Sales and marketing

Commentary: A new series from industry veteran Kyle Hodges highlights products designed to improve your bottom line.

Commentary: There’s much to learn from rapidly growing firms. Columnist Jack Kwicien shares the business philosophies that make market leaders successful.

Commentary: True employee engagement comes from understanding the decision-making process and the broker’s critical, proactive role, says columnist Nelson Griswold.

Commentary: Getting started on better engagement can be a daunting task. Columnist Wendy Keneipp shares three areas to focus on in order to begin creating stronger connections with your employees.

Commentary: Agency growth is completely dependent on producer pipelines. Yet, we typically see producers struggling with one of two situations: either they have empty pipelines or ones filled with the wrong opportunities.

The broker-carrier relationship, especially one as long-lasting as Bob and William Taylor’s with Florida Blue and Darnell Smith, is dynamic and continuously evolving. EBA examines what makes this necessary partnership tick and introduces the top large-group insurance carriers in the country.

Commentary: Six ways to engage customers that are most helpful, according to sales expert John Graham.

Commentary: These C-suite level positions are needed for a brokerage to run right, says MarshBerry’s Rob Lieblein.

Commentary: Sometimes the market changes in a way where these size businesses may be better positioned for success. Now may be that time, says tech adviser Joe Markland.

Commentary: Brokers who can step in and learn the business of voluntary benefits and some of the newer products hitting the market will be well-suited to bring in new clients and keep them protected against financial loss with a combination of relevant and cost-efficient solutions, says AmWINS' Sam Fleet.

AXA S.A. is entering the U.S. employee benefits market, citing its assessment that employers with between 20 and 200 employees are under-served.

The many tradeoffs that health insurers had to make from both a regulatory and plan-design standpoint in order to adapt under the Affordable Care Act appear to be paying off as the landmark legislation approaches its five-year mark.

Agentreview.net launches this month, aiming to give consumers one location to find and critique local insurance agents.

Commentary: Want to grow your business? Then never ask a client for a referral, says columnist Nelson Griswold. Referral marketing is one of the most effective marketing strategies, but it must be done the right way, he adds.

Commentary: The market place has changed and your role must adapt. Columnist Jack Kwicien proves his point through an analogous set of market dynamics.

Commentary: Step up your game or your clients may choose to become your competitors, says the head of Pittsburgh Business Group on Health

EBA is looking for industry leaders age 35 and younger to be featured our April issue.

When it comes to private exchange operators, Array Health differs from most, in that the technology company powers many insurers’ private exchanges, including Highmark Blue Shield in Pittsburgh and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona. The company’s CEO shares how private exchanges are changing the way health care is sold in the United States.

It was just a year ago that VSP Global and Google, Inc. teamed up to offer Google Glass prescription lenses and frames at a subsidized price. But Google Glass’s announcement last week that it was halting sales of the product raises questions about VSP’s future role.

Commentary: To survive the ongoing thinning of the herd, columnist Nelson Griswold asks what are you planning to do differently in 2015 to remain relevant to your clients and grow your business?