American Agent & Broker November 2004
Features
Hitting the mark with program business
AT LAST month's annual meeting of the Target Markets Program Administrators Association, Arthur Seifert, CPCU, CIC, RPLU, was named chairman of the organization. Mr. Seifert also is president and CEO of The Lighthouse Cos. in Annandale, Va. The
Features
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Attracting clients with a revamped Web site
In certain fields, professionals periodically update their look to maintain a youthful image and demonstrate that they're in step with the times. Physical appearance and perceived hipness may not be de rigeur in the insurance industry, but even a
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Collaborating for success
BUILDING good relationships among insurance carriers, MGAs and retail agents was the focus of a panel discussion at the NAPSLO annual meeting, which took place in September in Orlando, Fla. Mark Wells, publisher of Insurance Journal, was the
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Helping financial institutions manage their risks
MOST independent agents probably would prefer to learn about a new niche in a methodical manner and at a measured pace. Or they could take the approach we did, when we essentially received a crash course on financial institution insurance. That took
Columns
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For The Manager: Good hiring, traning practices yield top-notch CSRs
A RECENT U.S. Department of Labor report puts the national unemployment rate at 5.4% (Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Economy at a Glance, Sept. 24, 2004). This is considerably higher than the unemployment rate between 1998 and 2000, and yet agency
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Policy Issues: Want coverage to always be "fair"? Dream on!
'DRE-E-E-E-EAM...dream, dream, dream...." That old Everly Brothers song was drifting through my head, and I couldn't shake it. That the tune was making it difficult to focus on my student's question was appropriate, since it was her question that
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Strictly Sales: Agencies must ask producer-compensation questions
INSURANCE agencies face a host of important questions right now in the face of a softening market. In any market, questions of fair compensation for producers and CSRs are near the top of the list. We recently had an extended conversation about
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Automation: Data backup--new solutions to an old problem
THE NEED to back up agency data isn't a new topic, but developing technology is constantly presenting new backup problems-and backup solutions. Since we purchased our first computer system in 1983, we have experienced more than one of both. A
Departments
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Down To Cases
Insurer's agreement with insured to not pay loss leads to bad faith claim On Jan. 8, 2000, a woman was driving a car, owned by her mother, when she collided with a parked, unoccupied car. The woman left a note asking the owner to call her. The driver
