1. Insurable Interests: Rights and Responsibilities

This four hour course explores in depth the property and liability insurance contract language with regard to the definition of "insured" and the rights and responsibilities of the named insured and first named insured as stated in the contract. The course then moves on to explore other insurable interests who have rights and responsibilities as outlined in policy language, including the mortgagee clause, additional insured and additional interest endorsements. Additionally, it reviews those whose interests are protected through relationships to the insured or the subject of insurance, including certificate holders.

2. Insurance Games

Offered as a stand-alone short activity, such as at a convention, or incorporated within technical material as a learning or review activity. The games have been designed around well known television game formats such as Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune so that the "how to" is familiar to the participant. There is even an "Insurance BINGO" available. All the questions used, however, are insurance related and zero in on the recognition and application of technical material and policy concepts. Games have been designed that satisfy each stage of learning - Recognition, Recall and Application. Because of the high participation level, as well as the element of fun, a high degree of learning takes place.

3. Agency Assessment and Team Building

The purpose of this four hour session is to work with an agency's management and staff to determine where they are and where they want to be. Assessment tools are introduced to determine the knowledge, skills and systems strengths and weaknesses within the agency. The importance of a mission statement and goal-setting are reviewed. Several exercises are utilized to illustrate the concept and benefit of teams and team building. This course is usually done in-house for agencies as the first step toward building an educational and marketing growth track for the agency and staff.

4. Beyond 2001:Avoiding Errors and Omissions

This four hour course reviews the common causes of insurance agency errors and omissions, including recent court cases. A discussion of the current business environment and client expectations is related to the potential for an E&O situation based on client dissatisfaction. The course concentrates on recent legislation, including privacy concerns and credit scoring in order to recognize and reduce the E & O exposure. The program concludes with an in depth review of various ACORD forms including proper use and completion.

5. Errors and Omissions: Causes and Cures

This course examines the causes of E & O situations by looking at a number of real incidents. The causes are classified according to five major areas of concern. The course concludes with a discussion of the means to prevent errors and omissions, including product knowledge, consistency, communication skills and documentation. The time on this course can be customized to fit a two to eight hour format.

6. Legal and Ethical Considerations

This 4 hour seminar focuses on the legal and ethical responsibilities of insurance professionals. Personal and business ethics are compared and several ethical problems are presented for the group's consideration. The discussion of ethics becomes the basis for a discussion of insurance law, including legal responsibilities of carriers, agents and insureds.

7. Improving Your Agency Performance Through Outstanding Client Satisfaction

Client satisfaction has a direct impact on insurance agency results. Dissatisfaction is measured by the gap between client expectation and perceived performance. To the degree that agencies can control this gap, they can improve their sales, retention and overall profitability. Originally developed as a convention topic, this 2-3 hour presentation explores areas that must be addressed by any agency that wishes to deliver uncommon value to each and every client.

8. Agency Operations

The concept of "operations" in an insurance agency shares many of these attributes. The operation of any agency should be skilled and focused and directed toward goals and objectives. In the largest sense, Agency Operations could be defined as a series of actions by skilled personnel and equipment intended to bring about desired results. In short, It is the work that is done and the method of doing it. Insurance agencies operate in many and varied ways as a result of many factors. The purpose of this course is NOT to tell an agency HOW it should operate, but rather it will focus on the series of functions that all insurance agencies perform. We will explore some of the critical issues regarding those functions with an overall goal of making the operation run smoothly and profitably. 4 hours.

9. Winning and Keeping Customers

Winning and keeping customers is hard work! It is not physically hard; it is emotionally hard. Customer service is not like working with things. Instead, it is working with moods and emotions and tempers and expectations and misunderstandings. Customers are often unappreciative, unrealistic and uncooperative. Wouldn't it be great if you could just get rid of the nasty ones and only deal with the people you get along with well? Great news! You can. There are skills that you can learn that will smooth out the road of customer service and make your work pleasant and your customers cooperative. The key is that you will change. You will work smarter instead of harder and the payoff is that the job gets easier. Everybody wins! 4-8 hours. May not qualify for CE in some states.

10. Time Management

Time is the great equalizer. There are only 24 hours in everyone's day, and yet some people achieve much more in that time than others. This course focuses on the skills necessary to manage yourself in relation to time. Additionally, this course will provide working tools to assist in organization and goal setting. 2-6 hours.

11. Catastrophe Planning

"It's never going to happen to me." How many times have insurance agents heard that statement? How many times have they murmured it about their own agency plant? As insurance professionals, agents often try to prepare their clients for the unexpected, and especially the catastrophic. Agents suggest insurance products that can alleviate the financial consequences of certain losses. Many of these suggestions are never taken because the client fails to perceive the risk or feels that the product cost is extreme. Whether to assist clients, or to plan for the agency's survival, this course is intended to focus on disaster assessment and catastrophe planning. If used as a working session in agency's, an agency disaster plan and manual will be developed. As an outreach program to clients, this program will provide a variety of working tools and resources. 2-8 hours. This course has been approved for CE credit in many jurisdictions.

Additionally, Rita Hollada is an approved instructor for the Dynamics of Service program.

We are approved instructors for agency management topics in the CIC and CISR professional development programs.

We are approved instructors for the CPIA, Saleswise Success Seminars.