This Executive Training Series – which includes courses in Agency Strategic Planning, Choosing & Managing Carrier Relationships and Agency Financial Management – offers the ultimate opportunity to learn how to decrease problems within your agency's business while attaining successful business strategies, superior growth and increased agency value. This 3-part, 12-hour course, taught by Chris Burand, nationally recognized insurance consultant, tackles a different area necessary for sustaining and improving successful agency management and will provide key solutions to running your agency more efficiently and profitably.

Part 1: Strategic Planning (2 hours)
What is one thing a Paper Company and Insurance Agency have in common? Answer: they need a solid business strategy to survive – not just sales. It isn't unheard of for an agency to be successful while relying on optimism and pure skill, but it's sure risky.

This 2 hour class covers the tools you need to organize a quality strategic planning session as well as help you answer the following questions regarding your agency:

• Where are you today?
• Where do you want to be tomorrow?
• How do you get there?
• How do you take action?

In addition, you will understand the ground rules on WHAT you need within your agency in order to create and execute a strategic plan, including the necessary steps on HOW to do so, such as:

1. Outline a SWOT Analysis in order to determine where your agency stands today
2. Create reasonable goals, identify potential threats as well as strengthen your agency against those threats
3. Take the appropriate steps to reach your goals given the previous factors

Part 2: Choosing and Managing Carrier Relationships (4 hours)

Deciding on which carriers your agency should go into business with can be very overwhelming. How do you go about choosing which ones to partner with, and then, how do you best manage those relationships? Some agencies think more is better, but when it comes to your clients, you should really focus on quality rather than quantity.

This 4 hour class, divided into 2 segments, will teach small agency owners how to maximize their leverage with the carriers. This class will help you answer the unknown as well as provide specific steps toward increasing your profits through a well managed relationship. You will learn:

1. The benefits of managing your carrier relationships specific to your agency's profitability
2. Steps you can take in order to identify a carrier's stability, performance and product quality
3. Specific ways to enhance your carrier relationships
4. Opportunities that will lead your carrier companies to pay you more

Part 3: Agency Financial Management (6 hours)

You may be wondering what Agency Financial Management is? Agency Financial Management is a tool to help an agency protect its own assets and achieve its primary goal of making a profit by helping clients minimize risk. It's so much more than balancing a spreadsheet to budget, although that is important, too.

Without good financial management, owners can work hard, build sales and have a less than average agency. This class will teach you how you can work just as hard but use good financial management techniques in order to outperform the competition.

This 6 hour class explains what smart Agency Financial Management involves, what smart agency management avoids, as well as:

1. A Financial Plan – Five steps to Sound Financial Management including:

a. Expense control
b. Income & Expense Analysis
c. Income Safeguards & Controls
d. Automation
e. Taxes

2. What you need to know about Safeguarding Agency Cash Flows specific to Agency Operations
3. How good financial management increases your agency's value, including in-depth descriptions of four commonly used value definitions
4. Which strategy is the best strategy for your agency: Acquisitions or Developing Producers