AGENCY OF THE MONTH SELFLESS SERVICE California agency’s niche becomes its mission By Dennis H. Pillsbury Tom Cutler started his own agency in 1967 in a prime location—on a card table next to the popcorn machine at Sears—and grew it to a full-service agency of around 30 employees in 20 years. Then he decided to sell the agency, because he realized he wanted to have just one employee. So, in
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Young Professionals GETTING YOUR FEET WET WITH SOCIAL NETWORKING Tips for using LinkedIn and Facebook for your business By Christopher W. Cook Previously in Young Professionals … If this were a video production, a cool montage would be inserted here, maybe with a car chase, some explosions and lots of dramatic dialogue. Use your imagination. That was fun. Back to reality. Last time, we discussed social media best practices shared
ONBOARDING BEST PRACTICES Young professionals share training experiences By Christopher W. Cook After graduating with a B.F.A. in creative writing, I spent nearly a dozen years working in the food service industry. Whether it was a national or regional restaurant chain, a sports pub or a comedy club, I felt that the server training was fairly similar at each establishment. Learn the menu. Learn the table numbers. Learn the side
Broken Glass EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS Jacksonville agency owner goes above and beyond to deliver outstanding client service By Elisabeth Boone, CPCU A 90%-plus retention rate … five- star reviews from happy clients … low employee turnover … All of those attributes contribute to the success of Zelen Risk Solutions, a property/casualty independent agency founded in 2003 by Vicky Zelen, AAI, ARM,CIC, CRM. Based in Jacksonville, Florida, the agency writes a wide
Leadership THREE PILLARS OF GROWTH INSURICA executives share lessons in leadership By Elisabeth Boone, CPCU How would you react if a potential acquirer told you that you could retain up to a 30% interest in your agency post acquisition? For the 29 agencies in the southwestern U.S. that have become part of INSURICA since 1995 when INSURICA acquired Agar Ford Jarmon & Muldrow in Norman, Oklahoma, that was a compelling
