
How to Destroy Your Reputation in 7 Easy Steps
By Charles T. Wilson, CMC, CRM, RPLU
There has been lots of talk about 'Reputational Risk' recently, and many role models to show how to handle - or not - a business crisis. Arrogance, greed, secrecy and easy shortcuts seem to characterize financial institutions and coal mines, Toyota, and now BP. We are witnessing some terrific learning moments for risk management.
Business reputations are almost always an organization's most important asset. A simple definition might be: "trustworthy and high-quality people, products and services." We all know reputations are carefully built everyday; since they can be lost with one false step, it makes sense to review what NOT to do!
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E & O Loss Prevention Tip
By Brown & Brown
An Agent had a long-time client whose 26 year old daughter had moved back home due to the economy. The agent added a vehicle to the client's master auto policy and added the client's daughter to the policy as a listed driver. Just over a year later the daughter was involved in a single car accident where the automobile was a total loss. The carrier was unable to address coverage for the claim as the daughter was the registered owner of the car and not the mother. The mother was the named insured on the policy, but was not on the title to the vehicle; therefore she had no insurable interest to the insured vehicle. The client and her daughter made a claim against their agent for E&O.
Estimated Claim Cost: $25,000
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Sell Like a Robber Baron
By Ed Lamont
Standard Oil Company co-founder John D. Rockefeller began his career as a bookkeeper at a Cleveland, Ohio produce house. Made partner at age twenty, he took to the road to "drum up" new business. How Rockefeller prospected was professional, successful, and timeless.

Consultive Selling
By Marvin Zalesky
Introduction
By understanding your prospect's underlying needs and motivations, you will better understand how your products or services offer a value-added benefit. And the only way to understand the prospect's real needs is to ask...and then...listen. The listening part seems to be the most difficult, as most of us are in the habit of formulating responses while the other person is speaking.
Building a Talent Magnet
By Roy Little
A couple of years ago, a senior executive commented at an industry meeting that the insurance business seems to be populated by "C students." Oddly enough, the expected outrage never happened. There were some angry letters and emails, but the muted reaction meant either (a) no one reads that stuff anyway or (b) there was a little too much truth in the statement.
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Is It Time to Rethink your Vacation Policy?
By Kevin Ervin
In these economic times when layoffs sometimes seem inevitable and employers are looking for ways to reduce costs, it is important to remember that California employers have options concerning the vacation benefits provided to employees. A recent California Appellate decision brings this point home.
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The Details We Forget
By Mark Hunter
In our business, the focus is always on making sure everything we do is fully compliant. Understandably, that has all of us spending a lot of time dealing with one detail after another. In our quest to be compliant, we many times overlook information that is just as critical as the legal details. The information I'm talking about are the notes we fail to record dealing with pertinent information about our clients.
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Coaching and Being Coached
By Robert Stuberg
Think for a moment about what it takes to be a coach.
The coach of a sports team ... a one-on-one trainer ... the manager of a group of employees ... a motivational or instructional speaker ... a teacher ... a politician holding office ... a military commander ... an officer of the law ... the head of a family ... an exercise or dieting partner ... a spiritual leader. You may not have considered some of these to be coaching positions, but they are just a few of the many possible types of coaches.
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