Chicagoland SIA Blog

Cultivating a strong personal brand can yield a lifetime of benefits. Yet many people mistakenly believe that personal branding is mostly about things like choosing stylish clothing and memorizing an effective elevator speech. They don’t realize that successful personal branding is less about how you look and more about what you do each day and the bonds you create with other people. The real power of personal branding lies in demonstrating qualities such as diligence, kindness, compassion and graciousness.

Is data security, online privacy and identity theft a top concern? If it’s not, it should be. More than ever, we’re seeing increasingly sophisticated attempts from hackers to steal information from organizations, and use it to commit identity theft and fraud.

How would you rate your listening skills? Listening to your clients — truly listening to what they are trying to tell you — is an important way to increase customer satisfaction and to help prevent misunderstandings, including those that can lead to E&O claims.

Yelp is growing in popularity by virtually any measure. The social review platform has an average of 77 million monthly unique mobile web visitors and an average of 37 million monthly unique mobile app users each month. While a business may have a strong social media presence elsewhere, by disregarding Yelp, it could be missing out on a vital opportunity to demonstrate top-notch customer or client service and to address complaints.

Has anyone ever asked for five minutes of your time? What is five minutes of your time even worth? If a client, employee, friend or significant other asked for five minutes of your time—do you have it to give? Or are you simply too wrapped up in your day and the tasks you need to accomplish to slow things down and make time for other people?

Have you fallen into the habit of sending e-mails to communicate with someone in your office — even if they are just a few steps away from you? Perhaps it is time to rethink your reliance on technology at work.

Branding is one of the most important aspects of growing a successful insurance agency. It’s what sets you apart from the competition. It’s how people identify and connect with you. It’s about communicating what you stand for and what you strive to be.

There are nearly 31 million small businesses nationwide, and it’s estimated that three-quarters of them have either not enough commercial insurance or no coverage at all. Does this surprise you?

Millennials may get a lot of attention and press, but insurance agencies need to start appealing to a younger cohort or risk becoming out of touch. Consider the fact that Gen Z’ers, born between 1995 and 2012, are beginning to work and make investments in their future. In other words, ignore them and you will increasingly miss out on opportunities to grow your insurance business.