We’ve had several clients move office locations in the past year. Some were growing, some were shrinking, some went through the leasing process alone, others hired tenant reps. Many business owners lease new office space on their own because after all, they’re business owners and know how to negotiate better than anyone….right? The fact is, most business owners don’t know enough about leasing or leases. You’re not buying a car or piece office equipment, you’re entering into a 30-35 page contract with rules, regulations and often times “boiler plate” language. Read more

There’s nothing like good old fashioned salesmanship to grow a business. Often times you get so caught up in the day to day functions of agency owner you don’t pay attention to the most vital part of the operation and that’s selling new business. Salesmanship is not practiced, taught or discussed in many agencies. It’s usually insurance talk, underwriting or personnel issues. You have to ask yourself whether or not your agency has a sales culture. If you have a sales culture, your service is second to none because everyone carries themselves like a commissioned salesperson. Every client is important, every sales opportunity will be closed and we give 100% effort to keep every account on the books. Read more

We’ve seen over 100 agencies for sale over the past year and only about 15-20% of them follow basic accounting principles. Many agencies don’t reconcile their bank accounts, let alone generate a Profit and Loss Statement or Balance Sheet for due diligence. Many agencies that don’t sell, don’t sell because their income and expenses cannot be proven. Having accurate accounting records adds more value to your agency that you can imagine. It’s not difficult to start cleaning your accounting procedures today. Here are a few suggestions on how you can improve your agency’s accounting and financial statements: Read more

Today the Insurance Journal reported that the California Assembly is considering AB2956 to properly define when a Producer is acting as an Agent or Broker. Such a bill is well overdue and has caused confusion in our industry for years. The full article can be found on the Insurance Journal website by clicking here. The IBA West is urging all Insurance Professionals to contact their Legislator today to show your support for this bill.

There are numerous ways to find capital when investing in an insurance agency. Whether you need money to expand current operations, consolidate personal debt or acquire insurance agencies there are several options. Read more

The California Department of Insurance website is a great tool to use when acquisition hunting, recruiting, renewing your insurance license or checking the latest news in the industry. You should pay particular attention to Read more

If you’re looking to upgrade, fix or get better performance out of the systems in your office, you need a professional Network Manager. Hiring a full time manager can cost $40,000-$100,000+ annually. Most of us don’t need someone 40 hours per week and outsourcing this work to an outside vendor makes more sense. Read more

Web based Agency Management Systems are a great way for agencies to cut IT costs. There are no backups to run, no upgrading servers and as your agency grows your office can be accessed anywhere in the world you have an internet connection. Read more

Top Producers approach every call as a great listener rather than a great talker. When selling insurance or any product or service, you have to listen to what your clients tell you. Most of the time sales people are thinking of what they’re going to say next so they don’t hear what a prospect is telling them. This is a sure road to mediocrity and one you want to avoid. Read more

Having spent my entire adult life in Insurance Agencies, it amazes me how most sales people make rate the number one issue on sales calls. Granted there are consumers that are rate shopping, but not all consumers are created equal. When giving quotes over the phone it’s important to have a “benefit read down” to review with each client. Below are several examples of benefits your sales people should be telling every prospect.

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