Agency Operations

The Wall Street Journal has taken an interest in some of the new(ish) insurance products now available such as “Active Shooter” policies, Tuition Insurance, and Cyber coverage.

The title pretty much says it all. Are you a “many” agent focused on the price-based easy sell or are you among the few who understand that insurance requires a consultative approach?

For as long as I have been in the insurance business agents have sought ways to promote themselves to their marketplace to get people to know them. The agents believe that if they were allowed access to prospects, the sales would follow. The obvious fact is that many agents are not salespeople. This is evidenced…

Are there any situations where you would refer a prospect to another agent? One agent who writes almost exclusively commercial lines refers personal lines opportunities to an agency that writes predominantly personal lines. In this article, Shep Hyken gives two other examples of referring potential customers to competitors and the reasons why.

One of the reasons that the direct writers and internet-based companies do so much business is that the buying public feel that insurance is a commodity—we’re all the same and the price is the only differentiation. In an impersonal internet-based world in which texting replaces actual conversations this concept makes sense—until a sour experience with…

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 the policy provides the coverages the insured needs secondary, to be discovered in court together? Is an agency selling insurance I.D. cards and evidences of…

Yes, they’re failing… the DotComs are going under by the droves, and if you’ve been reading the news, you’re even LESS inspired than ever to build a web site, or to keep struggling to make your agency website succeed than ever before. Right? WRONG!! Here’s why….

Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be able to tell people that I made $75,000 my FIRST YEAR actively selling insurance on the Internet. And it looks like the coming year will be even better. Through our web site, our small four person San Francisco family agency is selling an average…

The #1 factor that distinguishes high from low producer production is goal setting. This article does not address the specific methodologies of goal-setting, but rather demonstrates how the goal-setting process can be used in a practical application. The figure of “50%” used in this illustration is arbitrary…each producer must establish a sales improvement goal that…