Agency Operations

Since this “article” covers so much ground, the only logical spot for it was the Miscellaneous section of Agency Management. This was a question submitted to our “Ask an Expert”…

March is Ethics Awareness Month. I want to ask if you can afford to be ethical? You may be surprised to learn that my short answer may be “No.” It…

A question posed to our agency management faculty: “I am an agency owner. At one time we changed to an ‘S’ corporation and our CPA told us it was best…

Inertia is the greatest force against progress and change. Too often, agencies run into the “Inertia Wall.” The Inertia Wall is invisible. It is soft and comforting. It is “the…

As a cluster matures, you can actually see the lines between agencies blurring. The Virtual Insurance Agency (VIA) takes a maturing cluster to its logical conclusion, a mega-merger of all…

As an agent, you have knowledge of other agents telling their clients not to list youthful drivers. After all, the ISO PAP covers resident family members automatically whether listed or…

Many smaller agencies would like the market clout and economies of scale of larger agencies. Historically, about the only way to do this has been through mergers or clusters. Now…

Our father’s agencies are gone. If you wish things were like they were in the “good old days,” please remember that, along with 25% commissions, more respect and customers seeking…

Much of the call on consultants has to do with breaking through the barriers to natural growth that agencies experience at different stages of growth. Agencies find it particularly difficult…

Change is hard for all of us. It is easier, however, for those businesses that face failure and losses due to performance-related problems. Change out of weakness, while difficult to…