| Quotes of the Month
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"We Americans live in a nation where the medical-care system is second to none in the world, unless you count maybe 25 or 30 little scuzzball countries like Scotland that we could vaporize in seconds if we felt like it."
-Dave Berry
"An asylum for the sane would be empty in America."
-George Bernard Shaw
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IIF Proudly Announces: "Roadmap to the Generations", Chris Amrhein's newest CD project!
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Forgive us out excitement, but nearly a year's worth of work is now ready for prime time! Presenting IIF's first ever major CD set, Chris Amrhein's "Roadmap to the Generations!"
Keep reading for more info, and a special offer for IIF newsletter readers!
Paul McCartney may have done well with "Yesterday," but if you want to build an agency with a future, better you should follow Fleetwood Mac's advice and "Don't stop thinking about tomorrow."
And tomorrow for independent insurance agencies looks a lot like Generation X and the Millennials (Generation Y). Listen to "Roadmap to the Generations" and learn answers to questions such as:
· Who are these young folks, and why are they such a gold mine?
· How's a poor Boomer to cope, much less adjust and profit?
· Why should agencies begin actively recruiting talented Xers and Millennials to join their staff, and/or start paying more attention to those already on their team?
Chris has traveled about the country with his highly acclaimed and popular presentation, "Roadmap to the Generations: Plotting Your Path Through the Millennial Minefields." Now, for the first time, Chris is offering a two-CD recording of his full two-plus hour presentation, recorded live at a major industry conference. Coming through loud and clear is his humor, insights and observations that have become Chris's trademark during his more than three decades of insurance industry experience. As a special bonus, we are including a third CD on this crucial topic, featuring a one-on-one interview with Chris conducted by Jack Burke, founder of Sound Marketing, Inc.
Check out Roadmap to the Generations. You'll take away a broader vision of your agency's future, specifics about next steps, and learn how to get access to Chris's references and resources on this critical subject, including how to download the full set of PowerPoint slides Chris used for the actual presentation.
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Joke Time
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A man is flying in a hot air balloon and realizes he is lost. He reduces height and spots a man down below. He lowers the balloon further and shouts, "Excuse me, can you tell me where I am?"
The man below says: "Yes. You're in a hot air balloon, hovering 30 feet above this field."
"You must be an IT guy," says the balloonist.
"I am" replies the man. "How did you know?"
"Well" says the balloonist, "Everything you have told me is technically correct, but it's no use to anyone."
The man below says, "You must work in business."
"I do" replies the balloonist, "but how did you know?"
"Well," says the man, "You don't know where you are, or where you're going, but you expect me to be able to help. You're in the same position you were before we met, but now it's my fault."
Source: www.1000ventures.com
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Dingbats and Dillweeds: Because Everyone Loves an Idiot!
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And we thought it was only in Lake Woebegon that all the children are above average:
"It was a good week for underachievers after schools around the country began instituting a minimum grade of 50, rather than zero. Educators said the adjustment would 'encourage student performance."
Source: The Week Magazine
Can we take a quick peek at the "motor vehicle" exclusion in the homeowners policy again?
In North Pole, Alaska, Alaska State Troopers used lights and sirens to apprehend a North Pole man suspected of driving under the influence after he allegedly led them on a slow-speed chase that covered several lawns.
The 20-year-old man was on a riding mower. Sunday's pursuit lasted about 200 feet and reached speeds of up to 5 mph before a trooper got out of a cruiser and told the man to stop.
Troopers received a call early Sunday complaining of an intoxicated man driving a mower. They said Wyatt Lewis's blood-alcohol content was 0.18 percent, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08 percent. Driving a lawnmower while drunk qualifies for a DUI charge. Lewis was also charged with failure to stop at the direction of a peace officer.
Source: Associated Press- Yahoo! News
And just when we didn't need another excuse for underwriters to frown on restaurant/bar liability:
You thought "Grand Theft Auto" pushed the limits: Two Belgian beer fanatics have launched a video game named "Place to Pee" that allows players to slalom down ski slopes or kill aliens while relieving themselves at urinals.
Werner Dupont, a software developer, and Bart Geraets, an electrical engineer, got the idea while drinking Belgian brews, they told Reuters Television at a local festival last week.
"This thing had to be invented by Belgian people and that's what we are," they said.
The 'Place to Pee' booth is designed for two users at a time and offers two games - blowing up aliens in outer space or skiing down a virtual slope. Gamers hit their target by aiming at sensors positioned on either side of the urinal.
So spectators better stand back, because we think the risk of collateral damage is high.
Source: The Week Magazine
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"Finding a Diamond Among the Coal!" Department
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Surely you've heard that many folks now refer to the World Wide Web as the "World Wide Waste." The amount of digital flotsam and jetsam arriving daily merely from ex-Nigerian officials with a need to move money out of the country is enough to clog up the mightiest mailbox filter!
We mean, how much fun is dealing with that? So here at IIF, where we are always about more fun, we decided-as a public service-to help. Each issue, we will find you a diamond from among the coal, a swan from among the geese, a pearl from among the swine-well, you get the idea. So feel free to reroute all your current e-mail bloat into that "automatically delete" file, while trusting us here at IIF headquarters to pass on anything truly worthy of our valued attention. And hey, it'll be fun!
This issue:
It's the reddest, whitest, and bluest of months, yet here we are encouraging time spent on the "world" wide web. However, since it seems it would be unpatriotic (and far from fuel efficient) of us to stray too far from home sweet home, this diamond provides one of the finest play-by-plays available of the history of this great nation. Check it out!
Find the Diamonds!
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News Flash: What Were They Smoking?
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"Who are you and where's my mother?"
A Miami plastic surgeon has written a children's book explaining why Mommy is a getting a nose job and breast implants. My Beautiful Mommy, written by Dr. Michael Salzhauer, depicts a mom telling her daughter that she'll look different after she comes home from her surgery. 'Why are you going to look different?' the girl asks. Mom responds: 'Not just different, my dear- prettier!' Salzhauer says he targeted the book to kids ages 4 to 7.
If you have to plan ahead, is it still a miracle?
A Tennessee man is suing his church for $2.5 million, claiming someone should have been there to catch him when he collapsed in religious ecstasy. Matthew Lincoln, 58, says that after minister Robert Lavala of Lakewind Church anointed his forehead, Lincoln 'received the spirit and fell backward,' striking his head on the 'carpet-covered cement floor.' The fall allegedly exacerbated a pre-existing spinal condition. A lawyer for the church's insurer said Lincoln should have realize no 'catchers' were situated behind him.
Source: The Week Magazine
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Brand Tip: Holy Bad Service, Batman!
By Peter van Aartrijk Jr., CIC
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Wow, I continue to be stunned when I run into really bad customer service. The kind where people are either completely clueless or go out of their way to be bad. The latter takes some energy to pull off.
Apparently the Independent Agency System isn't immune. Click here to find out the horror of it all.
The Horror of it All!
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What if You Could Start Your Agency Over - Today?
By Chris Amrhein, AAI
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If the path to success is a journey, why are so many agencies evidently happy living in their current rut?
A few years ago at the The Agency Automation Report (TAAR) HIGH-TECC conference, attendees participated in an interesting exercise. If you could start your agency over from scratch today, rebuild it from the ground up with no preconceptions and using all the latest and best ideas, what would it look like?
Well, the attendees cut loose! While one person kept notes of all the ideas on a computer screen projected to the front of the room, ideas flew! And when the dust settled, what to our wondering eyes should appear?
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| Book of the Month: Branding Your Business by James Hammond
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At a glance, this book conjures memories of a college textbook- yuck! But buried beneath the image of too many words and dull presentation is a treasure trove of information about the science of making and breaking business- branding.
In an industry rife with competition, sculpting a lasting image is the only method of survival. Agents who fail to separate from the pack are dead on arrival- there are just too many good ones out there waiting to pounce. This book will show the difference between the killers and the dead- read it today!
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Picture of the Month: Hey, It Worked for the Flintstones!
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At Retro Shade Tree Auto, we believe the old ways are still the best. So what's a couple of weeks to change a tire? Sure, that gecko garage claims they can do this in "15 minutes or less", but what's your hurry? Next thing you'll want us using some of that new-fangled technology like lug wrenches and jacks. As grandpappy said, "If it ain't broke, rock on!" | |
