Articles by Catherine Oak and Bill Schoeffler

Oak is the founder of the consulting firm, Oak & Associates, based in Northern California and Central Oregon. Oak & Associates. Phone: 707-935-6565. Email: catoak@gmail.com.

Minding Your Business: Agency of the Future

Yogi Berra once said: “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” Ignoring that wisdom, what will the insurance agency business model look like in 10 years or 20 years? Right now there are several major trends that are …

Minding Your Business: Preparing for the Loss of a Producer

Recently, a client of ours had two producers leave to start their own agency. The impact on the agency was significant. These two producers generated about half the agency commissions. The owner was scrambling to adjust to the change. Producers …

Minding Your Business: Key Deals Makers and Deal Breakers Today

Why are some transactions or “deals,” as they are called, most likely to happen or not happen? There are a number of factors that come into play, and those of us in the industry call them deal makers and deal …

Minding Your Business: Now Is the Time to Get Rid of Outdated Beliefs in the Agency

Quick, what color is a yield sign? Many adults, especially those more than 50 years old will say unequivocally that a yield sign is yellow and black. The image is so clear in their mind. Well, the yield sign is …

Minding Your Business: Trends to Exploit in 2017

It is a new era for our country, with President Donald Trump coming into power with the theme to “Make America Great Again.” Perhaps it is also the time to do the same for agency planning. Are there things in …

Minding Your Business: Business Exit Strategies

Every business owner will exit his or her business at some point. The key is — will it be on the owner’s terms or someone else’s? The best time to start thinking about exiting the business is when the owner …

Gifting Agency Stock & Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts

Paul Simon wrote that there are “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover.” For business owners, there are a few less options, however, there are many more permutations of those options. For family businesses, the key is to understand everyone’s needs …

Agency Performance Enhancement with the Power of Habit

Imagine the effect on owners, managers, producers and staff if they knew how to improve anything they did by having a good understanding of how specifically the brain enforces great new habits. Managers can assist employees in learning from each …

How to Attract and Retain Great Employees

Today, successful high-performing businesses are developing creative programs to guide employees to focus on improving business performance and rewarding them for their contributions. The long-term winners will be companies that provide a flexible and challenging work environment, along with employee …

Year End Agency Review

The holiday season is upon us. People are busy shopping, celebrating and just relaxing with the family. What better time to see how the business has performed during 2015. For those people who think there is always room for improvement, …