The Learning Point

In an increasingly commoditized world, relationships can sometimes be the prime – or even the only – competitive contrast.

With the right skills salespeople can create an experience that’s more like the love of buying than the contempt for being sold.

Digital communication has become so familiar that it might feel as though online technology has become more humanized. It hasn’t.

Emotional neglect undermines customer satisfaction and company brand. It also sabotages settlement efficiency.

It’s common to focus on closing more sales as the answer to agency growth and profit. But it’s the wrong end of the process when it comes to what really influences and persuades people to buy.

Settling a claim is very different than bargaining for contract terms or making a sale. It means dealing with people predisposed to the emotions associated with loss.

Denise Broady, Chief Marketing Officer at WorkForce Software, shares five important lessons she has learned from working with the millennial generation in her article, “The…

Risk Insurance Communication Skills principal Russell Collins argues that “in an effort to meet compliance obligations, advisers are placing greater emphasis on product knowledge at…

Certified financial planner Dave Evans gives independent insurance agents something to think about in his recent article in IA Magazine, “4 Independent Insurance Issues to…

The best way to capture new and returning insurance customers is to engage in a “strong social and digital presence,” according to Tapajyoti Das’ article…

Persuasion is like The Force. It’s neutral. It’s how you use persuasive techniques that make it ethical or manipulative.

In the battle between agents and underwriters there are no winners. But plenty of losers. Here’s how to end the war.

Customers overwhelmingly preferred doing business with local agents, but they want the convenience of online interaction, too.

In order to get the best business from the strongest producers, underwriters have to more than mere technocrats.

Rather than micromanage, Millennials want employers who “give them the freedom to do their jobs and trust they will deliver.”

In these days of consumer – and employee – empowerment, soft skills are anything but soft. They are vital to success.

The correlation between effective leadership and better-than-average employee performance is made clear in new research from Zenger-Folkman.

Listening, problem solving, and exceeding expectations are the “big three” that can result in sales success from non-sales pros.

Financial trends are encouraging for independent agents, but it’s the tech-savvy ones who are getting the business.

Is Aetna’s chief executive endorsing the importance of people skills to the tune of $40 million? You betcha.

Companies in STEM industries want candidates with strong technical skill sets – but that’s not enough, say experts.

How do you get more done in less time and still have space in your schedule for self and friends and family? Eric Barker of Barking Up the Wrong Tree has some great insights.

Technology can be a great assistant in accomplishment as long as the principles of productivity are understood and applied. Tools are only as good as how they’re used!

For the generation weaned on the information age, traditional communication styles feel antiquated. And they just don’t work.

Erosion of market share is closely tied to reduced brand equity from poor customer experience. Calling all callous claims organizations…

It’s great to see Peter Drucker being profiled again after quite some time. His management and leadership advice is pithy and timeless.

For PRISMS Millennial Editions, we’re super excited to have selected modern animation as the visual style for new video programming.

No less than three major publications profiled procrastination this month. From the complex to the ridiculous, here’s a roundup.

Dad was always known as Big Russ, but that had nothing to do with my having the same name. It had to do with his remarkable presence.