Texas connection november 2014

the

TEXAS CONNECTION TEXAS PROFESSIONAL INSURANCE AGENTS DIGITAL JOURNAL

NOVEMBER 2014

In This Issue •

• • •

Which of your customers could use an Umbrella?

5 Rookie Home Page Mistakes Increase Your Hiring Success Rate

By The Numbers

Let's put the seniors in jail, and the criminals in a nursing home.

This way the seniors would have access to showers, hobbies, and walks.

They'd receive unlimited free prescriptions, dental and medical treatment, wheel chairs etc. and they'd receive money instead of paying it out.

Presidents Corner ………………………..… Page 3 Meet The Member …….…………..……… Page 5 Umbrellas, Who Needs Them?

…..……… Page 6

They would have constant video monitoring, so they could be helped instantly if they fell, or needed assistance.

Bedding would be washed twice a week, and all clothing would be ironed and returned to them.

Five Rookie Home Page Mistakes ….……. Page 10

A guard would check on them every 20 minutes, and bring their meals and snacks to their cell.

Dixonisms …..…………………..…..……… Page 11

They would have family visits in a suite built for that purpose.

TDI Enforcement Ac6ons …….……..…... Page 12

They would have access to a library, weight room, spiritual counselling, pool, and education.

……. Page 13

Simple clothing , shoes, slippers, P.J.'s and legal aid would be free, on request.

Increasing Your Hiring Success Rate Current Events

………………...………… Page 16

……..……………..……….. Page 20

Private, secure rooms for all, with an exercise outdoor yard, with gardens.

By The Numbers …...…….………...…….. Page 24

Each senior could have a P.C. a T.V. radio, and daily phone calls.

Our Partners

Word Scramble ……...…….………….…… Page 25 Texas Trading Post Classifieds

………………………. Page 26

………………………..….…… Page 30

The Last Word

…………………......…… Page 32

There would be a board of directors to hear complaints and the guards would have a code of conduct, that would be strictly adhered to.

The "criminals" would get cold food, be left all alone, and unsupervised… lights off at 8pm, and showers once a week… Live in a tiny room, pay $5000. per month and have no hope of ever getting out.

Tony Harper

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Cozumel—2006

David Mikeal - Eas-Tex Insurance Agency, Nacogdoches, Texas Meet David Mikeal and his wife, Laura. David a!ended Stephen F. Aus%n University where he met Laura… and the rest is history. Laura is a creden%aled school teacher… she and David have two boys Aus%n and Zack.

David owns Eas-Tex Insurance with stores in Nacogdoches and Lu+in. He is a long %me member of Texas PIA. He and Laura were on our 2006 annual mee%ng cruise to Cozumel. Ah, those were the days.

David is a great agent… he understands what it takes to provide good customer service.

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When looking at various E&O claims involving umbrella coverage, there are circumstances where the “gaps” between the actual underlying limits and those required are major concerns. However, in the majority of those cases, the real issue is the lack of the umbrella. Essentially, there is a claim where the underlying limits were not sufficient to cover the claim. Unfortunately, when this occurs, the possibility that the agency could be involved in litigation due to the absence of the umbrella increases. Why, then, don’t more personal and commercial customers have this important coverage?

Who has the potential?

There are instances where a customer is provided with an umbrella proposal and chooses not to buy it. This is fine, providing there is solid documentation of the offer and the declination. Could there be situations where an umbrella proposal was not even provided because the agency CSR/producer did not think the client needed an umbrella? Absolutely. On any given day, the news reports on major accidents in which the potential to exhaust the underlying coverage limits exists.

Which of your clients need an umbrella? Asking the question in a somewhat different manner, which of your customers has the potential to cause an accident where the underlying auto or homeowners limits will not be sufficient? They most likely all do! Why, then, has an umbrella proposal not been provided to all of your customers?

Who receives a proposal?

Some agency staff members may judge whether to offer an umbrella based heavily on the size of that specific customer’s assets. When an agency CSR deals with a personal lines customer who has two homes, three THE TEXAS CONNECTION - TEXAS PROFESSIONAL INSURANCE AGENTS DIGITAL JOURNAL

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cars and a boat, the thought of offering an umbrella

umbrella? The most likely all do! Agency staff should be

seems much more logical. After all, the customer has

careful not to prejudge customers when determining

the assets, and umbrella is a coverage that will assist

customers’ insurance needs. There is the requirement

greatly in protecting those assets. The same is true for a

that certain minimum underlying limits be carried to se-

commercial lines customer with a multiple-vehicle fleet

cure an umbrella, so when dealing with current and pro-

and a significant general liability exposure.

spective customers, discuss the benefit and cost of an umbrella. Propose a variety of limits for the coverages

Going back to the personal lines customer, contrast that

being considered. This lets the customer know that you

customer with a young adult that owns a car and rents

are not “recommending” a specific limit and that higher

an apartment. If one were to judge the “need for an um-

limits are available. This also “forces” the customer to

brella” by the size of the assets, there is a good chance

make a decision on which limit he or she wants and

there will not be an umbrella discussion with the young

those which are being rejected.

adult client. After all, what could the young adult do that could cause a serious auto accident or result in a significant liability exposure? Plenty!

Most agency management systems provide the ability to identify those accounts that don’t have an umbrella.

Make it a goal in 2015 to ensure that all of your custom-

Bottom line, the potential size of auto accidents or liabil-

ers are advised of umbrella coverage, what it does and

ity exposures is not determined by the size of the cli-

how much it costs. For some customers, you must factor

ent’s assets. What if the client just graduated and has a

in the cost to increase his or her underlying limit. If a

college debt of $200,000? What are this individual’s net

customer rejects the umbrella offering, get his or her

assets? It’s probably a negative number, yet this person

sign-off. At the end of the end, you’re likely to find your-

still has the ability to cause a significant loss where the

self writing more umbrella policies.

underlying insurance is not sufficient – just as great as the person who owns two homes, three cars and a boat.

In the commercial lines scenario, contrast the customer with multiple vehicles and a storefront operation with a

by Curtis M. Pearsall, CPCU, AIAF, CPIA

one-person operation, such as a contractor or salesper-

President – Pearsall Associates, Inc. and

son. Does one of these exposures offer a greater likeli-

Special Consultant to the Utica National E&O Program

hood there will be a sufficient claim?

While the customer with multiple vehicles probably presents a greater exposure, it does not mean the customer with one vehicle has no exposure. In addition, accounts such as contractors have other exposures that present tremendous potential for a sizeable general liability loss.

Write more umbrellas To reiterate, which of your customers need an THE TEXAS CONNECTION - TEXAS PROFESSIONAL INSURANCE AGENTS DIGITAL JOURNAL

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Our CE Mee%ngs are designed to be fun, educa%onal, and profitable.

At the mee%ng November 12th, we gave away a Kindle Fire HD. Plus, here are some winners of Free Movie Passes courtesy of Ed Lack with Empower Insurance. Our Next DFW CE Mee%ng will be Jan. 24, 2015.

Check out the rates for the most cost effec%ve method of keeping your message in front of your customers… professional insurance agents.

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Ques%ons? Contact Joe Tipton at joe@piatx.org or (972) 862-3333.

THE TEXAS CONNECTION - TEXAS PROFESSIONAL INSURANCE AGENTS DIGITAL JOURNAL

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Your website is one of your biggest marke6ng opportuni6es. Don't let it fall vic6m to these 5 home page missteps.

It's all too common for small-business owners who build their own websites to make a handful of rookie mistakes.

Unfortunately, it's not unheard of for hired professionals to make errors when designing websites, too.

Your website is one of your most important marke6ng tools, so whether you're taking on the crea6on and design of it yourself or you're hiring someone else to do it for you, make sure you avoid these all-too-common home page mistakes:

1. Too Many Choices People won't actually read your home page. They'll scan it, looking for the informa6on that's most immediately relevant to them. If they can't find it quickly and with minimal effort, they'll visit a site where they can.

Your site should be designed to guide new eyes exactly where you want them to go, even if they don't know for sure what they're looking for ... especially if they're not sure what they're looking for. Simple naviga6on with clean lines is the way to go. If your business requires that you offer robust, complex choices, do that on a deeper page.

Your home page should be simple and easy to navigate.

2. Wall Of Text A few years ago, a mul6million-dollar ad campaign from five major magazine publishers who were tou6ng the power of print stated "We surf the Internet. We swim in magazines." To do that surfing, people will interact with, share and return to websites that have pages with: (con6nued on page 17) THE TEXAS CONNECTION - TEXAS PROFESSIONAL INSURANCE AGENTS DIGITAL JOURNAL

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Texas PIA Offers Members Satisfying E&O Solutions “Fifteen minutes could save you 15%....

Everyone knows that- but did you know that not all E&O policies are the same?

A woman runs a red traffic light and crashes into a man's car. Both of their cars are demolished, but amazingly, neither of them is hurt.

After they crawl out of their cars, the woman says; "Wow, just look at our cars!

There's nothing left, but fortunately we are unhurt. This must be a sign from God that we should meet and be friends and live together in peace for the rest of our days."

The man replies, “I agree with you completely. This must be a sign from God!” The woman continues, ”And look at this, here’s another miracle. My car is completely demolished, but my bottle of wine didn’t break. Surely God wants us to drink this wine and celebrate our good fortune.” She then hands the bottle to the man.

E&O is like other types of insurance- you buy it hoping you’ll never need it- but if you do- E&O can be the difference in whether you stay in business or not.

How about it? Do you know what your policy covers-. And more importantly, what it doesn’t?

Texas PIA offers members, quality E&O markets and coverage. And members say they have saved as much as 40% when they switch to exclusive PIA programs.

Call today and get an analysis of your coverage and a competitive quote from multiple markets.

Call Texas Insurance Professional Services: Ray Reyes (214) 618-2365 ray@piatx.org

or

Bob Dixon (832) 375-0787 bdixon@piatx.org

The man nods his head in agreement, opens it, drinks half the bottle and then hands it back to the woman. The woman takes the bottle, immediately puts the cap back on, and hands it back.

The man asks, "Aren't you having any?"

The woman replies, "Nah. I think I'll just wait for the police."

Adam ate the apple, too. Men will never learn…

This column courtesy of Bob Dixon with Texas Insurance Professionals.

Think about it: Careful taking your turkey to church. They have fowl mouths.

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TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCE LATEST INDICTMENTS AND CASE DISPOSITIONS POSTED

Contact Us

Perez, John Date of Ac6on: 10/15/2014 Loca6on: San Antonio Ac6on Taken: Sentenced to 3 years deferred adjudica6on and ordered to pay $62,239.55 in res6tu6on. Viola6on: Securing Execu6on of a Document by Decep6on, State Jail Felony Carter, Leslie Date of Ac6on: 10/2/2014 Loca6on: Athens Ac6on Taken: Indicted. Viola6on: Insurance Fraud, State Jail Felony Trevino, Kimberly Date of Ac6on: 10/1/2014 Loca6on: San Marcos Ac6on Taken: Indicted. Viola6on: Insurance Fraud, State Jail Felony

Give us a call for more information about member services and products.

Texas PIA and Young Insurance Professionals 3632 Frankford Rd 200B Dallas, Texas 75287 (972) 862.3333 joe@piatx.org www.piatx.org

Myers, Brent L Date of Ac6on: 9/26/2014 Loca6on: San Antonio Ac6on Taken: Informa6on Viola6on: Insurance Fraud, State Jail Felony Miller, Bryan W Date of Ac6on: 9/23/2014 Loca6on: Dallas Ac6on Taken: Sentenced to 2 years deferred adjudica6on, fined $1,500.00 and ordered to pay $10,830.00 in res6tu6on. Viola6on: Insurance Fraud, State Jail Felony Brown, Kortlynd S Date of Ac6on: 9/15/2014 Loca6on: San Antonio Ac6on Taken: Indicted. Viola6on: Insurance Fraud, State Jail Felony Factor, Benjamin Date of Ac6on: 9/15/2014 Loca6on: San Antonio Ac6on Taken: Sentenced to 10 years proba6on, fined $2,000.00 and ordered to pay $11,359.84 in res6tu6on. Viola6on: Insurance Fraud, Second Degree Felony

- The Insurance Sage

: https://wwwapps.tdi.state.tx.us/inter/asproot/fraud/indictments/clips.asp

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The eight interview techniques every manager needs to master.

By Kimberly Paterson Thirty days into the job, your brilliant new hire’s real personal emerges and it’s not preOy. That seemingly confident, pleasant, well-qualified person is wreaking havoc in your commercial-lines department. Two of your best customer service representa6ves have knocked on your door complaining about how the new person talks to clients and the new hire’s lack of technical knowledge. You reflect back on the interview. Slowly, you begin to recognize the signs were there. How could you have possibly missed them?

Don’t feel bad; you’re not alone. According to a Harris Interac6ve Survey, “Close to 7- percent of employers admiOed to making a bad hiring decision in 2012” The problem is the standard interview process oTen revels liOle about a job candidate’s true self. Candidates are on guard and on their best behavior. The good ones are quite skilled at knowing and telling you what you want to hear. In the end, the interview process tends to be more about who is the best self-promoter than who will be the best person for the job.

The good news is, you can learn a lot about candidates and how they are likely to perform in the job by simply changing how you approach and conduct interviews.

PRIORITIZE THE SKILLS YOU NEED Most professional, independent insurance agencies rely on a job descrip6on when interviewing and evalua6ng candidates.

Typically, this is a laundry list of the skills required and the du6es the person will be asked to perform. The reality is, no one candidate will have everything and not all skills are equally important. Instead of relying on a lengthy job descrip6on, make a bullet list that includes: the must-have skills (in order to priority), the nice-to-have skills and the skills that can be learned in the job. This will help you and your fellow interviewers zero in on what maOers most and significantly improve your ability to THE TEXAS CONNECTION - TEXAS PROFESSIONAL INSURANCE AGENTS DIGITAL JOURNAL

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assess the individual rela6ve to the posi6on.

PREPARATION Agency owners know their business, they know what the job requires and they know what they look for in people. All that knowledge can lead people to complacency and a belief that they don’t need to prepare. That’s a huge mistake. Develop a list of good, opened-ended ques6ons that deal with the posi6on in general. Then, thoroughly study the individual’s resume and develop a second list of ques6ons geared to explore his or her specific experience. Prepare a pre-printed form for each candidate. Include room so that you can make notes as you go through the interview and a place to summarize your observa6ons/feelings about the person immediately following the conversa6on. It’s important that you make thee notes right away – especially if you’re conduc6ng mul6ple interviews. People start to blend together and if you wait, you run the risk of confusing candidates or forgeVng something that could be important.

STRUCTURE THE INTERVIEW A structured interview asks all the candidates the same ques6ons in the same order, giving you a more reliable basis for comparing applicants. There is a wealth of well-documented research on this topic and it consistently shows that structured interviews are more effec6ve in predic6ng job success. Despite their proven success, the structured interview is a tool few agents use.

KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT One of the most common blunders interviewers make is talking too much. They get caught up in talking about the company, what it’s like to work there and details of the job. When you do this, the candidate learns a lot about you, but you don’t learn much about him or her. Also, the more you say, the more cues you give the applicant about how to answer your ques6ons.

Once you’ve established rapport and the candidate is comfortable, let him or her do the talking. Prac6ce the 80/20 rule – 80 percent of the 6me the candidate is speaking and 20 percent of the 6me you’re speaking.

INTERVIEW CONTENDERS THREE TIMES People act differently in different situa6ons. When you change the situa6on, new aspects of the candidate’s behavior emerge. Take Karen as an example. She was great in one-on-one interviews with the agency’s two principals and was the leading contender for the job. Then, she interviewed in a group seVng by a manager and three women who would be her peers. Throughout the conversa6on, Karen directed her eye contact and answers toward the manager, even when her poten6al peers asked the ques6ons. She ignored the other women. The agency’s leaders viewed her lace of social intelligence in dealing with her peers as a significant problem in an egalitarian agency that valued teamwork and collabora6on.

GO DEEP When you develop ques6ons for your structured interview, avoid standards like: What’s your greatest weakness? Describe a difficult experience at work and how you handled it. Describe your best boss and your worst boss. How do you handle pressure? There are hundreds of websites that teach candidates the ideal way to answer these ques6ons. If you ask a cliché ques6on, chances are you’ll get a well-rehearsed answer. (con6nued on page xx)

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Everyone enjoyed our November Mee6ng.

PaV Romo & Danny Cano from Aggressive gave us 2 CE hours on Ethics.

Don Hobdy of ITC provided beneďŹ cial training on building and retaining your book of business. And great food!

DFW November CE Meeting at La Calle THE TEXAS CONNECTION - TEXAS PROFESSIONAL INSURANCE AGENTS DIGITAL JOURNAL

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THE TEXAS CONNECTION - TEXAS PROFESSIONAL INSURANCE AGENTS DIGITAL JOURNAL

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WE APPRECIATE OUR PARTNERS 21st Century Managing General Agency

iMGA

Affirmative Insurance

Louis A. Williams & Associates, Inc.

Aggressive Insurance

Lane and Associates Mendota / American Bankers Insurance

Alpha Insurance American Southwest Insurance Managers

Mercury Insurance

Ashley General Agency

Midlands Management

Berwick Insurance Group

National Lloyds

Celestite Group

Nations Safe Drivers

Columbia Lloyds Insurance Company

Personable Insurance General Agency

Direct General

Premium Funding Associates, Inc.

Dovetail Insurance

Progressive

Empower Insurance Group

Ramsgate Managing Insurance

FloodSmart

Safeway Insurance

Frank Crum

Select Insurance Markets Inc.

Great American Insurance

Southeast Surplus

Hallmark Personal Lines

Superior Access

Hagerty Classic Insurance

United Auto Insurance Group

Imperial Fire and Casualty

Varsity Insurance Group

Imperial PFS

Western General Insurance Company

Insurance by Design Integra Premium Finance

THE TEXAS CONNECTION - TEXAS PROFESSIONAL INSURANCE AGENTS DIGITAL JOURNAL

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(con6nued from page 9)

•

Short paragraphs

•

Bullet and numbered lists

•

Lots of white space

•

Images and other graphics

4. No Op%miza%on Yes, there's a lot of voodoo feel to search engine op6miza6on (SEO). Yes, there's a larger-than-isreasonable group of charlatans pretending to provide good SEO advice without actually helping your business. No, this doesn't mean you shouldn't build your site without sound SEO prac6ces in

•

Sec6ons with subheadings

Anything that breaks up the informa6on you're presen6ng means people will read more about your company, your products and services, and why they want to do business with you.

3. No Blog

place.

A full discussion of SEO could fill several books, which would then need new edi6ons fairly quickly because of how rapidly Google changes its algorithms. A short list of essen6als includes: •

Iden6fying three to five keyword phrases for your site to aggressively pursue

Blogging for your business doesn't mean you have to post something every day, but it does

•

Including keywords in metadata, URLs and

give your website dynamic, rather than sta6c,

similar "behind the curtain" aspects of

content. Dynamic content means something on

your home page

your site changes oTen enough that people will come back to see what's new. More important, it

•

keyword stuffing and cour6ng unrelated

engages Google in a way that unchanging pages

links

don't.

Even one post per week, or two each month, will

Avoiding "black hat" SEO methods like

•

Using smart, natural instances of your

be enough to get the aOen6on of Google and

keywords in your blog and on the sta6c

other search engines. To aOract the aOen6on of

pages of your site

human readers, be sure to announce the newest blog updates on your social media pla[orms and encourage subscribers to sign up for your blog.

5. Neglec%ng The Obvious Google gives bonus points for including a (con6nued on page 25)

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(con6nued from page xx) Instead of asking about weaknesses as: “you’ve told me about the things you do well, now tell me about the things you don’t do quite so well.” Rather than asking whether they’re a team players, as “what are some of the things that tend to get in your way when you work with others?” Follow up with, “what do you do when that happens?”

Once you ask your structured interview ques6ons – the general ques6ons you ask every candidate – go to the specific ques6ons you developed based on the person’s resume. Resumes can be more fic6on than fact. If something on the par6cular resume is important to you, be sure to ask at least three ques6ons about it such as: How was that accomplished? What was your role?

What support or resources did you have?

An agency I was working with was hiring a new commercial lines producer. It wanted a sales person who could open doors and help the agency expand into a new market. The leading candidate for the posi6on was a young ar6culate personable CIC. His resume state that he built a $768,000 book of business in three years. On the surface it looked like he was an effec6ve business builder. When probed about this, a different picture appeared. Ninety percent of his business came from the agency’s employee benefits accounts. Thanks to his benefits colleagues, he had warm introduc6ons to clients who already liked and trusted the agency. He was a good technician and effec6ve closer, but he clearly wasn’t the rainmaker the agency needed.

BE METHODICAL According to a University of Michigan study on the predictors of job performance, the typical job interview increases the likelihood of choosing the best candidate by less than two percent. That’s because the tradi6onal job interview is a highly subjec6ve process. If you want to iden6fy the best candidate, it is vital to take as much subjec6vity out of the decision as you can.

Texas Twisted Tangy Turkey Salad 1 1/2 cups diced cooked turkey 1/4 cup spicy Dejon mustard 1/4 cup mayonnaise 1 tablespoon of diced pickled jalapenos 1 tablespoon of dill relish 1 tablespoon of sweet relish 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic 1/4 teaspoon pepper 1 medium stalk celery, chopped (1/2 cup) 1/4 cup chopped red onion

4 slices of Texas toast Combine all ingredients except toast. Pan fry THE TEXAS CONNECTION - TEXAS PROFESSIONAL INSURANCE AGENTS DIGITAL JOURNAL

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The internet can be very interes6ng and funny. But, it can also be scary and sobering. In a random search, we found the following data regarding turkey fryer accidents. It suggested that for most of the past decade, Texas leads the country in the number of turkey fryer accidents. Here is an average:

•

Thanksgiving Day is the worst day of the year for cooking fires.

•

Fire departments fight more than 1,000 fires related to deep fryers annually.

•

More than $15 million in property is damaged or destroyed annually.

•

6 deaths, 36 injuries annually

•

More than half of reported non-fatal home cooking fire injuries occur when the vic6ms try to fight the fire themselves.

Don’t be a sta6s6c. Here are a few things you can do to avoid becoming the recipient of the next Darwin Award: •

Get a fryer with a thermostat and monitor the temperature closely. Smoking oil catches fire quickly.

•

Be sure the turkey is completely thawed and dry. Boiling oil and water are a bad combina6on.

•

Use a turkey that is less than ten pounds.

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Arrange each of the following anagrams to form a single insurance related word. Keep in mind that the anagram is not a clue. It has nothing to do with insurance related word. Send us your answers to be entered in a drawing to win a fabulous prize! Feel free to call us if you’re stuck.

972.965.2025 Email to: Joe@piatx.org or fax to 972. 307.7888

TINY DENIM ADD OINTMENT REAL YOGURT WILD LOGO LIAR SUED CARDINALS TOE

I O G D D R S

ON NO CAMPSITE

T

A TRAIN ORBIT E

EARED NUN ALL NEON CACTI

L

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Looking to sell? Looking to buy or trade? Just want to haggle? More fun than EBay, safer than Craigslist. It’s Free, Give it a try! Email your ad to: TradingPost@piatx.org

THE TEXAS CONNECTION - TEXAS PROFESSIONAL INSURANCE AGENTS DIGITAL JOURNAL

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Texas Insurance Professional Services Ray Reyes (214) 618-2365

or

Bob Dixon (832) 375-0787

This new feature of The Texas Connec6on is a column dedicated to Marke6ng Reps. You have the opportunity to pass on compliments and cri6cisms, helpful hints and pet peeves… We know there are things that Agents might do beOer… and this will give you a larger pla[orm to spread your message. The objec6ve is communica6on for beOer company/agency rela6ons. It can be anonymous… or we can publish your contact info… your call… Try it! It will be construc6ve… it might even be fun!

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AFTER THE INTERVIEW Use a ra6ng scale of 1-7 and rate each candidate immediately aTer the interview on the following criteria:

•

Has the cri%cal job skills. Hard to believe, but this one oTen gets short shriT. Hard to believe, but this one oTen gets short shriT. Interviewers get caught up in people’s “likeability,” their poten6al to grown or their ability to perform mul6ple jobs. They hire the person rather than hiring to fill the job. In a small business where every person is cri6cal, this approach is usually a recipe for failure.

•

Fits with the agency. Look at how the person will fit within your organiza6on. A workaholic is not going to be a good fit in a culture that stresses work-life balance. The person will be frustrated and eventually resen[ul that colleagues don’t do their share. Conversely, a person who needs a predictable 9-5 schedule because of family commitments will not fare well in a business where commitment is measured by the number of hours worked. Someone who likes to work independently and make their own decisions will struggle n a company with a top-down management style or one that thrives on teamwork and consensus based decisionmaking. Fit maOers. While new skills can be learned, values like work ethic and personality traits like independence are embedded and virtually impossible to change.

•

Interpersonal skills. Here you want to look at core people skills like listening, empathy, speaking clearly and concisely, being considerate and rela6ng well to others.

ATer you’ve rated these three areas using your scale of 1-7, develop a composite score for each candidate. However, you can weight each of the three areas, and choose to favor one aspect over the others depending on the posi6on. If mul6ple people within your organiza6on are part of the interview process, have each person rate the candidate privately. When you turn the ra6ng process into a group exercise, people tend to be influenced by the feelings of the group. The quality of the input you get won’t be as good.

WELL WORTH THE EFFORT A bad hire is a costly mistake and can be a huge setback for an agency. The 6me and expense associated with recrui6ng a replacement is the 6p of the iceberg. When a posi6on is empty or filled by the wrong person, opportuni6es are lost and customer service and sales can suffer. There’s increased pressure on exis6ng employees and morale suffers. The leaner the organiza6on is, the greater the pain. When it comes 6me to hiring, the 6me and energy invested in making smart, informed decisions is worth every penny.

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AGENCY FOR SALE Dallas area, 2 years old, high traffic store.

LOOKING FOR EXPERIENCED CSR

Send inquiries to:

North Houston Agency needs personal lines CSR. Flexible hours... pay scale based on experience.

classifieds@piatx.org

Send Resume to: classifieds@piatx.org

LICENSED SOLICITOR OPENING Agency in South Dallas increasing marke6ng staff. Good compensa6on and working condi6ons.

COMMERCIAL LINES CSR Temple/Belton area. License required.

Excellent salary & benefits.

Send Resume to: classifieds@piatx.org

Send Resume to: classifieds@piatx.org

(con6nued from page 17)

handful of simple page components on your website, which will help your site perform beOer in searches. Including "Privacy Policy" and "Contact" pages with specific data about your company, informa6on about how to reach you and what you'll do with customer informa6on takes no more than 30 minutes per page, but it's been shown to give sites preferen6al ranking over similar sites that lack those pages.

The small-business world is full of horror stories about companies that were given bad website advice. What are some of your favorites, and what did you learn from them? Tell us about them in the comments below.

Jason Brick has contributed more than 2,000 blog and magazine articles to local, regional and national publications and speaks regularly at writing and business conferences. You can find out more about Jason at www.brickcommajason.com.

Article Courtesy of American Express Open Forum THE TEXAS CONNECTION - TEXAS PROFESSIONAL INSURANCE AGENTS DIGITAL JOURNAL

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the

Last word THE MAN IN THE GLASS When you get what you want in your struggle for self, And the world makes you king for a day, Just go to the mirror and look at yourself, And see what that man has to say.

For it isn’t your mother of father or wife Whose judgment upon you must pass.

The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life, Is the one staring back from the glass.

You may be like Jack Horner and chisel a plum, And think you’re a wonderful guy, But the man in the glass thinks you’re only a bum, If you can’t look him straight in the eye.

You may fool the whole world, down the pathway of years, And get pats on the back as you pass, But your final reward will be heartache and tears, If you’ve cheated that Man in the Glass.

Author Unknown—Courtesy of memory of E. V. Rosenbaum who gave this to me in 1966 THE TEXAS CONNECTION - TEXAS PROFESSIONAL INSURANCE AGENTS DIGITAL JOURNAL

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