After years of preaching to agencies that they should not call customers whose direct bill policies are in a “pending cancellation” state due to non-payment of premium, at least one insurer is suggesting that agents make a “courtesy call” on most clients whose direct bill policies are unpaid past their due dates. Could this present…
Some independent contractors sell L&H insurance and split commissions with a bank-owned agency. The agency does not get a copy of any of the documentation, from application to policy. Servicing is done solely by the insurer. Because of the way business is done, there is nothing that is recorded on the agency management system (no…
Here are the components of a Disaster Recovery Program (DRP) that was unfortunately missing in New Orleans and was woefully inadequate in the State of Louisiana. As critical as the attack on New York was on 9/11, the comparison of Mayor Giuliani’s leadership and coordination and that of the lack of the same in New…
Our Tennessee association has produced an outstanding new disaster plan that includes information on earthquakes, inland storm systems and flooding, fire conflagrations, transportation and industrial accidents, terrorism, and other types of disasters. IIABA members can now download this plan and adapt it for use in their agencies.
Planning for succession can be very rewarding IF you have the right people behind you. It can be downright dangerous if you don’t. The emotional rewards of passing your agency to your next generation is very satisfying as long as that generation desires and shows talents to do the job. If not, you are committing…
If the retirement of an owner is not planned and prepared for, both the retiree and the business could find themselves in critical positions, floundering to achieve a balance from which each can continue their respective life cycle. A successful prepared retirement, whether it involves selling a business to an outside party or internally perpetuating…
Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE is a San Francisco-based professional speaker on the subjects of Change, Teamwork, Customer Service, Promoting Business, and Speaking Skills. She is the author of Get What You Want and Past President of the National Speakers Association. She can be contacted via email at [email protected] or by phone at 800/634-3035…visit her web…
What the heck does my company do if I die on the way to my next appointment? As the sole owner of my company, this created a dilemma. Having just completed our company’s perpetuation plan, hopefully I can share some lessons learned – what not to do when completing the task of creating a plan…
One of the stumbling blocks we sometimes encounter in establishing a perpetuation plan is an employee (or owner) who wishes to “Retire In Place.” Rather than disassociate from the agency, they will graciously stay on to “help with the transition.” How do you deal with an owner or a key employee who desires to stay…
Agencies who have Perpetuation Plans in place that will transition agency management and ownership from one generation to another often fail to properly implement the Transition Plan or do it in a way that actually hurts the perception of the agency. There is a way to complete the Perpetuation Plan with a Transition Plan that…
