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Junior Golf Tourney Next Month | Luncheon Scheduled for Sept. 10 | Get Rolling During Peak RV Season | Agency of the Year Awards Heat Up | Spotlight on Customer Service Excellence | Industry News
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Junior Golf Tourney Next Month
The 37th edition of the newly minted Trusted Choice® Big "I" Junior Classic is less than a month away.
The golf tournament is co-presented by the Tiger Woods Foundation, and Allied Insurance is the premier Host Committee sponsor for this year’s championships.
The event’s new name recognizes the more than 5,000 Trusted Choice® agencies across the country. These agencies provide the characteristics consumers say they want in an insurance counselor—choice of companies, customized coverages and advocacy support.
Formerly the Independent Insurance Agent Junior Classic, the national finals tournament will feature fields of 108 boys and 54 girls, ages 13 to 18, who currently are qualifying through local- and state-level tournaments. The national finals will take place July 31 through Aug. 4 at the renowned Kampen Course of the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex on Purdue University’s campus.
The annual event features many of the nation’s leading teen golfers; Tiger Woods twice won the event in the 1990s, and his niece, Cheyenne Woods of Phoenix, is among the players who have committed to play at this year’s classic. Also playing will be Kevin Tway of Edmond, Okla., son of PGA golfer Bob Tway and a former Big "I" tournament champion. Both Cheyenne Woods and Kevin Tway finished in the top five in their respective divisions at last year’s tournament at Dornick Hills Country Club in Ardmore, Okla., and earned exemptions into the 2005 tournament fields.
This year will mark the fourth time that Indiana has hosted the event, which was first played in 1969 in Columbus, Ind.
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D I V E R S I T Y T A S K F O R C E
Luncheon Scheduled for Sept. 10
The Big "I" Diversity Luncheon will take place Saturday, Sept. 10, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. during the Big "I" Convention in New York City. The Diversity Task Force is a cooperative industry group comprised of Big "I" agents and brokers, members of groups representing Latin-American, African-American and Asian-American agents and several leading insurance companies charged with fostering a profitable independent agency force that reflects, represents and capitalizes on the opportunities of the diverse U.S. population. With agents and company representatives from our eight industry partners—Aetna, AIG Agency Auto, Chubb Group of Insurance Companies, CNA, The Hartford, MetLife Auto & Home, Safeco Insurance Company and St. Paul Travelers—in attendance, this year’s luncheon offers a unique opportunity to share experiences, insights and ideas while learning how others deal with the issues and challenges you face everyday. Demonstrate your commitment to your career, your agency and your future by joining us for the Diversity Luncheon and the 2005 Big "I" Convention. For more information about the convention and online registration, visit www.independentagent.com.
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B I G " I " M A R K E T S
Get Rolling During Peak RV Season
Leverage the access you have via Big "I" Markets to National Interstate, one of the larger insurers of recreational vehicles in the country. Some ideas for finding business: Look up local RV dealers in the Yellow Pages or on the Recreation Vehicle Dealers Association Web site. Pay them a visit and introduce yourself to the sales manager. Try to become the agent they refer customers to for RV insurance. Or, attend an RV show. Dozens of RV shows around the country display RVs of all shapes, sizes and costs. Show dates and locations are searchable at rvia.org. Inquire about setting up a booth at a show near you. It could be a great way for you to get on the radar screens of consumers before they make their next RV purchase. And don’t forget to ask! Every time your agency handles an auto endorsement, ask the customer if they have a recreational vehicle. If they do, make sure they know that you can insure it. For more information or to register for Big "I" Markets, visit www.bigimarkets.com.
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Agency of the Year Awards Heat Up
Registered Big "I" Markets agencies—while doing business—are vying for a place on the leader board for the Big "I" Markets Agency of the Year Awards. BIM agents compete in two categories: The Richard Petty Award will go to the agency with the most confirmed binders on Big "I" Markets for all of calendar year 2005. To be eligible to win, the agency must have a minimum of 10 submitted quote requests. The top five in this category include Cambridge Insurance Services with 80 quote requests, Sun Insurance Services with 44, BC Szerlip with 35, Virginia Commonwealth Corporation with 30 and Brown & Haynes with 27. The Babe Ruth Award will go to the agency that writes the most new premium on Big "I" Markets for calendar year 2005. There is no minimum number of quotes required to win in this category. The current top five agencies are BC Szerlip with $74,168 in written premium, ABH Insurance agency with $62,269, Feldman Agency with $47,427, Carpenter & Carpenter with $46,988 and Turner Insurance associates with $42,977. For more information, click here.
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B E S T P R A C T I C E S
Spotlight on Customer Service Excellence
Customers are expensive to acquire and even more expensive to lose. Today’s customer can be demanding, difficult and fickle. Getting customers and keeping them happy is a No. 1 priority in today’s competitive environment. You need new skills, new attitudes and new responses to stay ahead; customers change and if we don’t, we’re left in the dust.
Join Customer Care Coach® publisher, author and workshop leader JoAnna Brandi at the Best Practices Management Institute for a full-day of "continuous improvement." Her energetic style will keep you engaged and excited as you learn how to unleash the power of customer caring in your company. Learn to set your sights on creating consistently positive customer experiences. She’ll raise your customer consciousness and teach you to turn moments of truth into moments of magic.
IIABA’s Best Practices Management Institute will take place Sept. 11-12 at the Hilton New York in conjunction with the Big "I" Convention. Attend this unique event and the Customer Service Excellence session to experience:
Customer Service or Customer CARE?
· Explore the differences between service and care
· How to stay away from the satisfaction trap
· Understand the emotional bridge between satisfaction and loyalty
The Caring Environment
· Foundation principles of customer care
· Understanding what you bring to the "eco-system"
· Managing to thrive!
Turning Moments of Truth into Moments of Magic
· Learn how the customer keeps "score"
· Understand how expectations are formed
· Become a "manager of the moments of magic"
Creating the Positive Customer Experience
· The loyalty link – what’s love got to do with it?
· Understand the science behind happy customers
· Are you making your customers sick?
Romancing the Phone
· What to do when you feel yourself getting angry and impatient
· How to communicate company "policies" without losing customer good will
· Learn three great ways to close a call
The Inner Game
· What is peak performance and how do you get it
· Understanding energy gains and energy drains
· Moving out of the comfort zone
Experts advise that one of the top ways to increase agency value is to invest in growth. Developing producers and staffs with a strong sales and service culture are key factors; without these foundations in place it is difficult to grow and prosper in today’s highly competitive insurance marketplace. The Best Practices Management Institute has been designed for everyone in every agency. The program features three tracks: Producer Development, Customer Service Excellence and Owners and Managers Essentials.
For more information, visit the Best Practices Management Instituteto register and download the schedule of events or contact Jennifer Becker at jennifer.becker@iiaba.net; 800-221-7917.
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