business,” Sitkins said, so learning about the particulars of a line of business is imperative. Manage Change Staying dedicated to the business at hand is difficult for some agents, especially when an opportunity outside their expertise develops. Use Technology From researching a particular industry to using tablet computers in presentations to clients, the advantages of technology in the sales process are undeniable, Levins said. The “challenge is to pick the right data to tell the story.” For more information please visit: http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/midwest/2013/08/16/301983.htm