| Quote of the Month
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"I don't want any yes-men around me. I want everyone to tell me the truth-even if it costs him his job."
-Samuel Goldwyn
Source: http://www.aardvarkarchie.com/quotes/business2.htm |
| New! FunCasts Are Here!
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One thing our IIF brain trust insists upon is we never rest on our Laurels (or Hardy's)! So IIF is button-bursting proud to announce - Insurance Is FunCasts! Yes friends, podcasts are us, now at Insurance is Fun. AKA, "Lunch with Pete and Chris" (without the chewing). Coming live via digital recording straight from us to your ears, via the web or download to your favorite digital device. We are still learning the technology, so the focus is totally on what we DO know - the insurance biz. Tune in for true "fly-on-the-wall" conversations between Pete and Chris on topics from branding to sales to younger generations to Best Practices to...whatever! Fourteen to fifteen minutes, tops! Listen in, grab the knowledge, and tap the motherlode! Let us know what you'd like to hear in future episodes. Insurance is FunCasts - now on IIF!
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| Joke (Story) Time
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This is the story of four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was asked to do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it. Consequently, it wound up that Nobody told Anybody, so Everybody blamed Somebody.
Source: http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/quotes/business |
| Dingbats Corner
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In August 2006, RadioShack fired 400 staffers via e-mail. Affected employees received a message that read: "The workforce reduction notification is currently in progress. Unfortunately, your position is one that has been eliminated."
Source: Business 2.0 Magazine-"101 Dumbest Moments in Business"; January/February 2007
Side Note: As a result of the above, RadioShack received a "Golden Dunce Cap" award for "Dumbest Moment in Human Resources" by the magazine.
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| News Flash: WIO-Additional Ethics Training Should Be Mandatory
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The World Insurance Organization recently announced its planned push for an additional three hours of mandatory ethics training for insurance professionals. "We believe it is essential that all in our industry understand the importance of acting ethically" was the message voiced by Ensign Vern Schmulowitz, the person presently speaking on behalf of the organization.
After much questioning, IIF reporters were unable to determine exactly why the additional training is important as well as why the organization will not reveal reasons for its position.
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| The Greatest Insurance Story Never Told
By Chris Amrhein, AAI
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Another new show from TIC-The Insurance Channel!
Insurance: The Music. Everyone in this business knows how critical to everyday sanity and survival is the music which keeps us going. Who hasn't hummed such classic insurance lyrics as Jimmy Buffett's "If we weren't all crazy, we'd all go insane" on the way to a claims interview. Or, when studying the "invitee versus trespasser" provisions of premises liability, hasn't immediately thought of Steppenwolf's immortal "Don't Step On The Grass, Sam." And what insured, once moved to a claims-made liability form and then later trying to move back to an occurrence form, couldn't relate to the Eagle's lyrics from "Hotel California": "You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave."
On our weekly show, we will showcase the bands that have written, as Stevie Wonder might say, our "songs in the key of life." First up? Pink Floyd, the group with an incredible string of insurance hits, including "Comfortably Numb," "Momentary Lapse of Reason," "Another Brick in the Wall" and, of course, "Money." In future weeks we'll spotlight such classics as Sammy Hagar's ode to auto insurance, "I Can't Drive 55"; Pearl Jam's insights into public school liability and workers compensation issues in "Jeremy"; as well as the watercraft coverage issues raised by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young in "Wooden Ships" and "Southern Cross." |
| Tales from the HR Crypt: An Age Old Reminder
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Read on to discover how our Marketing Maven Deb uses the innocent "insults" of a child and the confused dialogue of intrigued on-lookers to remind us that, when it comes to the public's view of our industry, perception is in the eye of the beholder.
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| Brand Tip: Who Writes the Next-Gen Customer?
By Peter van Aartrijk Jr., CIC
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If the average independent agency owner is about 55 years old, what's the age of the average customer of that agency?
No spring chicken, either, you might say?
Yes, I'd guess about the same-mid-50s.
Agency owners typically insure people like themselves. There is a natural generational connection there. Also, agencies typically don't employ enough-or any-younger producers to sell to younger folks. Following are suggestions on what even the most grizzled vets can do to access this essential demographic.
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| Book of the Month: Who Stole My Sale? By Todd Duncan
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 Define the problem, present the solution, implement-such is the life of most sales people-a society of folks in constant search of tools to help with the "conversion" of prospect to client. Tools abound, yet most resemble Winnie the Pooh-stuffed with fluff and designed for those who already have their hands on the honey.
In this book, Duncan presents 23 deal-closers derived from personal experience in a direct and concise manner both sharp and rare in the sales book world. Amazing ideas explode from smoothly constructed stories, then are summarized in a plan of action that guarantees you'll take something away from each. Colorful and bright, Duncan leaves fat and fluff on the shelf where most other tomes offering similar promises should be left. |
| Picture of the Month
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"I'll be legally parked by April!" |
| Product Deal - Buttons, Buttons, Who's Got IIF Buttons?
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Showcase your fun side with a package of Insurance is fun! buttons! Wear and share a favorite design or saying with 10 of your closest friends. Pass 'em out at parties, give 'em away at Burning Man. Keep 'em all for yourself and make some unique wall art. Collect e'em, trade 'em. On sale during the month of August!
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| Feedback
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Does this newsletter seem like something you'd want to read in the waiting room at the dentist office? Or would you rather put it down and listen to people's teeth get drilled? We want to know! Send questions or comments to Deb@insuranceisfun.com. | |
