April La Voz 2010 by Independent Insurance Agents of NM

EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE

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Jump Into Spring! IIANM Brings back the Mutual Benefits Program! Starting March 1, for March, April & May, you can benefit by submitting applications for new business with New Mexico Mutual and receive even more by putting that business with them. IIANM is pleased to offer this visa gift card program that can benefit you and New Mexico Mutual, the largest financial supporter of IIANM.

Independent Insurance Agent ®

With new rates for 2010, New Mexico Mutual also launched their three new companies October 1 and wants you to take a look at what they can do for your customers. The Mutual Benefits program is designed to benefit you when you submit applications for new business. Even better you'll receive an additional gift card when you bind that new business with New Mexico Mutual in any of their companies.

Make this a great Spring! The benefits will be distributed as Visa gift cards that you can use yourself, give to your family or anyone else you choose!

Qualifications for Spring Program: • CSR receives $50.00 gift card for five new applications submitted to and quoted by underwriting • For a bound policy with premium from $5,000. to $24,999., CSR receives a $25.00 gift card.

Independent Insurance Agent ®

• For a bound policy with premium from $25,000. to $49,999, the CSR and agent each receive a $50.00 gift card • For a bound policy with premium over $50,000 the CSR and the agent each receive a $100.00 gift card. • Program will run from March 1, 2010 thru May 31, 2010 • Must be a member of IIANM to participate.

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;La Vozâ&#x20AC;? is the official monthly publication of the

Independent Insurance Agents of NM 1511 University Blvd. NE Albuquerque, NM 87102. (505) 843-7231. Fax (505) 243-3367. Web site www.iianm.org. This publication is intended to provide accurate and authoritative information on the subject matter covered, but is distributed with the understanding that neither IIANM, nor any contributing author, publisher, contributor or advertiser is rendering legal, accounting or any other professional service and assume no liability whatsoever in connection with its use. Further, the electronic links to our advertisers and/or contributors found in this publication are provided as a courtesy to our readers and do not necessarily indicate an endorsement by IIANM.

Features

La Voz

"The Voice" of Independent Agents since 1934

Is Sales Tax Covered in an Auto Policy?

10 Reasons Why Your Agency Needs a Web Site

Agents Seek Reliable Contracts

2009 Continues Trend of "Softest Market Ever"

Work Ethic

Advertising rates are available upon request.

Sneak Peek at Southern Seminar

Please contact Rachel Sheffield at rachel@iianm.org for details

What is Ethics?

Agents Must Assess Inflation's Impact

NMM & IIANM Scholarship Golf Tournament

Reoprt Confirms Gravity of Talent Crisis in P&C Industry

Is There a Blog in Your Future?

News items from members of Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico and the general insurance industry are encouraged. The advertising deadline is the fifteenth day of the month, preceding publication.

IIANM Staff President/CEO Thom Turbett, CIC VP Of Membership Services Lorri Gaffney Director Of Communications Rachel Sheffield Director Of Insurance Programs Carmen Reese Porter, ACSR, CISR Receptionist / Member Services Associate Renee Trujillo

2009-2010 Officers

In Every Issue Tech Talk

Education Edge

April's Clickable Calendar

Odds n Ends

IIANM's Partners Program

Advertiser Index Acuity

Chair Alma Franzoy-Capron

American Mining Insurance Company

Burns & Wilcox

Vice-Chair Kathy Yeager

Colonial General Insurance Agency, Inc.

Employers

Litchfield Special Risks, Inc.

Market Finders, Inc.

New Mexico Mutual

Risk Placement Services (RPS)

Secretary/Treasurer Scott Jones National Director Sam Conlee Immediate Past Chair Angela Vasquez

Why LinkedIn fits insurance LinkedIn is a particularly good fit for insurance agencies. Insurance agencies are built on connections and trust. As such, they depend on several elements to get and keep customers, starting with the pieces most directly in your control:

Source: The Anderson Agency Report

• • • • •

LinkedIn—The New World of Networking Social networking is exploding, nearly doubling in usage in the last year alone. Luckily, the leading social networking tool for business is the easiest to use and maintain of all. LinkedIn is the leading social networking tool for business. A LinkedIn executive once described their growth succinctly: "One new member a second." In fact, that was in 2009; growth is even faster than that today. Your agency's LinkedIn page should be the foundation of your social networking presence. You may also wish to use other such tools, such as Facebook and Twitter, but LinkedIn is a great place to start.

Note that two of these elements—personal referrals and trust—depend on your good reputation, which you can only gradually improve. Or, if you're not careful, your reputation can fall apart. Local presence, signage, and advertising are more directly in your control. You can open or close an office, change signage, or start or stop advertising. A basic LinkedIn profile gives you a local presence and signage on a highly desirable street just off the main Information Superhighway. It's available for you to use, and it's free, except for a modest investment of time and effort on your part. People expect you to have an office and signage (except for a brave few of you who work only by online connections and the phone, and who therefore need LinkedIn even more). Increasingly, they expect you to have an online presence as well, including a LinkedIn page.

In addition to being easy to use, LinkedIn is well adapted to the needs of an insurance agency. In its simplest form, it's like an online resume. It's very easy to get a detailed description of your expertise and your agency into LinkedIn, and it will be presented in an attractive, professional manner.

There's another element of LinkedIn that relates to how you do business in the real world as well. In LinkedIn as well as in the real world, you should avoid heavy-handed or pushy tactics, either in getting recommendations or in things you say—about your own business, or about others' businesses.

The good people at LinkedIn know that business is their reason for being, so they keep the site easy to use and police it carefully. You're unlikely to find risqué photos or celebrity gossip on LinkedIn. LinkedIn's high standards will reflect well on your LinkedIn presence. The fact that LinkedIn is easy for you means it's easy for your current and potential customers as well. The higher up people go in terms of their professional level, the more likely that they have a LinkedIn page of their own, making it easy for you to connect with them there. Even customers who don't yet use LinkedIn themselves have heard of it, respect it, and will be pleased to see your presence on it. Page 6

Local presence Signage Advertising Trust of current clients Personal referrals from current and former clients

This level of care is even more important when working online. When typing something into a Web page, as you do with LinkedIn, there's no human feedback to tell you if you're going overboard. At the same time, whatever you say is there for everyone to see. So it's easier to "say" something you could regret—and then for many people to see it, giving you all the more reason to regret it. If you make a real gaffe, it could even be copied out of LinkedIn and e-mailed or tweeted all over the Englishspeaking world! So follow the instructions here carefully, and think before you write.

Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2009

Growing your LinkedIn presence What's great about LinkedIn, though, is that it can go well beyond signage. You can actually use connections to increase your online presence and garner recommendations, which are online personal referrals. People depend on personal referrals to make decisions about things like insurance; LinkedIn gives you a way to get those referrals online. This takes a bit more time and effort, but the rewards increase as well. Connections A LinkedIn Connection is someone you know and trust in business, or in your personal life, who you establish a link with on LinkedIn as well. (You're "linked in" with them, thus the site's name.) Not only can you link to your connections, you can also therefore link with their connections, called second-degree connections, and their connections, which are called third-degree connections. (This has nothing to do with "giving someone the third degree"!) To give a specific example with numbers, let's say that you and your LinkedIn connections each have 30 connections. Well, that means you have 900 second-degree connections; and, with those having 30 connections each, you have 27,000 third-degree connections! Many of these will be potential customers. Of course, over time, you want nearly all your customers and business connections in the real world to become direct LinkedIn connections as well. With insurance being a "people" business, over time, you can build hundreds, or even thousands, of direct connections. Groups LinkedIn Groups are an additional valuable element. LinkedIn Groups are connections of people with similar interests, usually with some kind of geographic limitation as well. The focus can be quite job specificâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;accountants or, indeed, insurance agentsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;or quite broad, such as iPhone users.

LinkedIn and ask if anyone can recommend an insurance agent! You really want it to be you. Being first, being best So far, we've discussed carrots: the rewards of using LinkedIn. As with all such things, though, there are also sticks: possible punishments relating to LinkedIn. One is making mistakesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;either tactical errors, like typos or a poor photo, or more strategic errors, like showing nothing but Dummies books on a LinkedIn reading list. The other, bigger problem, though, comes about if your competition has an earlier, bigger, better LinkedIn presence than you do. If a competing agency gets on LinkedIn first, builds their connections and recommendations, and starts getting online referrals before you do, it can be very hard for you to catch up. People get into habits in all sorts of spheres of activity, and the online world is no exception. If people start thinking of a competitor of yours as their "go-to" provider for making recommendations on LinkedIn, it will be very hard for you to catch up. Realizing that more and more people are going to the Internet to research purchases online, it is important for you and your agency to have an online presence. If someone is comparing the advantages of an online insurance provider to a locally based agency such as yours, you need a competent online presence to hold your own in that sphere, so your advantages as a locally-based agent can shine. LinkedIn can be a big help, providing not only a solid online presence, but the crucial personalization feature of recommendations. So get out there first with the best LinkedIn presence! The most important element in succeeding on LinkedIn, though, is your own drive and energy. If you don't have a LinkedIn account, take the simple step of signing up today. If you do have an account, commit to spending a few minutes a week to learn how you can take advantage of this new networking tool.

You can use Groups to post job openings or answer questions relating to the group's purpose. Recommendations Most important for insurance, though, are recommendations. Recommendations are just what they sound like: brief statements about how helpful, experienced, knowledgeable or otherwise useful someone is. Getting recommendations is crucial to your LinkedIn presence. In addition, a feature that's gradually growing in use is specific recommendations of service providers. This is where all your other work in your job and in building your LinkedIn presence pays dividends. People will come to

by G. Barry Klein G. Barry Klein is a former insurance agent who maintains UltimateInsuranceLinks.com as an industry service.

Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2009

Page 7

Is Sales Tax Covered by an Auto Policy? :

: "We have an insured who was driving a company auto. Another vehicle hit and totaled our insured's auto. The insurance company for the at-fault driver has refused to make our customer whole in regards to the damage to his company auto. The at-fault company sold the salvage rights to the auto to a third party, they say they never took possession of the auto. "Our insured must purchase a new auto to replace the one that was totaled, but the at-fault carier is refusing to pay the sales tax on the auto that is going to replace the totaled one. Do they or do they not have to pay the sales tax and make our customer whole again?"

To great extent, this is a legal question, as opposed to a coverage question. However, with the caution that I'm not an attorney and not offering a legal opinion, I believe they do. The way I see it, their insured's negligence resulted in an expense your insured would not have incurred in the absence of their insured's negligence. Since their policy covers their insured's legal liability, I'd say they're responsible for this consequential loss. To me, this is similar to the issue of diminution of value. In most auto policies, diminution is specifically excluded in the physical damage coverage. However, courts have general found liability coverage for such claims. Here's a VU article excerpt on this issue: Third-party claims for “diminution of value”...have generally been found by the courts to be covered by auto insurance. The Part A—Liability Coverage section of the PAP pays for any property damage for which the insured is legally responsible. Such legal liability may be established by case law or it may be statutory. According to our research, most courts have recognized diminution of value as being legally compensable to the extent that the plaintiff can demonstrate such reduction in market value. Also, most case law seems to have held that, in first-party claims, the contract governs. For example, several Texas court cases have found that legal liability for third-party damages includes diminution of value. In Ludt v. McCollum, 762 S.W.2d 575 (Tex. 1988); Terminix International, Inc. v. Lucci, 670 S.W.2d 657 (Tex. App. 1984): “An aggrieved consumer may be able to plead, prove and obtain favorable jury findings establishing both costs to repair and permanent reduction in market value notwithstanding such repairs, as cumulative rather than mutually exclusive measures of damages.

"An award of diminished value is recoverable in addition to the costs of repair, assuming that the permanent reduction in value refers to that reduction occurring even after repairs are made.” In Northwestern Nat. Ins. Co. v. Cope, 48 S.W.2d 717 (Tex. Civ. App. 1969), the court stated: “Three months after purchase of new car, insured Cope was involved in accident. Cope contended that after repairs to her auto, its value would be $1,440 less than prior to the accident. "Thus, she argued that the measure of her recovery should be the difference in the reasonable cash market value of the auto immediately before and after accident, and should not be tested by reasonable cost of repair. "Held, such measure of damages is proper.” In summary, there appears to be nothing in the ISO standard Personal Auto Policy (PAP) that requires the carrier to compensate the insured for diminution of value in physical damage claims—in fact, the contract seems to support the position that such consequential loss is not covered. What is interesting is that the PAP expressly permits the carrier to deduct for any demonstrable improvement in value as a result of repairs, permitting the insurer to “have its cake and eat it too.” In contrast, there is ample case law to demonstrate that such diminution of value is legally recoverable from a third party and, thus, covered under the liability section of the auto policy. In this case, I'd say you have a similar situation. However, even the PAP physical damage coverage says it pays for sales taxes: If it's covered in the PAP and BAP physical damage section, it's highly unlikely that it wouldn't be covered as a matter of legal liability. An attorney may be aware of case law that contradicts this, but it seems pretty obvious to me that there's coverage in the absence of law to the contrary. View “PAYMENT OF LOSS”

Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2009

Page 9

10 Reasons Your Agency Needs a Web Site:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

It keeps your business open 24/7, 365 days a year. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s your online brochure. Reach beyond your local market. Put your business in a position of distinction. Sell products online. Capture information for valuable leads. Offer instant Quotes. Minimize cost. It is the lynchpin of your Internet marketing efforts. You customers and prospects expect it.

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Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2009

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Agents Seek Reliable Contacts, Stability from Carriers in 2010

Survey finds co-op marketing money scarcer than one year ago.

reliable contact, good technology support and marketing dollars – these are the things agents are looking for from partner carriers this year, according to the 2010 Insurance Agency Satisfaction Study just released by J.D. Power and Associates. In a difficult economy, many agents are also seeking financial stability and profit sharing options from insurers. “Overall, we still find the same trends we saw last year, where the contact independent agents have with an insurer and the policy offerings are main drivers of satisfaction, followed by technology and claims,” says Kara Steslicki, a senior research manager at J.D. Power. “Technology and price have shown to be a little more important (to agents) than last year, but it’s hard to say whether that’s a true shift in the market or related to how the study was conducted.” Jeremy Bowler, senior director of the insurance practice at J.D. Power, believes customers’ ties to their agents make it essential for insurers to cultivate good relationships with their agency force. “Individual policyholders are more likely to be loyal to their independent agent than the insurer that writes their policy,” Bowler said in a statement. “This strong bond between policyholders and insurance agents make it essential for insurers to satisfy their appointed agents in order to grow their business.” In a reflection of agents’ desire to pass carrier satisfaction on to customers, J.D. Power reports a gap in agency satisfaction of more than 150 points on a 1,000 point scale between insurers who receive 5% or less of an agency’s business and those who receive 60% or more. Twenty-eight percent of the 2,316 insurance agents surveyed said key carrier contacts play the largest role in satisfaction, followed by policy offerings at 20%, technology at 17%, claims and price at 14% each and compensation at 6%. “There is a strong correlation between agent satisfaction and the amount of business that is sent to an individual insurer,” says Steslicki. “Agents that are satisfied with a particular insurer not only send a larger percentage of

by Veronica DeVore

their current business, they also intend to send more of their future business to that particular insurer.” For Brian Hannigan, president of Hannigan Insurance Agency in Clinton Township, Mich., reliability is the most important factor behind his satisfaction with a particular carrier. He says asking customers to change carriers after their current company pulls out of the state reflects poorly on the agency and creates more work for everyone involved. “We have been approached by a lot of carriers, but you have to be careful about who you work with,” Hannigan says. “We ask carriers, ‘How long have you been writing in the state, and how long have you been around?’ Stability is what we look for – in pricing, and in making a commitment to the state.” Hannigan recently finished reviewing which carriers his agency will work with in the coming year, using a rubric and point system to compare insurers’ offerings. A carrier’s A.M. Best rating, technology capabilities and rate stability are most important to Hannigan, followed by a good relationship with an underwriter or other company representative. While having a single point of contact at a company certainly helps the agency’s workflow, Hannigan says that relationship is difficult to find and he’s had to accept the realities that come along with using carrier service centers. “With service centers, you can get five different answers to the same question and if you have one point of contact or an underwriter like we used to have, it made it easier,” he says. “But, it is what it is, so we’ve had to move on.” Another change that’s becoming a fact of life for agents is the dwindling availability of co-op marketing dollars. Hannigan says his carriers are no longer offering the service, and J.D. Power’s study found that only 23% of agents surveyed are receiving marketing money in 2010 compared with 43% in 2009. Not surprisingly, carrier satisfaction is higher among agents who receive co-op dollars, but Hannigan says he has turned his attention to whether carriers reward his agency’s work with profit sharing options. “All our carriers have said no to marketing money since 2008,” Hannigan says. “A lot of them don’t even want to grow – they’re just hoping to be flat and get back to making money, so they’re not even encouraging agents to market. Stability, technology and profit sharing are most important to us because we want to be rewarded for writing good business.”

Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2009

Page 13

2009 Continues Trend of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Softest Market Everâ&#x20AC;? Adjusted for inflation, market sits at â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;90s-level pricing.

by Paul Buse

hile the final 2009 property-casualty industry figures are not yet available, the first nine months are in the record

books and if nothing major changes, 2009 looks like another year of the softest market ever. Prospects for 2010 do not look much different from last year and agents should expect an environment of continued soft pricing, particularly in commercial lines. Many agents have reported that the effects of this soft market are particularly acute, and there is good reason for that feeling. Last year, Insurance News & Views reviewed 70 years of industry data to gain some perspective the soft market. Armed with nine-month figures for 2009, that analysis has been updated and the results are clear. When

P&C

industry

prices

are

ex-

amined on a per capita basis and adjusted

for

inflation,

2009

contender for the softest market ever. Taking inflation into account, price levels are about what they were nearly 20 years ago. Many agents and industry analysts are wondering what to expect for 2010. Currently, it seems that industry dynamics of supply and demand should result in continued soft pricing. Estimates for industry capitalization predict that policyholder surplus will grow after recovering losses suffered in the last 18 months and, in the

absence of major catastrophes, will result in loss ratios improving slightly to about 72%. This will generally increase carrier appetite for risk. Add to that the prospects for a modest or slow economic recovery and demand will likely remain weak with rating bases like property values, payrolls and business receipts growing only slowly if at all. The chart on the left shows that supply is trending upwards, loss ratios are down and prices (blue line) will stay down and may continue downward on a per capita and inflation-adjusted basis.

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Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2009

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Work Ethic “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” -John F. Kennedy

by Chris Burand

hat an elegant, profound statement that still resonates almost fifty years later. It inspires. It leads. It causes a person to want to do great things. Today we have politicians stating, “Don’t ask, don’t tell.” What a sad difference a few generations make. And I’m not referring to the sexual preference aspect of this quote. “Don’t ask, don’t tell” has much more significance. Think about what this really suggests: “Stick your head in the sand!” Is this supposed to be good advice? Again, this has ramifications far beyond military policy. Such an attitude has ramifications for the entire country and I often see this attitude filtering down into insurance agencies. Which of these quotes best exemplifies the attitude in your agency? Are your employees energized to make a difference or are they looking for ways to slide under the radar to avoid accountability? Are they working hard or hardly working?

Parking Lots Consider, for example, your agency’s parking lot. When does your agency’s parking lot empty? When does it fill up? Are the producers’ cars in the lot too often when they should be out prospecting? Where are those cars really when they are not in the parking lot? When do the owners’ cars arrive and depart? Are the owners setting the best example? When I drive by insurance agencies in my travels around the country, I rarely see any car in the parking lot after 5:01 p.m. I know work is being done from home. I understand attending community events in the evening is work. I also understand that long hours are not indicative of results. But the odds suggest I should see cars in the lot after 5 p.m. at least occasionally.

Lead Lists While I don’t see a lot of employees working after 5 p.m., I do hear a lot of complaints that not enough leads exist. But why does anyone owe a producer a lead list? Shouldn’t producers take the prerogative to find their own lead list? The complaint that more leads are necessary is simply a crutch.

Page16

A better strategy might be to make producers find their own leads, right from the get go. Quality leads are readily available using free search engines and by pro-actively asking for good references from clients and other contacts, both personal and business. Other sources for lead lists are government databases. Some states and counties have excellent databases that can be used for developing personal and commercial leads. Perhaps the best lead list can be made by tracking all the pertinent data about prospects with whom the producer has tried and failed. In fact, if a producer keeps track of the right data, such as premiums by line, carriers by line, agencies/brokers by line, hot buttons, coverages, and gaps in coverage just to name a few, the opportunities with such information are limitless. The key point is that sometimes, a person has to get out and do something for themselves rather than waiting on a handout such as a lead list. Those lists are really just a crutch. Success is not found by waiting for the leads to develop. A person has to pro-actively ask. If a producer cannot do this in this economy and soft market, they very likely should seek employment elsewhere because the odds of them succeeding are tiny.

Procedures Along with complaints about the lack of lead lists, I hear complaints about procedures. Producers claim they can’t follow procedures because the procedures make it too difficult to make sales. But what exactly are they doing that prevents them from following procedures? Based on hundreds of interviews with staff and producers, a huge portion of most agencies’ books are renewed as is, so much of these books are never touched by producers. Also based on hundreds of interviews, I don’t find many producers quoting a lot of new accounts. In fact, I’ve had staff and even producers tell me, “I’m not sure if I should bring this up, but no one (or no one except...) is making much effort to bring in new business.” So where are producers, including agency owners, spending all their time? Many agency owners never know because the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” philosophy rules the agency.

Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2009

Don’t ask whether we are really working and definitely don’t tell anyone that we aren’t. My experience is that producers who follow quality procedures are often the most successful producers in an agency. Good procedures improve productivity, which means people have more time to sell more accounts and to write accounts better, resulting in higher commissions per account. So much about insurance agency management success has nothing to do with strategy. Success is more about execution than strategy. Success is about hard work. Success is about accountability at all levels. Success is about standing up and counting for something rather than wishing one was an ostrich that could bury it head in the

Tentative Classes:

sand. Are you and your people asking what else can be done to attain success or are you and your people finding excuses and crutches? What are you doing to lead like past generations? Chris Burand is president of Burand & Associates, LLC, an insurance agency consulting firm. Readers may contact Chris at (719) 485-3868 or by e-mail at chris”burandassociates.com. NOTE: None of the materials in this article should be construed as offering legal advice, and the specific advice of legal counsel is recommended before acting on any matter discussed in this article. Regulated individuals/entities should also ensure that they comply with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations.

Hotel Encanto In Las Cruces, New Mexico July 21st & 22nd, 2010

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Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2009

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What Is Ethics? According to Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, ethics is the “discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation.” It is also “a guiding philosophy.” So we could say that ethics is from the head - it is a code of expected behavior. But is there one set of universal values that transcends age, race, gender, socioeconomic status? The answer is a resounding “YES” and this fact is backed up and documented by numerous surveys and studies by The Institute for Global Ethics (ISG).

Let me share with you six universal ethical values (taken from Ethics at Work, Pictorial, 1997), Keep in mind, none of us is perfect, but we can all try to live by these values. The key is to be aware of the values and strive to hold your life up against these “standard bearers.” Honesty - This is the cornerstone of ethical behavior. I means telling the entire truth; always being candid and trustworthy; making sure everyone receives everything they’re entitled to, and not accepting anything you are not entitled to. Integrity - Means doing the right thing regardless of the consequences. People who have integrity are basically incorruptible. Responsibility - Fulfilling your obligations to others. For example, clients rely on their agent to determine the appropriate insurance coverage, obtain that coverage at the best price, and interpret policies to ensure covered claims are paid. Respect and Caring for Others - Simply means treating clients, co-workers, friends, claimants - in fact, everyone with whom you come into contact - with courtesy and dignity. It is the platinum rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Promise-Keeping, Trustworthiness and Fairness These values enable others to count on you at all times.

Courage - It takes courage to be ethical. In the short term, there may even be a price to pay. But in the long run, it always pays to do the right thing.

he problem in America is that we’ve become brainwashed by statements like, “Everyone is entitled to their own opinion” or “what they believe isn’t what I believe, but as long as they feel good about it, then it’s OK for them.” What’s the result? The result is that we no longer believe we have the right or duty to teach the common ethical standards of behavior. I disagree. I believe we not only can but should teach ethics to our children and in our schools, and that every business has an obligation to operate ethically in all cases. Page 18

Lord Moulton, a British lawmaker in the 19th century, described ethics as obedience to the unenforceable. Rushworth Kidder, president of the Institute for Global Ethics, pointed out that laws result from the breakdown of ethics. Laws reflect the minimum standard of behavior and only address those areas so heinous they create havoc in society. Think about it, would we need a single law if everyone acted with honesty, integrity, and responsibility, always respecting and caring for others, keeping every pormise they ever made and acting with fiarness and trustworthiness?

Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2009

n a o i l t P a t rogra i b a H m ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS: * Any number of rental units † (No maximum) * Any property age with updates in the last 30 years TARGET OCCUPANCIES: * 1-4 Family Dwelling * 5+ Family Converted Dwellings * Apartment Buildings * Affordable Housing (public, low income, tax credit, Section 8 housing, Housing Authorities) * Mixed apartment/office or apartment/mercantile * Student Housing (Off-Campus, no fraternity/ sorority) * Senior Housing (Non-Assisted) COVERAGE: * BOP (Property & GL) * Up to $30 million per building * Unlimited Guaranteed Replacement Cost * Business Income - ALS up to 18 months * Exclusive Umbrella program with coverage up to $100 million FEATURES: * $1,500 minimum premium * No maximum account size * Experienced loss control services * Master policies eligible * Direct Bill Available in the following states: * Admitted: AZ, AR, CO, CT, DE, GA, ID, IA, IN, IL, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MO, NV, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, UT, VA, VT, WA & WI * (Non-admitted in Lower NY & Long Island) EXPERIENCE: A+ Superior Rated XIV MiddleOak has been keeping promises for over 170 years. † IL, MA, ME, NH, NY, RI and VT agents please see specific state requirements on Big “I” Markets. For immediate access, visit www.bigimarkets.com today. For more information please email us at bigimarkets@iiaba.net or call 800-221-7917 and ask for extension 5408.

Making Insurance Right

BIG MARKETS www.bigimarkets.com

L&H Trends

by Dave Evans

Agents Must Assess Inflation’s Impact Customers’ retirement plans should incorporate long-term rate of return.

his week, the economic data from the United Kingdom indicated that the annual consumer price inflation rose sharply in January. The Office for National Statistics said consumer price inflation rose 3.5% from a year ago, representing the highest rate since November 2008. This begs the question, if inflation is returning to England, what are the possibilities that it will start to increase in the United States given the massive budget deficits and liquidity pumped into the U.S. economy to help mitigate the recession over the past 18 months? However, for the past few weeks, the U.S. dollar has been strengthening against the Euro due in particular to the anxiety concerning Greece's fiscal problems and whether they will spread to Spain and other Euro-based countries. In fact, some may wonder why so-called "inflation hawks" are obsessed with the effects of inflation. Students of history know hyperinflation’s impact on Germany following World War I and South American countries’ decades-long struggles with high inflation. Independent insurance agents would do well to remind their customers of inflation's impact, since inflation causes debtors to win and creditors to lose as debtors repay loans with depreciated dollars. And, during periods of deflation, creditors win and debtors lose since debts have to be re-

paid with appreciated dollars. Of course, investors must deal with uncertainty surrounding an investment’s future purchasing power, and those who purchase immediate lifetime annuities bear that risk. Agents and customers must especially consider inflation’s impact when planning for retirement. In fact, in determining how much an individual needs to save for retirement, it is important to first determine the present value of the total income needed for anticipated retirement. Financial planners recommend focusing on inflation-adjusted earnings returns, so if an individual believes inflation will be at 3% during their retirement and that their long-term rate of return will be 6%, they will experience a 3% real rate of return. Assuming a retiree was planning on a 30- year time span using the 3% real return, he or she will need a lump sum of $20,500 for every $1,000 of annual income to maintain the purchasing power of their spending. For example, if a couple retiring in 2010 needed $50,000 per year in today's dollars in addition to Social Security to maintain their desired standard of living, they will need to have saved $1,025,000 based on a 3% real rate of return and a 30 year time horizon to accomplish their goal. However, most people saving for retirement don't factor inflation into the equation and therefore underestimate the true amount they need to save to meet their desired target. While some investment vehicles such as Treasury Inflation Protection Securities (TIPs) and indexed annuities account for increases in inflation, in reality, inflation erodes the value of most investments. Further, since the U.S. income tax system is not indexed for inflation, increases in assets that are later sold are subject to capital gains taxes even though the inflation-adjusted values may not have increased or may have declined. Agents should explain the impact of inflation to their customers so they can adequately plan for its impact on their long-term savings goals and use investment vehicles to offset its impacts.

Click here for Nomination Form Click here for Registration Form

Report Confirms Gravity of Talent Crisis in Property-Casualty Industry

Analysts encouraged by associations’ preparedness, other industries’ successes in war for talent.

t’s no secret that the property-casualty industry is facing a sobering talent drought fueled by the financial crisis and a poor overall reputation. However, industry education programs, the newfound success of other once-misunderstood fields and the disappearance of jobs in other financial sectors have cast a ray of hope on insurers and agents looking for promising young workers. “We did not realize how fierce the competition will be in next few years when we look at the talent pool shrinking, the need growing and the specialized education required in the (insurance) industry,” says Tanguy Catlin, assistant principal at the firm McKinsey & Co. which recently released a comprehensive report about the talent war in the p-c industry. “It puts the insurance industry in a very uncomfortable position.” According to McKinsey & Co.’s report, the largest obstacle to improving the talent pool in the p-c industry is its poor reputation – among consumers, the industry ranks at just 60 points on a 100-point scale in terms of positive reputation, or in the bottom quartile among other services industries such as consumer products, pharmaceuticals and media. That poor reputation carries over into students’ career plans, since no insurers are listed in Universum’s lists of the “100 Most Desirable MBA Employers” or “IDEAL Employer Rankings – Undergraduate Edition.” Although there are several university-level risk management programs available in the United States, graduates from these programs only meet between 10% and 15% of industry staffing needs. Moreover, the need for talent will only grow in the coming years as much of the industry’s workforce approaches retirement. In the U.S., the number of workers between the ages of 55 and 64 is slated to increase by 25% in the next six years, and the number of insurance employees 55 or older has increased by 74% in the last 10 years, according to McKinsey & Co. Page 22

These staggering statistics have not gone unnoticed by industry leaders; in fact, McKinsey & Co.’s report notes that most industry organizations have the infrastructure in place to address the problem and some, like the Big “I,” have developed specific programs to address the “war for talent.” Nestor Rivero, the owner of Tropical Insurance Company in Miami, has been teaching in classrooms through the InVEST program for many years and says starting in the schools is the best way to find young talent. Students who really take an interest in the field may make ideal entry-level agency employees, and Rivero says there are clear advantages to taking on an eager high school grad. For example, agencies can benefit from a young employee’s computer knowledge and can hire him or her at a reduced, hourly salary starting as an intern. In addition, the hiring agency principal can take satisfaction in helping a young person launch a career and benefiting the industry. However, Rivero encourages agencies to talk to students’ classroom teachers about their strengths and consider a few factors before hiring. “You train them for smaller agencies and four or five years down the road, they may leave,” he says. “There also has to be a commitment on the agency’s part. If agency doesn’t want to take time to teach, forget about it.” Thirteen years ago, Wilson, Washburn and Forster Insurance in Pinecrest, Fla. took on recent InVEST graduate Jacob Lopez as a temporary file clerk. Today, Lopez works full-time at the agency as a customer service representative. “After I graduated from high school, I stayed here full time and started doing other things. I moved up the ladder, decided to go for my 220 (certification), passed the test and now I’m here,” says Lopez. “Everybody has this image of insurance agents that they’re out there for the money and trying to sell you things you don’t need. It’s good to learn about the coverages and know what you’re buying. I’m (still) learning new things every day.”

Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2009

Outreach efforts by industry associations and programs like InVEST have the best chance at turning around the public’s perception of the insurance sector, according to Catlin. Other industries like accounting and teaching have successfully reversed negative public opinion through targeted marketing campaigns and long-term improvement strategies. For example, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) increased the number of new accounting hires out of school by 83% and contributed to a 30% increase in accounting majors through its “Start Here Go Places” Web campaign. The insurance industry also stands to benefit from talent freed by layoffs in other financial sectors. Additionally,

a survey of recent risk management institute graduates shows the industry’s offerings align well with what younger generations are seeking in a job; 83% said the industry offers good work-life balance, 93% agreed it offered significant intellectual challenges and 94% said insurance provides good value to society. “There is already some form of infrastructure to take action,” Catlin says. “Industry associations and schools can communicate with talent and make change happen, but right now (efforts are) extremely distributed. It requires collective action and collaboration.” by Veronica DeVore

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WWW.AMERICANMINING.COM Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2009

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trust.

acuity.com

Is There A Blog in Your Future?

By Rick Morgan

What is a Blog Anyway?

he term was coined in 1999, and today Webster’s dictionary defines a blog as a “diary; a personal chronological log of thoughts published on a Web page. Basically, blogs are an automated way to share information. They are Web sites that take the form online journals with commentary on any number of topics and are usually less formal and more interactive than a typical Web site. Blogs are a simple, cost-effective way to create a professional online presence - places on the Web where people can find you, learn about you, and interact with you. A blog simply creates a conversation between you and your customers and/or prospects. Creating a Web presence once required a hefty budget for graphic design, programming and hosting. Worst of all, every update of content or graphics incurred additional cost. What is great about a blog is that you post as often as you like, change your design and layout whenever you want easily and without additional cost. You don’t have to possess any special technical knowledge, or plan for months or be constrained by print deadlines - publish as much as you want, any time you want. You’re in control. You don’t need an IT staff or a degree in computer science to do it. For those of you who are impressed by numbers, it is estimated (no one really knows for sure) that there are more than 200 million blogs - and two new blogs are being created every second. Clearly, this is more than a millennial fad. There are many benefits and reasons why a blog is worth the time and effort. Here are a few: • Become the Expert. Position yourself and your company as the thought leader of your business.

A blog can help position you as the expert in your field. You already know a great deal about the products you sell or the services you offer. A blog gives you the opportunity to easily share that knowledge with customers and prospects. • Relationships. In a forum where your main objective is not to sell, you’ll develop a more personal relationship between you and your customers or prospects. • Recruitment. If you establish your company as a thought leader, people in you business will pay attention. They’ll read and discuss what you have to say. Chances are good they will see you as an attractive employer. • Rank High in Search Engines. Google and other search engines reward sites that are updated often and that link to other sites. Start a blog at your regular Web site and your ranking should improve. • Community and Collaboration. Blogs are increasingly important for businesses, because they create a forum in which customers can offer feedback, interact with each other, and obtain access to timely information. Blogs are an excellent way to gain access to customer thoughts and suggestions. Perhaps comments from your customers will foster ideas to help you improve service.

How Do I Get Started? Blogging is easy. Sites like WordPress.com and Blogger.com have free, hosted, turnkey blog solutions. Simply log on to one of these sites and follow the online prompts. You can blogging in less than 15 minutes.

Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2009

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IIANM’s

EducationEDGE Insurance Education Programs in New Mexico are critical to a successful and profitable career in the insurance industry. Every year, we offer exciting opportunities to expand your professional horizons. All of these education programs are designed to help insurance agents thrive in the most competitive of marketplaces. The pre-licensing classes are designed to be a review for the state licensing examination. We recommend that students be familiar with the study material prior to attending class.

Pre-Licensing Study Materials

Pre-Licensing Classes

To see a list of what is available and to purchase your study materials online, click here.

Study materials are NOT included in class prices.

Property & Casualty Review Class (2 days)

Life & Health Review Class (1 day)

Regular Price: $150 Member Price: $120

Regular Price: $115 Member Price: $90

Instructor: Instructor:

Jack Cleary Kitty Leslie

- April 13 - 14 8am - 5pm - April 11 - 12 8am - 5pm

Instructor: Instructor:

Click here for a full listing of our education program.

Bob Ouellette - April 15 8am - 5pm Manny Mansour - April 13 8am - 5pm

The FINE PRINT: IIANM reserves the right to cancel/reschedule classes. Please call ahead to verify when classes will run. Decisions will be made three days prior to class. Cancellations received after 5 business days, will be assessed a $50.00 cancellation fee. Cancellations received on or after deadline and ‘no shows’ will forfeit the registration fee altogether. A substitute is always welcome, with no extra fee, but prior notification would be appreciated.

Class Name/Date: Full Name:

Method of Payment:  Bill Agency (Members Only)

First Name for Badge:

 Check Enclosed (Payable to IIANM)

Agency / Company:

 M/C  Visa  Disc  Amex

Address:

Amount:

(all prices include tax)

Card No:

City, State, Zip:

Exp. Date:

Telephone: ( Fax: ( Send in your registration:

)

Signature:

E-Mail:

) Go on-line: www.iianm.org or E-mail: jeff@iianm.org

Page 26

Give us a call: (505) 843-7231 (800) 621-3978

Mail in: 1511 University Blvd. NE Albuquerque, NM 87102

Fax in: (505) 243-3367

Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2009

April's Clickable Calendar - Click on a class to register online -

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

CE = continuing education hours

Friday

Saturday

ce i f f O ed los C 1 2 ACSR #2 Personal Auto 8CE Hours

6 P&C Pre-licensing Class

ACSR #7 Commercial Liability 8CE Hours

AAI 81B Personal Lines 8CE Hours

17 24

P&C Pre-licensing Class

L&H Pre-licensing Class

E&O Workshop 8CE Hours

Classifieds

Where Will You Find Your Next Great Hire? Looking to fill a position within your agency? Trying to find a job but don’t know where to look? Whether you are looking for somewhere new to share your special skills or an employer looking for quality, professional employees, we are there to lend a helping hand. The staff at IIANM knows that “Teamwork Makes Us Stronger” and we want to help all interested individuals find that perfect fit. Click here to take advantage of IIANM’s Job Bank. Do you have an agency you’re trying to sell, or in the market to buy one? Check out our Classifieds!

Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico - www.iianm.org - * April 2009

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April is International Customer Loyalty Month. Where would you be without your customers? Dedicate yourself to recognizing and rewarding their continued support this month: Thank them, ask them what more you can do, and commit to treating them the way you expect to be served. April is also Keep America Beautiful Month. Since 1968, the amount of litter in America has decreased by 61 percent. But litter remains a problem, costing our nation at least $11.5 billion per year in direct costs, including cleanup and prevention programs, along with indirect costs such as decreased property values and health issues. Do your part by keeping your neighborhood clean of litter. For ideas, go to the Keep America Beautiful Web site, at www.kab.org

April

Odds Ends

Take Our Daughters And Sons to Work Day April 22 Exposing children to

what their parents or mentors do all day shows them the value of education, helps them discover the power and possibilities associated with a balanced work and family life, and provides them with an opportunity to share how they see their future.

Conserving Laptop Batteries

Earth Day!

If there isn’t a nearby outlet but you must use your laptop, conserve battery power by lowering the contrast on your screen and disabling its wireless networking capability. To adjust the contrast, click on the “sun” icon (typically in the lower-right section of the keyboard). To cut off wireless networking, look for the icon that resembles an antenna with radio signals and set it to “off.” Tech experts say these two steps will grant you 15 to 20 percent more power from your battery without a recharge.

April

Day s ’ l o Fo

Click here to view the Top 100 April Fools Hoaxes

Famous Burger King Prank In 1998, Burger King ran a full-page ad in USA Today introducing a Left-Handed Whopper, specially designed for the 32 million left-handed Americans. The chain said it would have the same ingredients as a regular Whopper, but the condiments would be rotated 180 degrees. Thousands of lefties fell for the April Fool’s Day hoax and requested it, while many right-handers insisted on a right-handed version. The Taco Liberty Bell 1996: The Taco Bell Corporation announced it had bought the Liberty Bell and was renaming it the Taco Liberty Bell. Hundreds of outraged citizens called the National Historic Park in Philadelphia where the bell was housed to express their anger. Their nerves were only calmed when Taco Bell revealed, a few hours later, that it was all a practical joke. The best line of the day came when White House press secretary Mike McCurry was asked about the sale. Thinking on his feet, he responded that the Lincoln Memorial had also been sold. It would now be known, he said, as the Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial.

a very special thank you to iianm’s partners The following companies have committed to support IIANM events throughout the year:

Diamond New Mexico Mutual is the state’s expert in workers’ compensation insurance and the preferred provider of the Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico. New Mexico Mutual is recognized as an industry leader in customer service, advocacy, and integrity; providing protection for employees and security for New Mexico’s businesses. Adding three new companies in 2009 to the Group, New Mexico Mutual provides agents a comprehensive portfolio to meet your customers’ workers’ compensation insurance needs.

Gold ACUITY, headquartered in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, is a property and casualty insurer that operates in nineteen states, writes $750 million in premium through over 900 independent agencies, and manages $2 billion in assets. The only company in the nation to be named six consecutive years to the Great Place to Work Institute’s top five mid-sized companies, ACUITY employs 850 people. At Mountain States, we are dedicated to helping protect the assets of our policyholders by providing them with sound, affordable insurance products. We do this through an expanding network of professional independent agents. We believe in sustaining a strong chemistry with our agents and policyholders. It is our prime reason for narrowing our focus to the Mountain States/ Southwest region. The Republic Group offers personal property, dwelling fire, personal automobile and commercial lines of insurance through independent agents primarily in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi and New Mexico. Our companies have flexibility to offer the insurance coverage most insureds need, whether for home, automobile or business. Competitive rates and coverages are available for both standard and non-standard risks, which meet our underwriting criteria. Travelers Insurance Company is a National Company serving the needs of our Independent Agents’ all across America, from the East Coast to the West Cost and everything in between, we offer a wide variety of Commercial and Personal Lines products. We have an intimate knowledge of all lines of insurance and can offer solutions that are truly in-synch with the needs of your customers.

Silver

Letcher Golden & Assoc.

Bronze Colonial General Insurance Agency

♦

Preferred BOP

♦

Property

♦

Inland Marine

♦

Professional Liability

♦

Commercial Liability

♦

Workers Compensation

Transportation Department

♦

Commercial Auto

♦

Truckers

♦

Physical Damage

♦

Commercial Contract

♦

NB Mexican Truckers

♦

Local Radius

♦

Personal Lines

♦

Garage

♦

Intermediate Radius

♦

Professional Liability

Please contact our Utah office for all your Transportation needs! P.O. Box 571770, Murray, Utah 84157 Phone: (801) 562-1188 Wats: (800) 594-8900 Fax: (801) 562-2218 Toll Free Fax: (800) 332-9285

Personal Lines Department ♦

Masterpiece Company

♦

Standard Company

♦

Umbrellas

♦

Stand-alone Liability

♦

Vacant

♦

Seasonal

♦

Dwelling Fire

♦

Homeowners

Preferred Commercial Lines Division P.O. Box 14770 Scottsdale, AZ 85267 8475 E. Hartford Drive, Suite #100 Scottsdale, AZ 85255 Phone: (480) 991-7889 Wats: (800) 848-8860

You will never pay a fee to access our companies. No volume or binding contracts.

More information can be found about IIANM’s Partner Program by visiting our website at iianm.org or calling Lorri Gaffney at (505) 999-5805.