Agency Management

McKinsey, Commodities, and the Death of the Independent Agent

A recent McKinsey report concludes that personal lines insurance, by and large, has become a commodity. It also questions the viability and value of the agent. This article excerpts one…

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Is Insurance Knowledge Important?

What does an agency sell? One might say an agency sells price. Fair enough. But what are they selling for price? An insurance policy? Any policy? Is whether or not…

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13 Steps to Keeping both Internal and External Customers Happy through Effective Communication

Most problems and complaints both outside and inside your company arise from poor communication. Poor communication most often results from either miscommunication or a lack of communication. This article identifies…

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Six Strategies to Compete in Business

Can your little agency compete with the “big boys,” the direct sales organizations that have billion dollar advertising budgets? Yes! In this article, customer service expert Shep Hyken gives you…

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How Much is an Agency OWNER Worth?

Reading the newspaper this morning there was an article suggested that a university President should earn no more than 10X the compensation of the lowest paid employee in the system.…

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What’s in a Name?

Many agency owners try to make producers out of employees simply by giving them the title “producer.” Even if these employees are not producing, they are given the title “producer”…

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Human Resources

This section of the VU offers tips, techniques and legal caveats that you can follow during the hiring process. Also discussed employee relations, licensing and more. Talent Recruitment and Development…

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Are You and Your Clients Ready for a Pandemic?

We’ve been hearing about it for months now, about the allegedly very real possibility of a worldwide pandemic. Is the threat for real? And, if so, what have you done…

Can You Teach a Dog to Quack?

Experienced employees gravitate to those areas for which their talents are best suited. Forcing CSR’s to sell, forcing salespeople to adhere to detail oriented efforts, and forcing management responsibilities on…