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T H U R S D A Y , F E B R U A R Y 9 , 2 0 0 6
Forward March | Two Ways to Plan for Crisis Management | Insure Health Care Professionals | Feb. 22 Is Inaugural ACSR Tribute Day | Sales Stats Show Training Pays | Apply for a YAC Scholarship | February Hits the Streets | Industry News
T R U S T E D C H O I C E ®
Forward March
Trusted Choice® brand program ads will hit the national airwaves in March for two weeks. The March ad flight runs March 13 through 26, laying the groundwork for the intensive ad flight in Trusted Choice® Month, May.
In March, 54 spots will run on ESPN, FoxNews and Home & Garden Television—cable networks that best reach the Trusted Choice® target audience: college-educated adults, ages 35 to 64, with household incomes of $75,000 or more. Click here to see the complete March TV ad campaign schedule.
Follow this advertising checklist to ensure your agency gets the most out of the March ad flight:
1. If your agency isn’t yet a Trusted Choice® member, now is the time to join. Go to www.TrustedChoice.com and click "Agents/Brokers." At the next screen, enter your agency ZIP code under the "New Member?" column, hit "Find" and then follow the easy onscreen instructions.
2. Finalize your agency’s marketing plan for 2006. Decide on a budget for customer communications as well as print, radio and TV ads. (By the way, Big "I" Best Practices agencies budget 2% to 3% of annual agency revenues on advertising and promotion.)
3. Decide on your creative approach. If you produce your own ads, leverage the Trusted Choice® logo. If you use the tag-able Trusted Choice® ads, know your options. To tie your agency’s advertising plans into each of these nationwide ad activities, click here to order or download tag-able TV, print and radio ads and run the ads in your agency’s marketing area. Each tag-able ad explains the benefits of using your Trusted Choice® agency and reserves space for you to add the agency’s name, contact information and logo.
4. Plan your March advertising now. You’ll secure prime ad placements and better pricing by acting now. Also, properly select your media. For example, if you’re running TV spots, it’s best to choose the same cable stations as the nationwide Trusted Choice® campaign. Also, avoid late-night ad times.
Advertising is an investment in your business. Your local campaign will give your agency twice the exposure and help establish it as the Trusted Choice® for local insurance and financial services consumers. The tag-able ad materials and national advertising campaigns pave the way for your road to success. For more information, contact Jeff Myers at 800-221-7917; jeff.myers@iiaba.net.
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N L C & C
Two Ways to Plan for Crisis Management
Any kind of disaster can interrupt your business. For many organizations, the real tragedy occurs after a disaster if they had excellent business interruption insurance, but no disaster recovery plan. Without a plan, down-time can be considerable, and market share may never be fully recovered. The Big "I" offers two ways to avoid this fate through the "Best Practices of Crisis Management" manual and the Critical Elements of Disaster Planning and Recovery workshop.
A business contingency plan is specific to each organization. IIABA's "Best Practices of Crisis Management" guide and interactive CD walks you through creating and printing your unique plan that will benefit your agency, company partners and clients in a crisis or disaster. The guide will help you outline the initial steps necessary to determine if you need to execute your plan; review guidelines to help individuals prepare for a business interruption; understand assignments and duties of each member of the resumption team; learn how to communicate clearly to employees and clients about the actions taken and many other crucial details. This insightful tool is beneficial to both agencies and their clients.
The Critical Elements of Disaster Planning and Recovery workshop, offered in conjunction with the Big "I" National Legislative Conference & Convention on Saturday, April 29, is ideal for agency owners and principals and their clients. It is an intermediate-level class, and continuing education credits are pending in all 50 states. This is a great complement to the "Best Practices of Crisis Management" guide. A registration fee applies.
The workshop instructor is Karen Rutherford from the Crisis Tool Team. Rutherford owned a brokerage firm for 20 years and gained risk management experiences while managing high-risk adventure tourism liability coverage for 10 years. With clients in all sectors of the economy, she has insights into the results of a significant business interruption. To download an order form for the "Best Practices of Crisis Management" tool, click here. For more information on the National Legislative Conference & Convention, click here. To register for the Critical Elements of Disaster Planning and Recovery workshop, click here.
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B I G " I " M A R K E T S
Insure Health Care Professionals
Now you can insure the health care professionals on Big "I" Markets. With access to medical liability products, now is the perfect time to perform a house call on the qualifying classes of business in your market and ask if you can provide a checkup on their risk management program. Chances are, many of these classes don’t have insurance or you can provide a better value with these new products. Big "I" Markets partnered with CM&F, an 87-year old family-owned company and IIABA member, to bring you access to three medical malpractice insurance products: Allied Health Groups, Physical Therapists and Students:
Medical Malpractice - Allied Health Groups: This program covers employees of Allied Health Groups under one policy form. The group should entail a consistent class of healthcare provider. This policy is not designed to provide professional liability for the facility itself. Minimum premium is $500. Targeted classes include: radiological technician, surgical technician, X-ray technician, nuclear medical technician, EEG technician, dialysis technician, blood bank technician, bio-medical technician and more. Available endorsements include: physician exclusion, general liability exclusion, employee reporting endorsement, sexual misconduct exclusion (NY, LA). Coverages available include $1MM/$6MM—additional limits available upon request, occurrence form, admitted/non-admitted policy forms and coverage is available in all 50 states.
Medical Malpractice - Physical Therapist: This program covers the employees of a healthcare group under one policy form. The group can consist of any combination of the providers listed below. Coverage for the entity itself is available for an additional charge. Physical Therapist Groups include: occupational, respiratory, radiation, speech, language, hearing, rehabilitation, art, music, dance, recreation therapists, athletic trainers and sports medicine. Staffing agencies are ineligible. The minimum premium is $500. Available endorsements: physician exclusion, general liability exclusion, sexual misconduct exclusion (NY, LA only). Coverages available include: $1MM/$6MM—additional limits available upon request, occurrence form, admitted / non-admitted policy forms, entity coverage for an additional charge and coverage is available in all 50 states.
Medical Malpractice – Students: This program covers Healthcare Student Groups. Take out coverage individually for each student or draft a master policy to cover the students as well as the school itself under one form. Medical schools are not eligible. Nursing schools include: nurses, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, Allied Health professionals. Coverages available include: $1MM/$6MM—additional limits available upon request, occurrence form, admitted policy forms, schedule of students is available, coverage for school itself is available for additional charge and coverage is available in all 50 states.
Log onto www.bigimarkets.comto learn more about these products or to request a quote.
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A C S R
Feb. 22 Is Inaugural ACSR Tribute Day
Feb. 22 will be the inaugural annual ACSR Tribute Day, honoring graduates of the Accredited Customer Service Representative (ACSR) program. The nationally recognized ACSR designation provides participants with a strong insurance foundation and equips them with the customer service skills and technical knowledge necessary to succeed in today’s agency environment. To date, nearly 13,000 agents and brokers have achieved the ACSR designation, which is available in personal lines, commercial lines or life-health. Many states already have approved the ACSR modules for continuing education credit for agents’ license renewal.
The Big "I" encourages agencies to celebrate the commitment of employees who have achieved the ACSR designation. Recognition does not have to be expensive, but even a small token demonstrates the value an ACSR designation brings to an agency. Whether with a small gift, new business cards or an appreciation lunch, a little appreciation goes a long way.
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B E S T P R A C T I C E S
Sales Stats Show Training Pays
The Big "I" will offer its highly successful Elite Force Sales Training Program this year March 7 through 9, May 9 through 11, Aug. 8 through 10 and Nov. 14 through 16 at its Alexandria, Va., headquarters. The Elite Sales Force Training Program has a proven history of taking newer producers with a basic understanding of the sales process and dramatically increasing their sales production.
Ideal for producers who lack the foundation of a strong sales-skills program, the Elite Sales Force Training Program has small class size, ensuring the individual attention necessary to recognize producers’ sales strengths and weaknesses and quickly transform them into successful sellers.
Program attendees average more than $60,000 in first-year commissions. The program is geared toward producers with less than three years’ experience in sales and less than five years in the insurance industry. The course consists of 12 full days of training conducted in three-day, quarterly intervals.
Agents will work with Chris Amrhein, an insurance educator and consultant. Amrhein previously was as a producer and independent agency manager, a full-time educator for the Florida Association of Insurance Agents and the Big "I" vice president of industry affairs. Participants will receive practical education and use books and videos written and produced by some of the best sales minds in the industry. The class consists of many educational elements that have proven essential in the success of sales professionals, including role playing, etiquette enhancement and effective negotiation training. For registration forms and more-detailed information, click here.
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Y O U N G A G E N T S
Apply for a YAC Scholarship
At the Big "I" National Legislative Conference & Convention in Washington, D.C., the National YAC will host seminars geared specifically toward young agents, including a first-timers reception, the Young Agent Attendee & InsurPac Chairs Luncheon, two hospitality events and the President’s Panel Breakfast with Big "I" leadership.
The Big "I" YAC is offering each state association two $300 scholarships to assist young agents who have never attended a National Legislative Conference attend the 2006 Big "I" National Legislative Conference & Convention. Scholarship funds will be paid to the order of the state association in May 2006. To be considered for a scholarship, return a completed application form to your state association by March 1. It is up to the discretion of the state association to determine the recipients of these scholarships. Click here to download an application.
The $1,000 Maurice Herndon Scholarship will be presented to one young agent who has never attended a National Legislative Conference to help defray the costs of attending the Big "I" National Legislative Conference & Convention. The young agent recipient will receive his or her scholarship check in May 2006 after the Big "I" National Legislative Conference & Convention. To be eligible for the Herndon scholarship, you must be a young agent member (age 40 or younger) of the Big "I" who has not attended a previous Big "I" National Legislative Conference, compose a 250-to-500-word essay on why you deserve the scholarship and submit your essay and completed application form by March 1. Click here for the application. For more information, contact Leslie Mularski at 800-221-7917; leslie.mularski@iiaba.net.
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I A M A G A Z I N E
February Hits the Streets
The February issue of IA is now out! Here's a peak of what's inside: "Teaching Your Producers the Ropes," a look at resources agents can use to help recruit and train newbies; "Online Matchmaking," which examines finding prospects and leads via the Internet; "Break into Health Insurance," a detailed look at adding life-health products to an agency's portfolio; and more! And it doesn't stop there—check out IAmagazine.com for the issue's Online Extras as well.
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