There are myriad reasons and methods for restructuring your agency. In my June 7, 2004, column I suggested completely eliminating your personal and commercial lines departments and replacing them with combined direct response and face-to-face sales teams. This column suggests …
There are multiple ways to grow your agency’s bottom line. The most exciting way is, of course, to sell more policies. You logically devote most of your energies to this essential activity because it’s the best way to build your …
It always seems like the other guys are growing quickly. How about you? As each day passes, agency consolidators add new offices, banks gain experience in selling and prospecting, and a new generation of propeller-heads are figuring out how to …
Growing your agency means thinking outside of the walls. There is no compelling reason to divide a modern insurance office into personal, commercial and life departments anymore. These ancient walls were built years ago to organize your staff by the …
Auto, home and small business policies are virtually identical, according to most of the people who buy them. It doesn’t take a huge investment in market research to learn this, just some time in the field. So, what can you …
In most offices, it’s easier to get a bone from a starving dog than it is to take a commercial account from an agency producer. That’s because the current producer is always the executive on a business account until he …
This is the heart of the presidential primary season. The media is full of pundits discussing what the leading candidates did right and what the dropouts did wrong. If you pay close enough attention, there are some valuable lessons to …
An east coast agent surprised me, in the recent past, by revealing that he had run out of insurance leads. This amazing declaration came from someone living and doing business near the largest U.S. city of all, New York. His …
In this inaugural column, we’ll explore methods of putting your book of business to work for you. Your accounts, sitting around aimlessly in filing cabinets and on your hard drives, aren’t helping you to generate new revenue. The push begins …
What can the Internet really do for you? The easy answer is that it allows you to contact and be contacted by thousands of insureds and prospects. But the web can do more than just spread your reach. It can …
