BEST PRACTICES SYMPOSIUM TO DISCUSS BRANDING STRATEGIES, PERPETUATION ISSUES
Symposium to be held in conjunction with Big “I” Convention in Orlando
ALEXANDRIA, VA, May 26—Branding strategies and perpetuation issues for independent agencies will be among many top issues to be examined during the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America’s (the Big “I”) Best Practices Business Symposium, to be held October 10 and 11 in conjunction with the Big “I” Convention in Orlando, Fla.
Both topics will be thoroughly covered in breakout sessions at the symposium on October 11. The perpetuation session will examine the pros and cons of selling your agency to different types of buyers, as well as identifying the best opportunities for meeting perpetuation goals and gaining an understanding of the critical factors to consider when determining a course of action.
“Today’s agency owners have a large and often perplexing number of opportunities to consider,” says Madelyn Flannagan, Big “I” vice president of education and research. “They have to decide whether to perpetuate internally, take part in a merger, or sell to one of many competing external buyers. The perpetuation issues breakout session will offer tremendous insights to agency owners on how best to make these important decisions.”
The branding strategy breakout session will include an informative discussion from the author of Zoom in on Branding: A Guidebook for Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers on various ways Best Practices (BP) agencies can leverage their BP status to gain consumer awareness.
“This session will provide a great opportunity for Best Practices agencies to learn how to take advantage of their prestigious status in their communities,” Flannagan says. “Best Practices agencies are among the best in the country, and it is important for them to leverage this status into greater name recognition, increased revenue per customer, new clients and better company relationships. This breakout session will help them learn how to do just that.”
These sessions are just two of the many informative events taking place at the symposium, an intensive program of group events, networking opportunities and informative workshops designed to give agency owners and their management staff the tools and expertise needed to attain their agencies’ business and sales goals. Independent agency owners and managers, brokers, carrier representatives and insurance agency business partners are encouraged to attend the symposium, which kicks off October 10 with the presentation of the 2004 Best Practices Awards to agencies. This session will also be highlighted by a motivational sales speaker, a “state-of-the-industry” report and a networking social event for all symposium attendees.
In addition to the branding and perpetuation breakout sessions, workshop topics also will include:
· How to Become a Best Practices Agency
· Agency Valuations: Maximizing Your Agency’s Value
· Mergers & Acquisitions Marketplace
· Incentive Compensation
· Sustaining a Competitive Advantage
· Employee Strategies
· Employee Benefits: Selling Life, Health & Other Benefits
· Profit Strategies
· Revenue Growth Strategies
· Banks in Insurance
· Technology Strategies
As an added benefit, symposium attendees can participate in the Big “I” convention, the industry’s most well-known gathering of independent agents and brokers and home to the industry’s largest trade show.
The convention, which takes place October 9 through 12, as well as the Best Practices Business Symposium, fall on the three-day Columbus Day holiday weekend and will provide attendees with pre-school and school-aged children the opportunity to mix business with a fantastic mini-vacation that provides children of all ages exciting opportunities, family fun and relaxation. The convention hotel—the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotel—is located on the Disney World property and is minutes from Epcot Center, the Magic Kingdom, Disney golf courses and many other fabulous family attractions in the Orlando area.
Register online for the Best Practices Business Symposium or download registration materials by visiting www.independentagent.com and clicking on the “Events and Conferences” link.
For more information about the convention, contact the Big “I” Meetings Department at (800) 221-7917. For more information about the Best Practices program, visit www.independentagent.com and click on the Best Practices
Founded in 1896, IIABA is the nation’s oldest and largest national association of independent insurance agents and brokers, representing a network of more than 300,000 agents, brokers and their employees nationally. Its members are businesses that offer customers a choice of policies from a variety of insurance companies. Independent agents and brokers offer all lines of insurance—property, casualty, life and health—as well as employee benefit plans and retirement products. Web address: www.independentagent.com.
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