I’ve been in nearly 300 insurance agencies in the past 5 years for training, coaching, consulting, marketing and M&A services. It’s amazing how much the business has changed in the past 5,10,15 years. Days of running a yellow page ad, sponsoring a little league team and ringing phones are long gone for most. The fact is, the modern consumer moved and changed their buying habits; but the independent insurance agent hasn’t. Continue reading "Insurance Agency Coaching and Consulting is a Great Investment"

We’d like to thank all of the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice to ensure our freedom. Sometimes we take freedom for granted and it’s important for us to recognize the people that make it all possible. Continue reading "Happy Memorial Day"

Many agents that own insurance agencies are under the impression that this is a bad time to sell their agency. Our statistics show that over the past 5 months, we’ve received 32 buyer inquiries to every 1 seller. Many agency owners that are considering selling, are afraid that the soft market and bad economy will not fetch them top dollar for their book of business. The reality is, it’s the exact opposite!

Continue reading "This is a Great Time to Sell your Independent Insurance Agency"

Sales Training in Insurance Agencies is not something practiced regularly. If an insurance agency offers any type of guidance, meetings or courses, the material usually revolves around insurance. It’s obvious that we all need to understand the product we sell and one of the greatest parts of this business is that you learn something new every day. However, Insurance Agencies don’t pay enough, or in many cases any attention into the Continue reading "Insurance Agencies Should Focus on Sales Training"

We recently took a listing from an insurance agency owner that has been trying to sell their agency for over a year. They called us extremely frustrated over the lack of results they were getting from a Business Broker that sold all types of businesses. This wasn’t the first time we heard this, since we’ve been selling insurance agencies for over 5 years. Continue reading "Selling an Insurance Agency Needs Expert Representation"

Californians for Fair Auto Insurance Rates has gained enough support to place a voter initiative on the June 8, 2010 ballot, aimed at rewarding drivers who have had insurance for some time to be eligible for a “persistency discount,” even if they change carriers, the Secretary of State certified. Continue reading "Californians To Vote On Auto Insurance Persistency Discount"

Some of the services offered by Ganis Consulting include Buyer and Seller Representation. If you own an insurance agency and want to sell it, you can hire us to do all the heavy lifting. We’ll conduct a summary valuation, put together a profile, contact our 500+ buyers on our buyers list and help you obtain the best price and terms for your agency. We’ll negotiate on your behalf, advise you every step of the way and most importantly, keep the transaction confidential. Continue reading "When Buying or Selling an Insurance Agency, Use all Resources Available"

Does your agency own it’s own Domain Name? A domain name is the address used for your website such as www.ganisco.com or www.google.com. You can purchase your domain from sites like godaddy.com or a number of others. Once you have your own domain, you can use it for your website address and your email address. Many insurance agencies we speak with have a website, but still use yahoo, gmail, or hotmail instead of their website address.  Continue reading "Use Your Insurance Agency Domain for Email Addresses"

Many Agency Owners would love to refer to a neutral 3rd party for advice on various projects in their agencies such as advertising, recruiting, payroll, marketing, workflow, accounting, sales training, customer service training and other functions in their agency. As an insurance agency owner it’s difficult to solve some of the daily problems and focus on the big picture because you’re in the middle of it everyday. Continue reading "Consulting Services are Available for Small and Large Insurance Agencies"

California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has issued proposed regulations for Pay-Drive (Usage Based Auto Insurance), and is accepting public comments on the proposal until 5 p.m., Thursday, July 9, 2009.

According to the Commissioner, “Insurers frequently rely on consumers to provide their own estimates of the number of miles they drive annually. Continue reading "California Insurance Commissioner Seeks Comments on PAYD Auto Insurance"