BEST PRACTICES SYMPOSIUM CAN HELP
INCREASE AGENCY PROFITS AND ENERGIZE SALES FORCE
Symposium to be held in conjunction with Big “I” Convention in Orlando
ALEXANDRIA, VA, June 17—Agents and brokers looking to increase agency revenue and profits can gain valuable insight and receive practical tips and advice by attending “The Power of the 1 Percenter” and “Employee Benefits: Selling Life, Health & Other Benefits,” two of the informative events that will be held this October during the Best Practices Business Symposium.
The symposium, to be conducted by the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (the Big “I”), will be held Oct. 10 and 11 in conjunction with the Big “I” Convention in Orlando, Fla.
Motivational Speaker Helen Sutton will address the symposium during the general session Oct. 10. Sutton, a senior training consultant with Richardson, a leading global sales training and consulting firm, will focus on “The Power of the 1 Percenter,” a concept for growing business, energizing sales forces and creating better partnerships. Sutton will discuss strategies for implementing the 1 percent concept, which involves making consistent, gradual improvements—one percent at a time.
“Ms. Sutton’s strategy is one that can be applied to several different aspects of independent agency operations,” says Madelyn Flannagan, Big “I” vice president of education and research. “Agency owners are always seeking to improve their business’ results, and this is a great method by which they can achieve their goals.”
On Oct. 11, the “Employee Benefits: Selling Life, Health & Other Benefits” session will highlight the 2004 Best Practices study, which provides new information and valuable benchmarks about the distribution of employee benefits products and services. Attendees will learn how to improve the results of their employee benefits departments and discover how their employee benefits efforts compare with other Best Practices agencies.
“The sale of employee benefits has become an important part of many Best Practices agencies’ revenue growth and profit strategies,” says Flannagan. “Agencies looking to make an impact on their bottom line can’t afford to ignore finding out how adding these programs can affect their overall growth strategies.”
These sessions are just two of the many informative events taking place at the symposium, an intensive program of group events, networking opportunities and informative workshops designed to give agency owners and their management staff the tools and expertise needed to attain their agencies’ business and sales goals.
Independent agency owners and managers, brokers, carrier representatives, and insurance agency business partners are encouraged to attend the Best Practices Symposium, which kicks off Oct. 10 with the presentation of the 2004 Best Practices Awards to agencies. In addition to Sutton’s address, the session will also feature a “state-of-the-industry” report and a networking event for symposium attendees.
In addition to the branding and perpetuation breakout sessions, other workshop topics will include:
· How to Become a Best Practices Agency
· Maximizing Agency Valuations
· Mergers & Acquisitions
· Incentive Compensation
· Sustaining a Competitive Advantage
· Employee Strategies
· Profit Strategies
· Revenue Growth Strategies
· Banks in Insurance
· Technology Strategies
· Branding
As an added benefit, symposium attendees can participate in the Big “I” Convention, the industry’s largest gathering of independent agents and brokers and home to the industry’s biggest trade show.
The convention, which takes place Oct. 9 through 12, and the Best Practices Business Symposium, fall on the three-day Columbus Day holiday weekend.
This timing will enable attendees with pre-school and school-aged children to mix business with a fantastic mini-vacation that offers children of all ages opportunities for family fun and relaxation. The convention hotel—the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotel—is located on the Disney World property and is minutes from Epcot Center, the Magic Kingdom, Disney golf courses and many other fabulous family attractions in the Orlando area.
Register online for the Best Practices Business Symposium and the 2004 Big “I” Convention or download registration materials by visiting www.independentagent.com and clicking on the “Events and Conferences” link.
For more information about the convention, contact the Big “I” Meetings Department at (800) 221-7917. For more information about the Best Practices program, visit www.independentagent.com and click on “Best Practices.”
Founded in 1896, IIABA is the nation’s oldest and largest national association of independent insurance agents and brokers, representing a network of more than 300,000 agents, brokers and their employees nationally. Its members are businesses that offer customers a choice of policies from a variety of insurance companies. Independent agents and brokers offer all lines of insurance—property, casualty, life and health—as well as employee benefit plans and retirement products. Web address: www.independentagent.com.
###