Latest Chris Burand Headlines
All the headlines from our Chris Burand Topic Page, ordered by recency.
If You’re Not Growing, You’re Shrinking
Dec 21 2020 // This familiar euphemism has so much truth embedded in it. Like most robust age-old truisms, humans – and in particular, people in charge – will continually argue they are growing when they are not and/or argue...
The Un-Strategy
Nov 16 2020 // I have been legitimately and constructively criticized for spending too much time in my seminars describing the issue at hand, building urgency to change and identifying what people are doing wrong. The advice I’ve...
How Many Screwdrivers Do You Need?
Oct 19 2020 // If you do not do much home or auto maintenance or build furniture, or in general, you just don’t do much with hand tools for any reason, then you probably only need two screwdrivers — a Phillips #2 and a...
Producer Heroes
Sep 21 2020 // I received a nice email from a reader asking me to write about how important it is to support good producers and how good producers should be heroes rather than grouping all producers as anti-heroes. He provided the...
Why the Shotgun Approach Is Nearing Obsoletion
Aug 24 2020 // On the one hand, the shotgun approach to selling insurance has an incredibly bright future with the automated quoting systems available to the public (see Policygenius’ Series D round of $100 million, pitchbook.com)....
Are You Really Interested in Learning to Do Your Job Better?
Jul 20 2020 // One of my favorite books and movies is The Milagro Beanfield War. It takes place in the ’70s in a small, poverty stricken, dirt street northern New Mexico village. It’s close to a third world village, and into...
How COVID-19 Will Change Insurance Sales
Jun 15 2020 // An agent who is a client of mine asked me, “Do you really think any business owner is truly happy with their agent or insurance company today?” Good question. Having to tell the public over and over and over,...
Why Trust When You Should Know?
May 18 2020 // It is often said that people buy insurance trusting that it will be there when they actually need it, and this is very true. But why trust when you should know? Also true, but rarely said is the following, “Often,...
How To Make Your Life Easier, and Richer
Apr 20 2020 // Agency owners can make their lives easier and richer if they follow one simple rule: Run their agency as a business. This means doing what businesses do, including working on the business rather than just in it. This is...
Accounting Matters and So Does the Balance Sheet
Apr 6 2020 // I keep seeing agencies that need dramatic improvements to their accounting practices. Many such agencies are small, but not all. Many are new agencies, although some larger agencies have had shoddy accounting practices for...
Consumer Advocacy: What Do Clients Really Want?
Mar 9 2020 // I’m passionate about selling clients the coverage and protection they need, or at least helping them make good decisions about what they want to self-insure. I have significant concerns that consumers are now, and...
Why Traditional Independent Agents, Carriers Need to Partner and Align Now More Than Ever
Jan 27 2020 // Agencies and carriers need to align now more than ever. I will add a condition to this statement: Quality independent agencies and quality carriers need to align now more than ever if they are to thrive. Unfortunately, I...
The Power and Failure of Anecdotes
Dec 16 2019 // Meghan Moran at Johns Hopkins University studied 263 “avowedly anti-vaccine websites …[tracking] how many made powerful use of anecdotes – [and found that] a tragic story to stir fear and sympathy in a...
A Few Good Tips to Consider on Outsourcing
Nov 18 2019 // I honestly do not see many agencies benefitting from outsourcing. They think they do, but their results show otherwise. Most of the time, they would be more successful simply with better management as outsourcing is not a...
New Simple Insurance Policies That Take Care of All Your Needs
Oct 21 2019 // Insurance policies are difficult to read and understand. Another name for an insurance policy is a “legal contract.” An insurance policy is a specific kind of legal contract. Without training and experience,...
The Missing Value Proposition of High Quality Agents
Sep 16 2019 // I was having dinner with a close friend who is retired, has no debt and has decent wealth. He asked me why I think he needs insurance. He was wondering if insurance at this stage of his life was a waste. My heart sank....
Vesting Plans and Producer Book Ownership
Aug 5 2019 // Somehow, someway, many agency owners do not seem to know that the law regarding vesting plans relative to producer book ownership changed around 15 years ago. That is correct, 15 years ago! This change applies to vesting...
How ‘You Have a Duty to Read Your Policy’ Language Can Wreck a Life
Jul 1 2019 // I have seen and heard seemingly an infinite number of agents, agents’ associations, and errors and omissions (E&O) attorneys advise that agents should have a low standard of care and rely on the insured having...
Why Agency Perpetuation Does Not Usually Work
Jun 3 2019 // Most agencies are not run as businesses. Most are run as a lifestyle. Lifestyles are personal, so perpetuation is not possible. Only true businesses can achieve internal perpetuation. Size is not a factor either because...
The Need for Agents (to Do Their Jobs)
May 6 2019 // I received a nice notice from my commercial GL carrier advising the coverages at renewal would materially change. Admitted carriers have to provide such notices (E&O point: exceptions to this rule do exist, even for...
