Running Your Business
Insights on how to run an insurance agency, along with coverage of agency management and agency technology news.
The Right Mix
By Warren S. HerschPlanning for the orderly distribution of a client's assets, balancing the need for control and income while minimizing taxes to be paid to Uncle Sam are fundamental objectives of any estate plan.
February 01, 2009
Be a "Shortcut": Six steps to create more influenceAs you consider your value and influence as an advisor take notice of all those who are truly making an excellent living in the financial services industry. My bet is that they're all amazing Shortcuts to their clients. We're not
February 01, 2009
Five ways to make leads countWhen you meet a prospect for the first time, do you... A. Immediately launch into your presentation and extol the virtues of what you can do for him? B. Follow a script with questions specifically designed to draw out what is important to the
February 01, 2009
Pushing all the right buttonsWhen was the last time you asked for the order and your prospect told you that they wanted to take it home and sleep on it? Unless you're selling mattresses, that's not the kind of response you were hoping to hear! When frustrated by an
February 01, 2009
What does your financial advisor do to make sure your needs are being met?"Our advisor does a quarterly review of our assets. I used to feel like meeting that often was too much, but with the way the market is right now, I'm almost wondering if it's enough." -- Jan R., 70, New York,
February 01, 2009
The opportunity of a lifetime (part 1)Previously, I've identified challenges your customers will face in the future. I promised to provide strategies to overcome and take advantage of those challenges. Insurance and financial professionals have knowledge and products that can
February 01, 2009
Marketing to affluent seniors (part 1)According to the Wall Street Journal, there are 2.7 million people in the United States with a net worth of $1 million or more, part of a 8.7 million worldwide population of millionaires. Americans with investment assets of more than $30 million top
February 01, 2009
Sharks swirling: E&O-proof your business nowIt's no secret that 2008 was a financial bloodbath. Millions of investors lost trillions in net worth. And hundreds of thousands more Americans have lost their jobs and with them, their ability to stay afloat financially. Well, you know what