Pat's Outlook on the Future of Insurance Agencies

2015 and Beyond - TAAR - September 2009

In October 2008 I attended the ReSource Pro Innovation Summit in Qingdao, China. The attendees were led through a number of activities which had them thinking and planning for the agency of 2015. Every attendee that I have spoken to said that this meeting was phenomenal in opening their eyes and minds to how to plan and think about the future. There were both wholesale MGAs and retail agencies involved in this summit. However, as a group the came to same common themes. 09.09 2015_and_Beyond.pdf Subscribe to The Anderson Agency Report

My Most Important Noticer & Mentor

I have been reading The Noticer and it has caused me to think a lot about mentoring. By the time I was 21 years old I had been in the insurance business 3 years, but I had no idea where I was going or what a career was. I was so very fortunate while looking for a new job to find Mr. Russell Grace, owner of Russell Grace Insurance.

You Never Know Who Is Watching and Listening

Agencies tell me that they don't know what to blog about and who would be listening to them anyway. It is always interesting to me after I post a blog to watch for comments. Even when I ask an interesting question there are not always comments. Other times when I don't expect a response, I receive several.

Analyzing Processes - Why?

I am currently working on writing standards and workflows for a client on the filing of surplus lines taxes. Now this is a sticky wicket in almost any agency I visit. This used to be so easy. The broker that placed the coverage for the retail agency filed the taxes. Well, that is not the case any longer. So the workflow has just happened over the years and is jumbled and confusing.

Accomplishing Change

In a few presentations on the subject of change I have made a point that change is easier if it is for something we want to do than something our employer wants us to do. I use the example of how easy it is to change when we want a new cell phone. If we choose to change to a new cell phone you don't hear a lot of grumbling. We tend to embrace the learning process and in a short period we know almost everything there is to know. We are telling everyone that will listen all we know and how wonderful our new phone is.

Apple School

Last week I attended my first Apple school session. My One-On-One session was great. Rachel, my instructor, was knowledgeable, had great teaching skills and was fully engaged in our session. However, it was a challenge to keep my people watching habit under control and pay attention to why I was there.

Integrity

I was taught long ago that without integrity my knowledge means little. Of late, roads that I have taken have caused a number of people to question my integrity. So I think it is time to address these issues.

Moving to MacBook Pro

I have been thinking about a new laptop for awhile. My current one is 4 years old and giving me a good deal of grief. When we visited with our granddaughter in September she had acquired a MacBook Pro. She is studying graphic arts and the classes require that she use Mac software. I enjoyed using her MacBook and added this to my list of considerations. I have spent a great deal of time researching what I want. I am tied to a windows computer in order to work with certain programs used by my clients. So who says I can't have two laptops? Here she is all dressed up and ready for the party(ies).

Why Would I use Twitter?

Last week I was privileged to be the facilitator for two sessions at the Big I of Nebraska's first Technology Day.  In the afternoon session we discussed the potential errors and omissions issues that using social medial my pose and then we looked at the different social media resources.  When we were discussing Twitter.Com, a lady said the following:  I have read that the majority of tweets are meaningless, so why would my agency want to use them?

Make the Noise Go Away by Larry G. Linne

I met Larry Linne several years ago at a Sitkins 100 meeting now known as Sitkins International.  He was a speaker and his subject was on sales management.  Who knew he was writing this wonderful book?  I so wish I had known all that is in this book when I owned a managing general agency.  Oh did I lose sleep and it was very noisy.  It would have also been helpful for those positions where I was second-in-command.