Chicagoland SIA Blog

We all make mistakes. To err is human, right? However, if you are a business offering professional services, such as an insurance agency, those errors can be costly! Errors & Omissions (E&O) insurance is designed to cover damage caused to clients by negligence, faulty advice or other failure of duty acts.

When the concept of a superhero comes to mind, it probably doesn’t conjure up images of an insurance agent. The insurance agent doesn’t leap over tall buildings with a single bound or rid the universe of evil. However, insurance is complicated to say the least—and clients depend on the expertise and knowledge of insurance agents to guide them through the process of choosing the right insurance protection.

Your employees are the embodiment of your agency to your clients. Your agency will only perform as well as your employees do. Employees are your voice, your hands, etc. when it comes to dealing with clients. When clients are treated well, they will speak highly of your agency. On the other hand, if a client has a bad experience when dealing with one of your employees, he isn’t going to think about it as being treated badly one individual employee. He is going to relate the bad experience as being treated badly by your entire company.

Women have made great strides within the insurance industry. According to a recent Population Survey of the U.S. Census Bureau, women make up approximately 60 percent of the workforce within the insurance industry. Where the inequality seems to prevail is at the leadership level. Less than 20 percent of board seats and executive officer positions are held by women, according to whitepaper by the Million Women Mentors (MWM).

Recently, Notre Dame, an 800-year-old cathedral in Paris, was devastated by fire. It was not insured, so the billions of dollars in damage will not be paid for by insurance companies. The French government will be responsible for restoring and rebuilding the valuable artwork and property. Often, government entities and very high value individuals or corporations will choose to self-insure, meaning they take on the risk of paying for any damages to property themselves.

Are you conducting exit interviews with your employees who have turned in their resignations? You should be. It is a great way to learn more about your agency, its strengths and weaknesses.

As an agency owner, you likely have a set time for staff meetings. How do your staff meetings go? Are they productive or is it usually the “same old same old?” Get out of a rut and start holding staff meetings that produce results! Here are a few ideas.

For most of us, work is a fact of life. It is regrettable when an employee goes to work feeling deflated and perhaps showing up for nothing more than a paycheck. As a manager of employees, you’ve likely seen it in your own workplace. Here are a few ways to combat employee demotivation in the workplace.

Did you know that identity theft costs American consumers more than $16 billion each year? Even careful password protection and other security measures do not guarantee identity protection. Here are some common methods cyber criminals use to steal identities.

We all know how important it is to provide extraordinary customer service. But have you ever considered how vital it is that you and your agency employees answer the phone warmly and professionally?