Welcome from our Founder
Greetings!
Welcome to our first e-mail newsletter for 2009!
We are writing you today to let you know that we at Oak & Associates are really committed to you and your business' success.
Oak & Associates is here to help you hit the ground running for 2009. Call us if you have any questions on how our services will help you get what you want.
We are here to assist you and help you put together a step-by-step plan to reach a minimum 20% increase in sales in the next 90 days!
There are a lot of challenging issues in today's market. Just like well-oiled machines, we know that the well run, strong agencies will survive, especially those that are prepared. Become one of those machines today! This is the time to invest in your agency.
Oak & Associates prides itself in working with you in preparation of what lies ahead. We will work with you to develop those plans and to commit them to writing. Please take a few moments to look at the following list to see what three areas you need to breakthrough now in order to really excel.
1. A "Sounding Board" for management issues and ideas
2. Producer Development
3. Employee Productivity
4. Automation Usage
5. Return on Investment
6. Marketing & Advertising Planning
7. Improved Communication within the firm
8. Improved Training
9. Better Overall Management
10. Perpetuation Planning and Business Succession
11. Time Management
12. Any Other Needs you might have...
HOW OAK & ASSOCIATES CAN ASSIST YOU
Now is the time to act! Prepare your agency and build a foundation for future success.
To help you start on your path to the next level (such as an increase in sales and profits), we are offering you a free 30-minute consulting call to discuss these needs and what we can do to assist you at this time.
Simply call us at (707) 935-6565 for a review of your situation and to discuss viable solutions. You can also email Bill or Catherine.
Find out more about our Sales Manager Coaching program by clicking here.
We, at Oak & Associates, are committed to your success!
Sincerely
Catherine Oak, CIC, CRM, AAI
Founder
Oak & Associates
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Webinars
Join us for our webinars!
Keep up on the topics you need to know, now!
Click here to find out more or see our previous webinars.
Producer Vesting Basics
What works and does not work when it comes to producer vesting or equity.
February 5, 2009
1:00 PM Pacific
Agency Value
How much is your agency worth? Find out the key elements to agency value and what are the current trends.
February 10, 2009
2:00 PM Pacific
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Quick Links
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Our WebsiteOak & Associates PO Box 2047 Glen Ellen, Ca 95442 (707) 935-6565
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Dream Teams
- Do you suffer from the "Lonely Owner" Syndrome?
- Do you have someone you trust to bounce ideas off of?
- Who do you turn to to discuss big issues and problems impacting you and your business?
- If you are trying to problem solve, do you think that a group of entrepreneurs could get better results in less time working together than a single entrepreneur could working solo?
If you are alone in running your business...
then you might need your ownDream Team to advise you!
What are Dream Teams?
· A peer group that acts as a support system for business owners
· A team that provides input and the ability to brainstorm business ideas and solutions to problems
· A group of like-minded business owners to assist you with accountability and implementation of your goals
Dream Team membership combines the group consultancy approach in a structured meeting environment, plus one-on-one coaching for your specific needs to move you past problems and issues that are slowing you down, now!
Join us at one of our next Dream Team Meeting:
- February 17, 2009 San Francisco
- February 25, 2009 Emeryville
- March 10, 2009 Orange County
Call Oak & Associates at (707) 935-6565 to find out more. You can also visit our website by clicking here.
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Featured Article
Sales Planning for 2009
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Have you taken any action for your
2009 sales plan?
No plan?
No problem!
Let Oak & Associates get you started - for free! Find out how we can be your Sales Manager Coach. Click here for details Sales & Marketing Planning
Setting Your Course
By Bill Schoeffler, CIC and
Catherine Oak, CRM, CIC, AAIIt is that time of year again, time to develop the firm's annual Sales & Marketing Plan. This is an essential element of strategic planning. Many carriers want to meet with the agency owners to set the game plans for the coming year. It is best for agencies to be proactive in this process. To be a "preferred agency" it is often required that an agency have a Sales & Marketing Plan. So, what are the basic ingredients to a well-written Sales & Marketing Plan? Like most other plans there are three steps:
A) know where you are,
B) where you want to be and
C) map out how to go from A to B.
Define "Personality"The best starting point is to first define the agency's "personality" or the book of business. This will define what to look for from existing carriers and the selection of new carriers to represent.
To read the full article click here
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Time Management
Time...
Tick tock tick tock...
It is the only non-renewable resource we have.
Once it is gone, you can't get it back.
Tricks of the Trade
By Catherine Oak, CRM, CIC, AAI &
Bill Schoeffler, CIC
Make the most of your time with these key ways that insurance professionals, like you, can save time in this hectic world today:
1. Determine Your Time Wasters
If you were to guess, what would be your biggest time wasters? For many of us it is net surfing, reading or replying to email, (especially the unimportant ones), making personal phone calls, reading or sorting through junk mail. By trimming down these time fillers to a minimum, it will give you more time for the big items or big rocks in your life (work projects, family time, etc.). Only an hour a day should be spent on these time wasters.
2. Prioritize and Learn to Delegate
Determine each day what the key things are that you need to accomplish. Write down those key items on either a white board or day planner. By having a visual of your priorities in front of you, you can see where the smaller list or pile of things to do can fit between times, (like calls to make, items to file, follow-up items or junk mail or reading). That way, you can accomplish your big items first and feel that you have finished the most important tasks each day. If possible, you can even delegate these filler items, especially if they do not need your expertise and you can train someone else to do them.
3. Overscheduling Ourselves
Most people have way too much on their "to do" lists than is possible to accomplish on a given day. If you are like me and you do this, you feel let down at the end of the day and are not grateful for the things you actually did get done.
4. Handle Paper Only Once
One of the biggest "time killers" is how paper is mishandled. Someone, a while back, came up with a system for handling each piece of paper.
To read the entire article click here
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Today's Benchmark
A regular feature in Oak Leaves will be meaningful benchmarks to help you run your agency.
Right now we are collecting data on producer performance.
If you would like to be part of the survey, please click here.
The more data we have, the more accurate the results. Thanks for participating.
The results will be published in the February issue.
Next Benchmark
The next survey will be on producer's ownership or equity in their book of business.
If you have any suggestions for a benchmark that you would like to see, please let us know by clicking here.
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Top Ten Lists
Top Ten Causes of Errors & Omission Claims
- Failure to Document Properly
- Misrepresentation of Product
- Inadequate Coverage
- Failure to Process on Time
- Poor Standard of Care
- Breach of Duty
- Breach of Contract
- Special Relationships
- Failure to Advise Carrier of Binding Coverage
- Communication Failure
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