Agency Management

Personal Lines Producer Program

For years we have been struggling to identify and pay PL producers. Once you differentiate the Order-Takers from the Relationship Managers among your producers, here’s the way of rewarding them…

Problems or Roadblocks

Whether you have written plans or informal plans, a key to your plan’s success is how you face the inevitable problems or roadblocks that arise in the course of your…

Perpetuating Agencies

We often hear of agencies ‘merging’ as a form of perpetuation planning for an owner. When we analyze most of these ‘mergers’, we find that they were acquisitions in disguise…

Outside Looking In

To understand the problems in your agency, sometimes it takes someone on the outside looking in. This article addresses four of the most common positions held by agency owners that…

What Do Companies Want?

Many agents possess a significant fear that they are not big enough. No matter if an agency has $500,000, $1 million, $5 million or $100 million, I’ve had agency executives…

Disability Income Insurance

As tough a sale as it is, life insurance can be sold. A far tougher sale is disability insurance. Most prospects do not understand statistically how likely they are to…

Paper colorful people and a red heart. The concept of love and kindness, donation

Death in an Agency

I have unfortunately worked with the families, estates and partners of several agency owners who have passed away. Most, but not all, of the deaths occurred unexpectedly. In all cases,…

Large cog wheels in the motor

VU Consumer Articles

Below is a listing of Virtual University articles that have been rewritten from a consumer perspective. These articles are provided in Microsoft Word format, except where noted, and were developed…

Consumer Insurance Articles

Below is a listing of Virtual University articles that have been rewritten from a consumer perspective. These articles are provided in Microsoft Word format, except where noted, and were developed…