Welcome to the June Insurance Is Fun "Fun Times" Newsletter! We hope you enjoy this month's offerings.

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Now, on to the fun!

Source: www.quotationspage.com

The broker is punished first because he drank the most.

“What is your wish?” asks the prince.

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It starts innocently enough, when one of her subcontractor clients requests a certificate with the word “endeavor” struck from the certificate’s cancellation notice provision. Then a general contractor calls and says the city wants to be named as an additional insured on the contractor’s workers compensation policy.

Suddenly unrealistic yet urgent requests begin literally erupting all about her, as if they had been planted long before and only now activated as part of some diabolical plot to drive her over the edge! One demands to be added as an additional “named insured” on every policy of the insured, including the softball accidental death and dismemberment contract covering the company team. Yet another demands a clause certifying the insured’s coverage will be primary, noncontributory, noncancellable, nonsmoking and preservative free for the length of the Uranus solar year. She loses all hope when she is told in no uncertain terms by a certificate requestor that he intends to hold her insured’s payments up until she certifies in writing her insured’s liability coverage will honor a blanket hold-harmless that waives the insured’s right to recover from anyone whose last name ends in a vowel or consonant.

Amazingly, just before she must choose between total emotional collapse or going postal, the avalanche of requests for modified certificates suddenly cease. It is later found the requestors were not beaten back by regulators or insurance carrier resistance, but rather perished when their relatively miniscule brains imploded while trying to dream up certificate requirements that exceeded the limits of chaos theory.

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The Supreme Court has ruled a golfer may not be held liable for mistakenly hitting another golfer with an errant golf ball. In a unanimous decision, the court upheld a lower court ruling to dismiss a lawsuit brought by one golfer against another whose wayward ball hit that golfer in the eye at a Hawaii golf course in 1999.

Chief Justice Ronald Moon wrote that the golfer assumed the risk of the injury when he played golf.

In what could possibly be the finest written verdict in Supreme Court history, the court ruled that it is “common knowledge that not every shot played by a golfer goes exactly where he intends it to go,” adding there wouldn’t be much “sport” in the “sport of golf” if golf balls went exactly where the player wanted.

The court also considered whether golfers should have to shout “fore” or other warnings to protect other players. The justices concluded, however, that doing so was golf etiquette, not a requirement recognized by law.

We at IIF say "Bravo!" to such clear level-headed legal analysis. And we eagerly await the court's future ruling as to whether golfers who follow the yelling of the word “fore!” with the yelling of the words, “I should have yelled two!” should be heavily fined for “failure to avoid extensive Caddy Shack references” or “wrongfully impersonating Rodney Dangerfield.”

Noted coverage guru, raconteur, speaker, seminar leader and co-chief fun officer of IIF Chris Amrhein has released his second sure to be best selling blockbuster: Yes, Virginia, There is Insurance!

Featuring newly edited "director's cut" editions of over thirty articles from Chris's past submissions to Agent & Broker Magazine, all specifically chosen for their blend of common sense, wisdom and humor. The book gains its title from the single most requested and reprinted article of Chris's career, his personal tribute to all of those who now or have ever labored in this field we call insurance.

Order prior to the June 15th publication date, and purchase this great new book at a 25% discount to the published price of $14.95 each. Plus, you can save all shipping and handling by choosing to download the ebook edition.

To be one of the first to enjoy this latest entertaining offering from InsuranceIsFun Press, click on the link below. Hurry - the price goes up June 15th!

Special book offer!

For ways to improve the customer experience at your firm, click the link for the rest of the story.

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Here are five key factors—according to Donohue—in establishing a successful telemarketing campaign:

1. The support of management is important to the success of any program. Management must commit to investing the time and resources needed to make the program work. Telemarketing is a long-term commitment, so don’t start the program if you plan on “jumping ship” after the first couple of months

2. Base your program on solid, reasonable goals. Take a look at your market and agree on what you want to accomplish with your telemarketing efforts. Will you be cross-selling to current customers? Cold-calling and setting up appointments for your sales staff? Make sure everyone understands the purpose and scope of the program before starting out.

3. Your telemarketing efforts will be more effective if you coordinate them with other marketing efforts, especially with direct mail. You can use direct mail to alert prospective customers that you’ll be calling, or to introduce them to the product you’ll be calling about. However, make sure you don’t send out more direct mail pieces in a week than your telemarketers can follow up on.

4. Your telemarketing efforts must be effectively planned, executed and supervised. Plan your calling strategy before you make your first call. Then, provide your telemarketing staff with the proper training and scripts to follow. Establish daily calling goals and record responses on call reports. If the results fall below the set goals, you can make adjustments to improve it. If the results are good, make sure the efforts are recognized and rewarded.

5. Always monitor your results. By monitoring your results, you can identify what works and what doesn’t. You’ll discover clues to increase sales and decrease time and effort.

With effective planning, careful execution and closely monitoring results, you’ll see real results from your telemarketing efforts.

Ah, Micromanagement; the last great bastion for office authoritarians. Is this the story at your agency, or is a free-style thinking renaissance moving you into the future? If so, you need a team of people who are gutsy enough to act when it comes to taking chances.

Cheering the fearlessness that combats the risks of innovation may not come without a price. This book reminds readers there is a difference between preparation and cannon-balling into the unknown. The book screams at all levels of employees to never fear risk; but please, BE CAREFUL!! Great energy makes this one a winner. Check it out!

IIF Rating: 9 out of 10

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