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   Industry News

Big "I" Flood Program

FEMA Resources Help You Sell Flood

Have you offered flood insurance to each of your clients? If not, you've got some work to do. Offering flood insurance to your customers not only ensures that they are covered in the event of a flood—it's an important part of protecting yourself from a potential E&O exposure. Visit FEMA's Web site at www.agents.floodsmart.govto find numerous publications that will help start a flood conversation with your clients. Some articles include: "Top 10 Facts Every Agent Needs To Know About The National Flood Insurance Program," "Top 10 Facts Every Customer Needs To Know About NFIP" and "What To Tell Your Clients About the Benefits of Flood Insurance." You can also sign up to get free flood leads that FEMA receives as a result of their national advertising campaign. Log onto Big "I" Markets to learn about how you can write your own flood insurance with Selective Insurance Company through the Big "I" Flood Program.

Young Agents
Don’t Miss the Young Agents Leadership Institute

The 2006 Young Agents Leadership Institute will take place Sept. 8 through 10 at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside. This exciting event features two distinct keynote speakers. Keith Harrell will speak on Sat., Sept. 9 at the Young Agents breakfast. Keith is known across corporate America for his energetic and innovative presentations and specializes in changing behavior through a positive outlook. Harrell will present ways to tune up your attitude and improving your professional and personal life. Keynote speaker Brian Bagley contributed to the New York Times’ bestseller, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… And Others Don’t. Bagley now teaches how companies grow and attain superior performance---and how good companies can become great companies. Bagley will speak at the YA breakfast on Sun., Sept. 9 as well as the General Closing Session to follow.

The 2006 Young Agents Leadership Institute also features breakout sessions, Young Agent Committee Awards and the Young Agent event on Bourbon Street. Click herefor updates and to register online. Young Agents will also have the chance to participate in the Big "I" Leadership Convention Community Project, volunteering their time and skills to assist with a Habitat for Humanity homebuilding project that benefits Hurricane Katrina victims. Spaces are limited.  Click hereto register.  For more information, contact Katie Cosgrove at; 800-221-7917; katie.cosgrove@iiaba.net.

IIABA News

A Little Time, A Little Sweat Can Make A Big Difference

Be part of the Rebuild of New Orleans The Big “I” Habitat for Humanity Project

Don’t forget to pack your work boots and tool belt for the Big “I” 2006 Fall Leadership Conference Community Project on Sept. 8, 2006. You can make a difference in the lives of many New Orleans residents. While progress has been made, there is more work to do to ensure that everyone has a place to call home. Habitat for Humanity, with the help of over 30,000 volunteers, hopes to build 1,000 homes by mid-2007 and you can help. The Big “I” is coordinating two building shifts in partnership with Habitat for Humanity on Sept. 8, one from 8:30 a.m. to noon and the second from 12:30 to 4 p.m.

Anyone can volunteer! Participants must complete a separate registration form. Opportunities are limited to the first 300 registrants so be sure to sign up early. Let’s show our support New Orleans!

Not sure about your construction skills? No problem! Volunteers at all levels of construction experience, from first-time builders to experienced professionals, are welcome. For more information please contact Madelyn Flannagan at 800-221-7917;

madelyn.flannagan@iiaba.net.

Special thanks to the following sponsors of the Big “I” Community event*:

Applied Systems

Encompass Insurance

Fidelity National Insurance Services

Safeco Insurance

Swiss Re

The Hartford

Travelers

Zurich  North America

Independent Insurance Agents of Louisiana 

Independent Insurance Agents of North Carolina

*Contributors as of 7/25/06

If your company or organization is interested in contributing through sponsorships contact Beth Montgomery at 800-221-7917; beth.montgomery@iiaba.net.

Trusted Choice^®

Acadia Insurance Company Signs Up

Acadia Insurance Company has become the latest agency company to join the Trusted Choice^® consumer brand movement. It joins 34 other leading insurance companies and nearly 6,200 independent agency and brokerage firms in the expanding brand program.

Acadia Insurance Company is one of the largest property-casualty insurance companies serving the Northeast. Acadia is rated A (Excellent) by A.M. Best, with an A+ claims paying ability rating by Standard & Poors. The company is a member of the W. R. Berkley Corporation, an insurance holding company that is among the largest commercial lines writers in the United States, which joined Trusted Choice^® last month. 

Acadia offers many highly specialized, tailored commercial products and services to meet the broad needs of business customers throughout Connecticut,  Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont.

“Acadia Insurance Company is proud to be the newest member of Trusted Choice^®,” says Bill Thornton, CPCU, CLU, company president. “We are true believers in the independent agency system,and expect the affiliation with Trusted Choice^® will be significant to our distribution force and their policyholders. We will work with Trusted Choice^® to raise consumer awareness about the value added they get from using a Trusted Choice^®agency, which offers choice, customization, advocacy and more. Using a Trusted Choice^®agency is a smart way for consumers to buy insurance.”  

“We are thrilled to welcome Acadiainto Trusted Choice^®,” says Robert A. Rusbuldt, Big “I” CEO. “Acadia is well respected, and is 100% committed to its distribution force. The company understands the importance of branding its distribution force and it is ready to roll up its sleeves and work to take advantage of the benefits of Trusted Choice^® to its distribution force and consumers.”

Tie Into Summer Ad Blitz Now!

You know all the specifics about the Trusted Choice^® Summer ’06 Ad Blitz:

• A blizzard of more than 350 TV ads continuing all summer on CNN/Headline News and the Weather Channel (view network ad schedules here)
• A complementary, 45-day Internet ad campaign on two highly popular consumer Web sites: AOL.com and Move.com (formerly Homestore.com) and SpecificMEDIA, an interactive marketing firm with more than 450 premium Web sites reaching 75 million unique users monthly, that delivers Trusted Choice^® banner ads to surfers who match the brand’s consumer target and are actively searching for home insurance.

But did you know that this extensive advertising campaign is your best opportunity to run tie-in ads—print, radio, TV or billboards—in your community and to raise your agency’s profile with local consumers?

If you didn’t know this, it’s not too late to get into the game!

You still have the month of August to run tie-in advertising. Doing so will establish your agency as the consumer’s smart choice for insurance and financial services. Your agency will gain significantly more exposure because many consumers will think all the national ads are about their local Trusted Choice^® agency.

Trusted Choice^® makes it easy for you to advertise by providing customizable TV, radio, print and billboard ads that you can use in your local market. We also provide helpful guides on buying print and broadcast media. Participating agencies can obtain the customizable ads and the media-buying guides by clicking here.

What are you waiting for? Call your ad rep at the local TV or radio station or newspaper and get started now!

Remember this: Agents who invest a little time and a small amount of their resources in advertising can raise the profile of their Trusted Choice^® agency with local consumers. And that investment can pay big dividends for your business! For additional information, contact Jenner Gohr at or (800) 221-719; jenner.gohr@iiaba.net.

Best Practices

Study Reveals Agency Comp Trends

Anecdotal information isn’t enough when it comes to structuring owner, executive and producer compensation and incentive plans. With compensation and benefits accounting for 58 to 64% of an agency’s revenues, owners and executives want to make sure their plans will attract and retain top performers – but not so much that profitability is threatened.

If you want to ensure your compensation plans are competitive and cost effective, you’ll be interested in the results of a new national survey just released by The Hartford’s Business Management Group (BMG). The 2006 Owner, Executive & Producer Compensation Survey, conducted in March 2006, reports on responses from 162 agencies and brokerage firms of all sizes and from different geographic locations. It is designed to give agency principals the information they need to develop competitive compensation plans that will attract and retain management and sales talent.

Some of the trends noted in the survey include:

• Increased emphasis on development of new accounts. More than one-third of participants are changing commission structure and/or bonus incentives to motivate producers to focus on new business production.
• Level of compensation for producers is directly related to agency size and individual production. The smallest agencies, with less than $500,000 in revenue, average $55,000 total compensation per multi-line producer, while larger agencies, with revenues between $2.5 and $5 million, average $106,967.
• Substantial numbers of agencies are paying commissions to customer service representatives for writing new business. The success of agencies increasingly depends upon CSRs to round accounts, and compensation is often structured to reflect this. The study found that on average, 65% of agencies pay customer service representatives (CSRs) for writing new business, up significantly from 43% in BMG’s 2002 Survey.

Included as a part of IIABA’s Best Practices Toolkit , BMG’s 46-page report is a unique look at owner, executive and producer compensation collected from responding agencies of all sizes and geographical locations. Responses are categorized by lines of business and six regions, as well as 2005 total agency revenue— ranging from the smallest (less than $500,000) to the largest (more than $25 million) to assist owners in analyzing information pertinent to their agencies. The survey is available from BMG for $175 plus applicable taxes. For additional information, contact BMG at 800-772-0208 or visit www.bmgconsulting.com.

Visit the Best Practices area of the Big “I” Web site at www.independentagent.com today. For more information about making your agency a part of the Best Practice program, contact Madelyn Flannagan at madelyn.flannagan@iiaba.net.