Ninety-eight percent of people who attend a seminar won’t implement anything new or different as a result.  Be an implementer.  Make things happen.  Be a Two Percenter.---Roger Sitkins

Contract with Newly Licensed Drivers 

This is a teenage driver safety idea that H & K Insurance, Watertown, MA passed along to us a few years ago.  It has considerable merit today in the face of rising concern about youthful driver deaths on our highways and byways.  Parents who receive the contract suggestion will appreciate your concern and your caring.  It is not only a valuable service but a retention marketing tool as well.  Here is the H & K prototype.   

Someday isn’t a day of the week 

At a memorable Worcester Insurance Fall Marketing Kickoff Meeting (1986) we listened as nationally-known insurance consultant Roger Sitkins discussed his Secrets of Successful Agency Management.  He urged the 150-plus agents in the room to strive for a “perfect 10 in professionalism.” 

His point was that every agency employee should have “nothing less than an eight in potential.”  He said, “You don’t want to have an average agency.  Let’s start being the best again. Don’t say, ‘Someday I’ll do something about that.’  Someday isn’t a day of the week. Start today.  Yesterday becomes tomorrow unless you do something about it today!” 

Sitkins’ remarks prompted our associate Frank Herberg, then director of education at Worcester Insurance, to create a poster “Get off Someday I’ll.”  That poster, featuring a desert island with illustrations of marketing activities that agencies can do to “get off the island” still hangs in many agency offices we visit. 

Lupton & Luce upgrades Website 

One of our oldest and most respected clients has steadily upgraded its Web site over the past six months.  Step-by-step, Hal Luce, principal of Lupton & Luce Insurance, Inc., Riverhead, NY, has managed to add more interactivity to the site, more reasons for customers to re-visit the site, and more interesting human interest visuals. Check out some of the things Hal has done.  

Some notes about customer service 

I recently re-visited old clippings about service.  They were collected from a number of different sources.  Here are a few jewels plucked from a copy of George Nordhaus’ IMS Weekly Marketeer many moons ago.  I can’t vouch for the accuracy today of the statistics quoted in the article.  But intuition and personal experience tell me most are still accurate. See what you think. 

Ideas for building visits to your online office 

Need an idea to introduce your new Web site or a rebuilt site?  Here are a couple of creative ways to build quality traffic, promote your agency, and delight your audiences at the same time.