VU Resources

Defeating Inertia

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…

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Clustering and The Virtual Insurance Agency

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…

Fraudulent or Unethical?

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…

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The Virtual Insurance Agency

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…

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The Insurance Industry: 2020 Vision

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…

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Overcoming Barriers to Agency Growth

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…

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Change is a Certainty

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…

Getting Off the Treadmill

The last three agencies we visited had problems so similar that we decided to see just how many agents have the same experience – and the same problems. The key…

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Agency Clusters and Alternatives

In the past year, we have averaged an “Ask an Expert” question about every other month involving agency clusters. In this article, we’ll present the questions, our faculty responses, and…

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Cultivating Innovation in Your Agency

Problem solving, innovating, cost cutting or just making things easier are all reasons why many insurance agency owners wish they had a Ouija Board at their beck and call. With…

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