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Insurance Buyers’ News July / August 2012

Volume 23, Number 4

Managing the Contingent Workforce business woman holding a stack of papers

For most companies, managing human resources will probably require more attention than any other aspect of your risk management plan. Workers’ compensation, safety, compliance with wage/hour laws and avoiding discrimination—these responsibilities can keep one or more managers busy full-time. Using contingent workers can relieve your organization of some human resource functions; however, it can create other risk management exposures. Read on for details.

Understanding Surplus Lines woman wearing a hair net working on a production line

When model Heidi Klum insured her legs for $2.2 million and guitarist Jeff Beck insured each of his fingers for $1 million, you can bet a standard insurer didn’t cover those risks. These celebrities turned to the surplus lines market. Although your organization probably won’t need to insure body parts, you might need the services of the surplus lines market. Read on for details.

Property Valuation: How to Get It Right Accurately valuing your property is the first step to ensuring effective coverage. If you place an overly high value on your property, you pay more premium than you need to. If you undervalue it, you may not have enough insurance to cover a loss. Read on for details.

Professional Appraisal Services Can Save Money
Obtaining a professional property valuation can help insureds avoid many common property valuation errors. Read on for details.

This Just In…

On any one day in 2011, U.S. staffing firms employed an average of 2.8 million workers, reported the American Staffing Association.

Read on for details.

Client Reviews

"In this day and age of technology and everything being digital, it is much more personal and authentic to have a great looking and informative customized PRINT newsletter like the one Smarts Publishing creates for us, to share with our customers by mail.
Receiving just another emailed marketing piece can be overwhelming for many professionals. A lot of our customers are like me, and like to take the newsletter home and read it with a cup of coffee or while sitting out on the deck on a Saturday morning."

—Cindy Koebele,
President,
TitleSmart,
Minneapolis, Minn.
Tagline: "It's the little things that make a big difference."

"We care about our customers and want to provide great service — This is how we keep them longer and attract more of them. One of the most popular things our customers like about our service is the print newsletters. More than the birthday cards we send everyone — more than the people who handle their account, they like our print newsletters. We’ve had calls from vendors who have tried to convince us to switch to email, but we know what our customers like and we’re sticking with our print newsletters. ”

— Larry France,
President,
France & Associates,
Worthington, Ohio

"Very rarely do you find an organization like SmartsPro that truly understands the industry that they serve. How do they prove it? Through clear and concise monthly content. I would confidently recommend James Whitaker and his publishing team to anyone but my competition!”

— Ryan Liabenow,
President & Client Relations,
Webber Benefits Group,
Benzonia, Mich.

"I really appreciate the quality of your newsletters. I've worked in other industries where good content is fairly easy to find, but in this industry for some reason, that's not often the case. We're proud to put our name on the content that SmartsPro Marketing provides us."

— Will McDonald,
Director of Marketing & Client Relations,
MFG Benefits,
Reno, Nev.

"We are very impressed with the quality of the Newsletter and how clear and precise the PPACA articles are. Thank you!"

— Ann Tyler,
Business Manager,
Boys & Tyler Financial Group,
Eden Prairie, Minn.

"We've been a Smart's client newsletter customer for over ten years. We find the newsletters to be very informative. They provide a great way to touch base with our clients and prospects. I'm a firm believer in sending them to clients because when they read about the coverages they need, they call us to get them."

— Van Maroevich,
President and CEO,
MOC Insurance Services,
San Francisco, Calif.

“I really think my newsletters have bumped up my credibility a couple of notches,”

— Susan Emery,
Emery Benefit Solutions,
Auburn Hills, Mich.

"We've been very pleased with the professionalism of the SmartsPro newsletters. They allow us to keep our name in front of customers and prospects by providing useful risk management and insurance information they can use to help them run their businesss better."

— Scott Crawford,
Sr. Vice President,
J. Smith Lanier & Co.,
Atlanta, Ga.

"We struggled for over a year to develop our own content before we found our SmartsPro newsletter. Now we could not imagine not having it. It is a great resource for our clients and we get positive feedback from them. It's an incredible way to stay 'top of mind' with our clients."

— Michael Bakonyi, REBC,
Managing Partner,
Employer Solutions Group,
Austin, Tex.

"[Newsletters are ]… a great way to get your name in front of clients. If people constantly see something, that's a way to make them always think [about you] in regards to all their needs."

— Linda Radcliffe
Marketing Coordinator,
GCG Financial,
Bannockburn, Ill.

"The thought of creating from scratch a regular-scheduled customer newsletter, complete with industry updates and relevant articles as well as my insurance brokerage firm's news, is daunting. If I didn't have Smart's Publishing to rely on for the researching, writing and laying-out of our Insurance Buyer's News newsletter, all my time would go toward its production.

What I like most is its flexibility; I can include as many or as few articles and pictures of my own as I want. If my company has news or an event that I'd like to share with customers, then I can customize our newsletter with self-written articles. Or I can leave it entirely up to Smart's Publishing to produce my company's newsletter, and it's sure to include timely information that is valuable to our customers."

— Christina MaGee
Higginbotham & Associates,
Fort Worth, Tex.

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— Scott Addis,
President,
The Addis Group,
King of Prussia, Penn.

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