We have been using The Square for almost a year. You only get charged a 2.75% IF you use it and you can take an American Express Card at the same rate. I was getting charged $35/month just for the priviledge of being able to take American Express, plus all the other fees. We've been real happy with ...

Never start a bad habit, it will come back with a vengence. Once you start notifying customers that they are in cancellation status, you can never quit. What happens when the CSR responsible for contacting that customer is on vacation and the customer does not get notified? Then they have a wreck a...

All night (24/7) check cashing - then get someone licensed to sell auto insurance and take payments. Cell phones might work - what about a "budget phone?" Didn't say what type of insurance you are selling or what part of town you're in. That would have a lot of variance. You need to sell s...

We had some files shredded by a commercial shredding company. They presented us copies of their insurance and a copy of their surety bond. We had the choice of them coming to us with the shredder or us boxing up or records and them taking it away to shred off site. At either way, they sent us a cert...

Oh my, where do I start? I have been a Commercial Accounts CSR for 18 years and am very proud of it. I too, however, hate the title "CSR" but that's what my agency calls my position. Grocery store clerk my *SS Here again, I think that most are missing the POINT of the ORIGINAL question. T...

Hey, indepentguy, maybe they have heard that you're a good place to work! I hired a CDR from a REAL SMALL RURAL town and after about a week, she called me at home on Saturday and said "I think Friday should have been my last day.....will you still pay me for the week I worked?" I asked her...

I think that the question was S M A L L agency. Being one myself, normally you either employ someone from a competitor (and inherit their problems) or try to find someone that will fit your niche. Are you looking for a producer or customer service? If you're looking for a producer, try hiring from a...

You might try Agency Advantage. You can get a free demo (which is pretty complete) and it's reall user friendly. I've been using it for aout 8 years now and it is adaptable to do everything we need. It is NOT a full blown accounting package, but, that's what I pay my CPA to prepare. All the financia...

Some personal lines companies will write SOME business use on a personal auto policy when there are NO employees involved, such as an artisan contractor that has no employees. Sounds to me like you have a BUSINESS with three vans, so, you SHOULD use a commercial auto policy. Sure would hate to have ...

You failed to mention what TYPE of agency....P&C or life/health? There are several DIFFERENT types, depending on your market. Are you going to use the yellowpages? Can get pretty expensive. Call 1-800-WE-INSURE and ask for Patrick Shores. He is Director of Marketing for 800 MARKETING SOLUTIONS. ...

Pay him/her 4% per month, 12 months a year. Now, that's FORTY-EIGHT percent.......or IS it? Some agents take a cut in commission from FIFTEEN to TEN and think that they have only lost FIVE percent......NOT Thirtythree and a third percent of their income. Oce had an agent friend tell me that he got 7...

I think that you should STOP counting PREMIUM and start counting REVENUE. What does that $25,000 in premium bring you? About $3250 in REVENUE (at an average 13%) .........IF it stays on the books for a year......if NOT...give back the commissions (chargebacks) Ohio is NOT a FEE state.....so, how muc...

You might try Agency Advantage (http://www.agencyadvantage.com) - they are user friendly, doesn't take a "rocket scientist" to begin learning, you don't have to go to a lot of training, can t-file, scan, download company info, all for about $175 per month. Can't hire a CSR for that!

Stating new agency......you probably missed the phone book. You might try calling 1-800-we-insure and talk with them. They have a leased vanity 800 number and lease it by county, by line of business. I opened a second location and missed the phone book. I got an unsolicited email regarding the 1-800...

This is just another case for the plaintiff attorneys to make money off of the insurance carriers. Since when did a homeowner's policy become a maintenance policy? In the majority of cases, mold stems from poor maintenance. I grew up in SE Texas (West Orange) and it was SO wet that you could dig a s...